Honorees
Team Challenge NJ 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. Our Team is running and walking in honor of these individuals.
Meet Lauren Devine
Welcome to Team Challenge!!! My name is Lauren Devine, and I am very happy to be chosen as an Honoree for Team Challenge, and the upcoming Virginia Wine Country Half Marathon. I am 17 years old, and I have Crohn's Disease. I was diagnosed when I was 13. I had not been feeling well for quite a while. I was very tired all the time, ran low-grade fevers often, and had lots of stomach and bathroom issues…NOT fun for a 13 year old trying to enjoy the start of 8th Grade!! I was put on several medicines and gradually got my disease fairly under control. My Mom forced me to go to a teen support group at the hospital. I wasn't excited about going, but I met some really great friends there that were going through the same things that I was. My Mom also found out about Camp Oasis, a week long summer camp for kids with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. The camp is funded by money raised through the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA), and was one of the best experiences of my life. I've spent 3 great summer weeks there. If it were not through generous supporters of CCFA, and your participation in Team Challenge, Camp Oasis would not be possible. It was a great way to have a fun week, with kids going through the same things that I was.
This year has been my toughest year yet with the disease. I have been hospitalized 7 times since March, 2011 from complications of Crohn's, and have missed most of my senior year of high school. I've had severe Crohn's flares, kidney stones (which are common in people with IBD), and several bad infections. While there are so many medicines out there, some of the most effective at treating the disease also compromise the immune system, making you so much more susceptible to other infections. Also, because Crohn's can effect anywhere from your esophagus through your intestines, different patients suffer from a variety of symptoms, and not one medicine helps everyone. Money for research is so important to continually find new and improved medicines and hopefully a cure for the disease. I really want to see that in my lifetime.
I want to thank you so much for your commitment to Team Challenge to run the race of a lifetime and raise money for needed research for me, and the millions of other kids and adults that suffer every day with this disease.
Love,
Lauren Devine