Honorees

Meet Brenna Lutzky:

My daughter Brenna, seven years old at the time, woke up one Saturday morning in February 2010 with a stomachache. Later that day, there was blood in her stool. And our lives went into fast-forward. Just twelve days after her first symptoms, Brenna was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis.

Brenna's UC proved to be both very aggressive and resistant to medication. Others with ulcerative colitis speak of flares, but Brenna's life was one long, intense flare -- her symptoms never abated once they appeared. She needed the bathroom up to twenty times per day, always with terrible cramps and lots of blood. We tried numerous medications to little effect. Steroids worked for a few weeks, but then started to fail -- and her symptoms returned worse than ever. After speaking to several doctors, we decided that surgery was her best option.

At the end of June 2010, Brenna had surgery to remove her entire large intestine. Just a few weeks later, she was off to summer day camp, casually explaining her ostomy bag to those who were curious. She had surgery to create a J-pouch in October, and another in December to reverse her ileostomy. Today, Brenna feels great and enjoys singing in her school chorus, earning badges in her Brownie troop, and riding roller coasters at Disneyland.

From the beginning, my daughter has amazed us every day with her positive attitude, her incredible maturity and her lack of self-pity. When she was told she needed surgery to remove her colon, fear flashed in her eyes for a split second. And then she said to me, "Well, I would rather not have a colon than have colitis!" She has endured all the pain, surgeries, tubes, drains, medications, blood draws -- and living with an ostomy bag -- with an astounding degree of grace and calm.

Brenna’s strength and courage in the face of this disease have inspired me to be strong and courageous in the fight against it. I’m so proud to be her mom and to be walking my second half-marathon for the CCFA!

Jennifer Lutzky

Meet Sandra Lucero:

I was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease at age 13, which ironically came as a result of a diet that left me a lot skinnier than I ever wanted to be. It took almost a year to get to a “manageable” state; sadly even “manageable” meant frequent trips to the restroom right after eating, missing a lot of school, and not wanting to participate in certain school activities because I didn’t know if a restroom would be available and I was too embarrassed to ask if I could be excused every 5 minutes. Since diagnosis, I suffered outbreaks of Crohn’s disease on average every 3 years regardless of what medication I was taking. The past 10 years had gotten progressively worse and on May 4, 2010 I finally had to have surgery. In addition to the planned intestinal resection, they also had to remove almost a foot of colon. Of course the recovery period increased proportionately, so 8 days later I got to go home and 4 weeks later I went back to work. The progression of the disease was much worse than they had anticipated, and now under the care of Dr. Roseman (the nephew of Dr. Crohn himself) and Dr. Worsey (the best surgeon I could have found), I remain on medications to try and keep the recurrence of Crohn’s Disease away as long as possible. Currently I am on Imuran AND am giving myself Cimzia injections once a month just to keep the disease away, hoping that we have a cure before it returns and I need another surgery.

Dr. Roseman strongly encouraged me to join CCFA, and that is how I learned about Team Challenge. Over the summer I continued my recovery with my (now) husband Larry who would take me and our dog on walks to rebuild my strength. In August I got an email about Team Challenge and the training program for running a half marathon, and almost immediately made the crazy decision that I was going to do it! The decision was mostly selfish – I had never done anything like that before and now that I was “healthy” I wanted to take advantage of it. Even after the surgery I still suffer some of the inconvenient symptoms, but everything worked out. In 6 months I went from not being able to walk a flight of stairs to finishing 13.1 miles!

It was one of the best decisions I made, and Larry was beside me every step of the way – literally. We enjoyed so much of the program: group training, fundraising, getting to know our teammates, sharing stories with fellow sufferers, and mostly spreading the word to so many that had never even heard of the disease. One thing I learned is that the generosity of people is overwhelming when you share these experiences. Thank you for your commitment to join Team Challenge! You are helping us get steps closer to finding a cure for Crohn’s and Colitis!

Best of Luck!

Sandra Lucero

Meet Anna Ward:

Recently, my co-worker said the the song “Live Like You Were Dying” by Kris Allen should be my theme song. That was one of the best compliments I could get. I try to live every day to the fullest because my bucket list is long and life is short. I am a native Southern Californian, born and raised in Long Beach. I graduated Summa Cum Laude from Cal State Long Beach with a degree in Fashion Merchandising. I am currently working as an assistant store manager at a women’s clothing boutique at Fashion Island while I begin work on my Master’s Degree.

I was diagnosed with the beginning stages of Ulcerative Colitis in January 2010 which shocked me and threw me for a loop for a couple of months. I felt very overwhelmed and scared. My dad had ulcerative colitis and almost died from it before having an emergency colonectomy. After the initial shock, I started to research and educate myself on this disease. With support from family and friends, changes to my diet and exercise, I started to feel like I had more control over my health and the disease. Then I discovered Team Challenge and the CCFA.

I started running 3 years ago and when I began I literally couldn’t run a mile. At first it was torture, but I gradually worked my way up to 3 miles a few times a week and started to really enjoy it. I saw a Team Challenge flyer and a spark was ignited. I signed up and it was one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself. It was a great combination of doing something I enjoy-running-and raising money and awareness for a cause that has had such an impact on me and my family.

Running my first half marathon changed my life and I am now hooked. I am currently training for the 200 mile 24 hr Ragnor Relay Race from Huntington Beach to Coronado Island in April and hope to run my first full marathon in Long Beach in October. If I can inspire one person to start running or walking and complete a race that would be amazing because I truly believe if I can do it anyone can.

In addition to running, I love to travel-13 countries down 182 to go! I just learned how to surf in Hawaii and I am now addicted and look forward to improving. I love to dance and currently take tap and ballet. My dream is to be on Dancing With The Stars and The Amazing Race and to serve in the Peace Corps. My dream car is a hot pink Volkswagon Beetle, I wish everyday was Halloween and I eat M&M’s on a daily basis.

I just want to say that I highly encourage everyone to join Team Challenge. You will not regret it! My run with them was in Dec 2010 and I still think about it all the time. I made some amazing friends, accomplished something I never thought possible-running 13.1 miles, and I raised $3,140 to find a cure for Crohn’s and Colitis. It doesn’t get better than that! If I can do it, you can do it!! Cheers to an amazing season!!

Anna Ward

 

updated 2/9/2011