Some want more awareness of inflammatory bowel disease

Kelly Mans said a few years ago, she and her husband noticed their son Carter wasn’t growing.

“He had went an entire year without gaining any weight and had a lot of stomach aches and had a lot of pain when he’d go to the bathroom,” Mans said.

She said doctors diagnosed the then 7–year–old with Crohn’s disease, a condition which can affect anywhere from the mouth to the lower gastrointestinal tract.

Carter is one of 700,000 Americans living with it, along with 900,000 others who have ulcerative colitis.

Both inflammatory bowel diseases cause diarrhea, abdominal pain and rectal bleeding.

Kim Hiser is a nurse practitioner with Gastroenterology Specialties.

With December 1-7 being Crohn’s and Colitis Awareness Week, she said it’s important people know that their symptoms might be something more than normal stomach issues.

“If they’re having symptoms like abdominal pain or diarrhea or rectal bleeding, to see a gastroenterologist and to be evaluated for those symptoms so that we can make the diagnosis.”

That way they can get treatment for it, like Carter did.

“My son’s thriving and gaining weight and he’s probably one of the tallest kids in his class now,” Mans said.

If you would like any more information about irritable bowel disorders, check out the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation at: http://www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org/