(short version of a story by Sanna Lönnfors, published in Crohn & Colitis 1/2004)
Those without IBD can't always understand what it really means. Sometimes making it to the bathroom in time can be an enormous physical challenge for an IBD patient, not to mention cleaning your apartment or doing your weekly grocery shopping when you feel sick, dizzy, have diarrhoea and fever. One of my biggest physical challenges with Crohn's disease so far has been the Munich City Run in the summer of 2003.
Running has been my favourite sport for years and I run several times a week. On good days I could easily go for a 15 km run. However, the day of the City Run was not one of the good days. I woke up in the morning, knowing that I had to be at the Marienplatz square in downtown Munich at 8:20, but I was so sick and nauseous that I could not eat, drink, or take any medication. I missed the 7:45 underground because I simply could not get out of the bathroom, and barely made it in time for the next one. I was pale, nauseous, and covered in cold sweat. My sister was with me and told me that I probably shouldn't run, but I told her I would, and that was my final word.
We finally made it to Marienplatz and I needed to get to a bathroom urgently, but there were hundreds of other people queuing for the public bathrooms. Being in the city centre, I could not really go in the nearest bush, so I waited. When I finally got into the toilet, there was - of course - no toilet paper. It was a complete disaster and one of the most difficult moments of my Crohn's disease history, both mentally and physically. Somehow I found the energy to go on and finally returned to my sister, who was waiting outside, four minutes before the start of the race.
My sister still thought I shouldn't run, but I told her that quitting was not an option, although I could hardly stand. The last thing I did before the run was to write "Crohn's disease" and my home phone number on my arm, in case I'd collapse somewhere along the route, because I was quite sure that would happen. I told my sister that if I wasn't back in two hours, I wouldn't be coming back at all, and she should start calling the local hospitals to find out where I was. Afterwards, I realised that if anyone else had done the same, I would have thought that they were insane and told them not to run under any circumstances, but I didn't want to quit because of Crohn's disease. I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it.
As unbelievable as it may sound, as soon as the race started, I felt better. I ran the 10 km in an hour, which was not the best time for me, but considering how I was feeling, I was satisfied. The next week I spent in bed with high fever, vomiting almost everything I ate. I showed myself that I could fight Crohn's disease and that participating in the run despite the illness was worth getting sick. IBD is an obstacle that can be overcome. It is a challenge; it is a few extra kilometres that we have to run to make it to the finish line.
