intestinal fortitude a column by emmeline olson

4 min read 2021-03-04 22:00:44

Shouting From My Laptop: Using My Voice in the IBD and Rare Disease Communities

When I returned to teaching full time after my liver transplant, I quickly discovered that the job caused me more frustration than joy. Life is too

4 min read 2021-02-25 22:00:13

After the toilet paper and hand sanitizer hoarding of 2020, I thought I was equipped for anything. By luck and God’s grace, I survived the winter

4 min read 2021-02-18 22:00:35

After my second dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine last Friday, I expected days of flu-like symptoms. Luckily, I only had a low-grade fever the

4 min read 2021-02-11 22:00:30

Valentine’s Day is in a few days. I told my husband, Patrick, that I wanted to spend the entire day in bed. I burst his bubble when I reminded him

4 min read 2021-02-04 22:00:57

After almost 15 years, I continue to learn something new about my Crohn’s disease. The other day, I read a statistic from the Crohn’s and Colitis

4 min read 2021-01-28 22:00:54

Last in a series. Read part one. In last week’s column, my hope of getting a COVID-19 vaccine was slowly chipped away while I navigated the

4 min read 2021-01-21 22:00:44

First in a series. On Dec. 11, after I had spent more than 80% of 2020 at home, the door to normalcy cracked open. That day, the U.S. Food and Drug

4 min read 2021-01-14 22:00:22

Along with the rest of the world, I’m forging ahead into 2021, making 2020 a distant memory. I thought 2020 would be a year to remember. I had a

4 min read 2021-01-07 22:00:18

Since September, I’ve been getting Remicade (infliximab) infusions every four weeks. My gastroenterologist changed my schedule from every eight

4 min read 2020-12-17 22:00:06

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that a lot of Filipino cuisine I grew up eating soothed my Crohn’s symptoms. A comfort food that my mother makes for

3 min read 2020-12-10 22:00:44

Before Thanksgiving, I wrote about finding thanks in the chaos of COVID-19. As I submitted my column for publication, the pandemic hit home. Fear and

4 min read 2020-12-03 22:00:01

I’ve been active in my new role as a Color of Crohn’s & Chronic Illness (COCCI) ambassador for a couple of weeks now. This week has been

4 min read 2020-11-19 22:00:01

A week from today is Thanksgiving in the United States. Because I’ll be taking a holiday from writing my column, I wanted to count my blessings

4 min read 2020-11-12 22:00:49

I was 5 when the movie “Jaws 2” was released. My parents didn’t take me to it because it was R-rated, but they couldn’t protect me from the

4 min read 2020-11-05 22:00:48

When I was diagnosed with Crohn’s, I kept my illness to myself. I rarely discussed my disease with anyone except my doctors and my loved ones. I