cntraveler.com
13.03.2024
I'm a Frequent Traveler With Crohn's Disease—Here Are My Packing List Non-Negotiables
When I was a kid, I took lots of trips—to the bathroom. I couldn’t put on weight, and everything I ate upset my stomach. In high school, I was finally diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, an incurable irritable bowel disease like ulcerative colitis, which my mother and brother also suffer from. Chronic inflammation of the digestive tract, resulting in diarrhea, rectal bleeding, and abdominal pain, among other symptoms, is debilitating at worst and embarrassing at best. Still, thanks to an amazing gastroenterologist, a major surgery, and a cocktail of prescription medications including Infliximab infusions every eight weeks, I haven’t let it stop me from seeing the world. In fact, in the past 18 months I’ve touched down on all seven continents in my career as a travel writer. The best part: I’m far from the only “Crohnie” out there collecting passport stamps; I’ve even met travelers with stoma bags.