I Hate Evan's Guts

I'm a sophomore in high school and I was a soccer player who dreamed of going pro. Just about my whole life I've had stomach pains, nausea, and random fevers. Looking back, I didn't know how much all of that impacted my life. I avoided eating anywhere except at my home, because I was never sure when I might get sick, and if I were to get sick, I preferred that it be in my own home. There were times when I'd be playing with other kids at the park when all of a sudden my stomach would start hurting and I'd have to go home to lie down. As I got older I realized that I had to use the restroom more than everyone else. My parents took me to the doctor several times over the years, but after all the check-ups and the tests I was diagnosed repeatedly with anxiety. Even though I never thought that I felt anxious, it was almost easier to accept that diagnosis because my doctor and my family kept telling me that’s why my stomach hurt. It really started affecting my life once I was in elementary school. Kids notice things like another kid who never eats at school parties or at birthday parties. Actually parents notice that too and sometimes it makes adults uncomfortable to have a kid at a party who won’t even eat cake. I guess I was around 7 or 8 when I stopped being invited to friend’s birthday parties. How do you explain that your stomach just doesn’t ever really stop hurting and that food seems to make it worse? As far as my family and I go, none of us knew about Crohn's disease so of course none of us recognized what it really was that I was going through. Crohn’s disease isn’t just an upset stomach that medicine clears up. It can be a very bad life altering and a lifelong battle. And it can steal your dreams. It took soccer from me but I’m hoping to help other kids hold on to their dreams by gaining support in the fight for a cure.

Someone once asked me when I became interested in soccer. I remember stopping to really think about it and I realized my earliest memories were all soccer related. I don't recall a time when it wasn't part of my day to day life. I joined my first team shortly after my 3rd birthday. Within a few years my goal was about learning as much as I could from older experienced players from my club, and of course pro players ,so that I could become the strongest player possible. While my friends would be out skating or biking, I would be working on free kicks or juggling in my backyard. After my 8th birthday I started dealing with regular daily stomach pains. The truth is the only time I could really block the pain was while I was training, playing or watching soccer. Soccer was the only time I felt fully like every other kid. With a ball at my feet I was free from the deep burn in my stomach. At least until I got to be 13. Then it started getting to where I needed to ask to be subbed. Something I didn’t realize then was that running makes your digestive tract move faster. Maybe I would start the game with a slight cramp in my intestines but as I played the cramp would grow in strength. I remember having to stop and hold my stomach because it was just hurting so bad. I wasn’t able to compete at the level I needed to as a select player and I started to feel my dream slipping away.

My dream is for my generation to be the last one to know IBD as having no cure. For me it’s about all the little kids who deserve to have a true childhood. I’ll never know that feeling but if I can help change that for others then that’s good enough for me. I tell people I do the Take Steps walks for now but I fully expect them to become the “We Took Steps” celebrations one day. I believe that day can and will be reached. The day that we will finally be able to say we found the cure for IBD. Please help me in the fight for a cure. Thank you!