Catherine Hatman
Hello, my name is Catherine Hartman and I am 14 years old and will be a freshman this year at Cherry Hill High School East in Cherry Hill, NJ. I was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease a little over three years ago when I was 10 years old.
My story began in March of 2005 when I was feeling really sick, started losing a lot of weight, I was unable to eat, constantly throwing-up, and I had no energy. My mom and dad took me from doctor to doctor, and none of them could figure out what was wrong with me. I missed a lot of school, and worst of all, I couldn’t play on my soccer or swim team.
Finally, one day I was so sick that my parents had had enough of not knowing what was wrong and decided to take me to the emergency room for help and answers. The doctor took one look at me and immediately admitted me in the hospital for four days of testing. When the results came back, my parents were given the bad news…I had Crohn's Disease.
I’ve gone from never taking a pill in my life to taking anywhere from 9 to 18 pills a day. Some of my favorite foods are now off limits, like pop-corn, peanuts, corn and even raw vegetables. But I know it’s a small price to pay to stay healthy.
I immediately started feeling better with all of the medications and began gaining the weight back that I had lost and thought to my self, I can handle this! I went back to swimming after missing my spring swim season and I had to work really hard to get back in shape. Well, all my hard work paid off as I qualified for our township championship meet and was even seated first in my event! I was thrilled! But then the reality of Crohn’s Disease set in as I had my first flare-up a couple of days before the meet. This hit us all really hard because I was doing so well! It made us all realize that this wasn’t something that was going to go away. It was going to be a life challenge.
For the next year and a half I continued to have flare-ups every time I tried to wean off prednisone. The most frustrating things about flare-ups are not feeling well, losing weight, missing school, and sometimes having to go to the hospital and most of all, not being able to participate in my soccer games or swim meets! I remember one big soccer game that I wasn’t able to play in because I was having a strange reaction to one of the medications. My feet swelled up so much that I wasn’t able to even walk! My Coach carried me across the field so I could be on the sidelines with my teammates! I really hate being on the sidelines and not in the game!
I started a new medication called 6-MP and that has allowed me to be prednisone and flare up free for over a year now! After not growing for almost 2 years, I have grown over 4 inches in the last year – FINALLY!
Like I said before I don’t like sitting on the sidelines and I am not going to sit on the sidelines of Crohn’s Disease either! Since being diagnosed, I have participated in the Guts and Glory and Take Steps walks, panel discussions for CHOP, was the featured speaker at the 2006 Research Alliance, attended IBD Day on the Hill meeting with Congress about research funding, and I started “Cat’s Crew” with a group of my friends. We do fundraisers to help build awareness and raise money for pediatric Crohn’s research. I am going to continue to do my work and I am thrilled to be an Honored Teammate for the Team Challenge event in Miami! Obviously, our ultimate goal is to find a cure for Crohn’s and Colitis but it would be great to also find new medications to make living with IBD easier and more comfortable.
Thank you, from all of us living with IBD, for participating in the Team Challenge and helping us raise the necessary funds to cure these devastating diseases!