I was diagnosed with UC in the summer of 2002. During this time, I had lost a lot of weight when I went in for testing to finally figure out what was going on.

Well, I for one know that feeling when people at school look at you funny after maybe you have been in the hospital and have lost a ton of weight. You might have been on prednisone last school year, but now you're not on it and you look completely different.

I was 17 years old in the summer of 2004. I started getting really ill, and I couldn’t stop running to the bathroom with these wicked painful cramps that I can’t even describe, they were so bad! I was in so much pain, but I thought it was just something going around, and that it would pass.

If you're scared about being reversed to the j-pouch, don't worry. It is very, very hard to deal with at first.

Hi, I'm Erin. I'm 9 years old and here is my story about my Crohn's.

My name is Jill and I am almost 10 years old. I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in September of 2003, when I was only seven years old.

My name is Lauren, and I have Crohn's disease. I am 11 years old, and live in East Meadow, New York.

My name is Miranda, I am 21 and I have had Crohn’s disease for 3 years.

My name is Melissa. I'm 19 years old and I'm from Schaumburg, Illinois. I’m a college student at Hope College in Holland, Michigan.

In the Beginning…

I had a pretty normal childhood. I was active in school, played soccer, attended summer camp, and was heavily involved in theatre. When I was just starting Junior High School, I began having stomach pains and intense nausea, which turned out to be ulcerative colitis. Although my diet was severely restricted, my health was maintained by medications.

My name is Madi and I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis on June 10, 2005. After four years of living with the symptoms my mom finally said, "Let's take her in (to the hospital)."