Honorees
The Honoree Program is the most important part of the Team Challenge program. Meet the courageous individuals who live with these devastating diseases and are excited to cheer you on all the way to the finish line!
What is an Honoree?
An Honoree is someone who provides inspiration to our athletes throughout the training and fundraising period. Honorees serve as symbols of strength and motivation, support and determination. An Honoree is someone who is currently being treated for Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis.
Each of our Team Challenge participants is matched up with an Honoree. Honorees have the unique opportunity to connect with individuals who have committed themselves to raising funds for the fight against Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. They will share their strength and courage with participants who are training to complete their endurance event.
When participants join Team Challenge, they commit to many months of training and fundraising before completing a half marathon. They are not only motivated by their own personal fitness goals, but are truly inspired by the bravery and fortitude of each Honoree.
Meet our Honorees!
Hey everyone! My name’s Emily DuBois. I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis when I was sixteen after I noticed blood in my stool and a lot of pain in my abdomen. My pediatrician recommended I see a gastroenterologist (Dr. Elizabeth Utterson—she’s amazing!!), and she then determined I had indeterminate UC. As soon as I got started on the anti-inflammatory drug, Asacol, my symptoms vanished. The next couple of years included a few colonoscopies, which all looked great, and just some maintenance check-ups. Sometimes I completely forgot I was living with a chronic disease!! I spent the next few years having a blast with my friends, going to school, and just enjoying life symptom free! I graduated in 2007, and spent all summer relaxing, vacationing, and (of course) getting ready for college!
I left for Regis University in Denver in August, and was loving life at school. I had made a ton of really great friends, had gotten involved in newspaper, volleyball, and a leadership program, and was managing to keep my grades in line with my scholarship requirements. Around October, I noticed some symptoms coming back, so I talked to my doctor. We tried upping my dose of Asacol and also started me on steroids. The student health center prescribed me serious painkillers so I could get through classes, but my day revolved around sleeping and going to the bathroom. My diet consisted of pretzel goldfish and white bread for about two weeks. My parents both flew in on separate occasions and took me to the hospital. Finally, I had a flexible sigmoidoscopy and the doctor there told me I needed to be put in a hospital within 24 hours. It was definitely a shock to me since I had never had serious problems with the disease in the past. I flew back to St. Louis with my dad the next morning and was admitted to the hospital. Little did I know, that expected 2-3 day hospital stay would turn into a two month stint that would change me forever.
To make a very long and complicated medical history short, my doctors and I tried all different kinds of medicine including high doses of steroids (which made my face about twice its usual size!), Imuran, a double dose of Remicade, TPN (intravenous nutrition), and lots of painkillers. Eventually, we all realized surgery was the only other option, and on December 12th of ’07, I had 5 feet of my colon removed, and an ileostomy was created. After a week of still feeling miserable, and being put back on TPN, I had an emergency surgery on Christmas to clean out an abscess. I finally came home on January 3rd, after 50 days in the hospital (Yikes!) I went back for another 10 days not to long after because another infection developed, but it was much less complicated than the first one. On April 1st, I went back in for my third surgery to reconnect my large and small intestine. It was unsuccessful, though, and on April 8th, my surgeon had to go back in, clean out another abscess, and recreate another ileostomy.
Since then, my doctor found colitis still in the remaining 10 inches of colon, and I’m treating it with suppositories and Imuran. Currently, things are still pretty up in the air—and we’re still not sure whether I have Crohn’s or colitis—but I’m feeling ten times better than earlier in the year, and I know surgery saved my life. My whole experience with this disease has truly been life-changing, and while I’ve been through some terrible things, I’ve seen many good things come from this, too! I’m hoping to attempt a reconnection surgery soon, and rejoin my friends back in Denver in January in time for snowboarding season!!
Hello, my name is Myriah Bernard. I am 13years old, and in the 8th grade at Scott City Middle School. Looking at me you would believe and say I am a healthy teenager, but what you do not know is that I have Crohns disease. At the age of 7 I was admitted to the hospital with high fevers, and stomach related conditions. I went in the hospital being told I was probably dehydrated and would be out in 24 hours. Eight long days later I was able to go home and also found out that, no it was not just dehydration, it was something that I will live with for the rest of my life – Crohns disease. The inflammation in my colon was so bad that welts formed all over my legs and this was extremely painful! The next six months were very hard as my doctors at Children’s Hospital tried to find the right combination of medicine to help get my Crohns under control. During these six months I was on high doses of steroids which caused a large amount of weight gain. As you know kids can be cruel and most of them do not understand why this happened. Most kids thought that since I was on steroids that I would be stronger, but the kind of steroids I was on make you weaker. I would love to find another treatment other than steroids so other children and adults do not have to go through this like I did. My doctors finally found the right combination which includes 3 pills in the morning and 4 pills at night. I also completed an infusion treatment of Remicade over a year’s time to help as well.
Having Crohns is not all bad. I am very fortunate to have attended Camp Oasis, which is a camp for kids with Crohns and Colitis. This past year was my 5th year to attend. Without CCFA these camps would not exist. I also am a member of the CCFA youth group and this really helps because I can talk to other kids that have the same problems as me.
I want to thank you for expressing interest and joining the team to help the CCFA and kids like me!
Myriah Bernard
For more information on Team Challenge and our honored teammates, contact Jennifer Harris, Endurance Manager, at 314-863-4747 or jharris@ccfa.org.
Updated 9/8/08