My name is UC Crohnie and I am one of a family of characters that helps to depict what a patient with Crohn’s and Colitis might struggle with in everyday life. I myself symbolize the fight that patients with Crohn’s and Colitis suffer. My color is purple and I am a ribbon shape. I adore a cape and help to show strength and support for patients fight to live a normal life.  I and my family of characters were created to help teach people exactly what Crohn’s and Colitis is like to live with on a daily basis.

Patients that suffer from Crohn’s and Colitis suffer from many things but most people only know it as pooping diseases when in fact there is so much more than that. My wife Poo Poo is one of the first struggles that some Crohn’s and Colitis patients might suffer from.  Poo is commonly one of the problems most people never heard of or are least likely to talk about these diseases. Now pooing may come in different types and some patients deal with severe constipation. But most patients that suffer seem to suffer with severe liquid diarrhea.  There are many issues that occur with pooing other than liquid diarrhea as well. Some cases have pebbly poo and can be a warning sign that there is trouble. Pebbly poo can be a sign of a possible obstruction or blockage which can be extremely painful. 

Now my daughter Dinnamaria helps describe the complication of severe diarrhea that most patients
deal with. She represents one of the worse symptoms that most patients deal with. The constant
running to the bathroom, the constant need of a bathroom and the need to know where one is
available at all times. She is just as hard to deal with as her sibling Fistula.

Fistula is a tubular like tunnel that can occur between the skin and anus as well as the rectum and
Vagina. She sometimes connects between two hollow organs like blood vessels and intestines.

She is sometimes painful and may leak poo from the skin surface.  She symbolizes complications
from inflammation and the surgeries that are sometimes caused from Crohn’s and Colitis.  Just like Fistula can be caused by surgery her best friend Colos Tomy is something that can also occur as a surgical procedure to help with relief of constant bathroom visits and resting the bowels. As friends go Colos Tomy, he is very reliable. He is a symbol for patients that have severe Crohn’s and Colitis that need to have a way to relieve themselves from the constant bathroom trips and sometimes anal irritations that can occur from those constant bathroom trips and toilet paper. Colos Tomy hangs around the tummy area and he is definitely a close friend. He is made up of intestine that is surgically installed by taking the intestines and bringing them to the surface of the skin in the abdominal area.

He has an apparatus that covers the stoma which is the fleshy rose shaped intestinal part that sticks
out from the skins surface. This apparatus is made up of a wafer which sticks to the skin and has a
hole for the stoma to come thru. There is a plastic ring where the bag snaps on to and the stool
discards into. The patient I was created for has Colos Tomy and he saved her life!

Cousin Arthuritis is commonly a symptom of old age but as Crohn’s and Colitis is an Autoimmune
Deficient Disease and causes the Immune system to fight itself and weaken. Since Crohn’s and Colitis
has an effect on the body’s immune system some patients also suffer from chronic joint pain also
suffer from other autoimmune deficient diseases like Arthuritis.  He causes inflammation in the joints
and muscles of the body. He is a bit of a trouble maker. We like to tell people he is a “Distant Cousin”.
There are so many cousins that we could continue with but our family tree is just too big!  As for
patients and awareness of these debilitating diseases we stand strong with them and hope that
someday there is a cure to relieve the constant pain, fatigue, inflammation, irritability and surgical
procedures that come with these diseases. I hope that my family and I were able to help you
understand these diseases a little better and I leave you with this…

Thank goodness I didn’t introduce our neighbor Mickey McToilister. Oh the stories! All info is based off of the Crohn’s and colitis foundation.