So this is blogging?

I've had a couple people suggest that I start a blog about, well, my life. So lets get the basics down. I am 18, a freshman in college at the University of Maine at Farmington. I am a psych major, on the Dance Team, and some of my other hobbies include rock climbing, skiing, and hiking. Although I'm sure this sounds incredibly interesting to everyone, it's not the reason people asked me to start writing. Besides loving to be active and living life to the fullest, I also live my life with Crohn's Disease.

Although Crohn's has been a big part of my life since I was diagnosed at age 10, I haven't let it stop me from doing what I want. Since being diagnosed I have tried many different medications, gut rest with IV nutrition, and had 4 surgeries, 3 to remove parts of my large intestine and create an ileostomy and 1 surgery to remove my gallbladder. For the past year I have been doing great with only a few small bumps in the road that haven't stopped me from doing what I love. I have also started becoming more active in fundraising as well as spreading awareness about this disease. In this past year I have had many speaking opportunities and I raised over $5000 for CCFA (Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America). 

So in short, that is my background story! I plan on writing my stories here as I work my way through college and continue spreading the word about Crohn's! (Hopefully it will get a little more interesting!) Thanks for reading!