Throwback to the summer of 2006 at La Caverna in New York City, just a few months after my IBD diagnosis when I was 22 (you can literally see how pale and anemic I was). My buddy, Sunil, and I were always the ultimate dance partners wil’in out on the dance floor. Some really fun times that I’m glad I had the chance to enjoy back then.
Fast forward 12 years along with countless medications and surgeries, here Sunil and I are again at La Caverna. This time with our amazing husbands recreating dance moves from our college days.
As friends for many years, we have come a long way and grown through it all but reliving this experience has been a corrective one for me. I never thought I’d be alive let alone reminiscing about my pre-surgery days. This experience taught me that no matter how horrible my IBD journey has been, I can still reignite the flame of my personality and reinvent myself after each flare and every surgery. It’s taught me that no matter how much life keeps throwing at me, I can still pick up the pieces and go out and still be my wild and silly self (no alcohol necessary). And most of all, it’s taught me that the best of friends stick around in the good and the bad, and accept me for the women I’ve become through my battle with IBD.
So own your Crohn’s, own your ostomy and reinvent who you are after each and every setback. Keep close to your heart all the friends who love and appreciate you for every bit of your messy journey. Because at the end of the day, it is those friends who help you regain your personality in the wake of every single flare and every single surgery.
Love you, Sunil and Maarten!! Here’s to creating and recreating more memories Baar Baar!! 
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