The Crohn's and Colitis Walk is no marathon distance, but a different course to measure in terms of courage.
"Most of our patients can't walk very far," walk organizer Kristin Trulock says, so the goal is no more than one to three miles.
The annual event to raise funds for Crohn's and colitis support and research will be May 30 outside the Clinton Presidential Center. Coupled with a similar walk in Northwest Arkansas (Oct. 31), the Arkansas chapter of the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America has raised about a half million dollars in five years, she says.
But raising the awareness of these two similar but different health conditions is miles more difficult.
Nobody wants to talk about it, nobody wants to hear about it, and nobody understands better than Central High School computer science teacher Chris Olson, 36.
Fourteen years into his battle with ulcerative colitis, the former marathon runner is in recovery from double hip replacement surgery, a consequence of the disease. His new goal is competitive cycling.
He doesn't ordinarily talk much about colitis. By coming forward, he hopes to give other people the encouragement he would have welcomed.
"When I was diagnosed, I didn't know anyone else who had this," he says. "It was so isolating. It would have been so helpful to talk to somebody."
Olson is an Honored Hero of the walk, along with 11-year-old Emma Grace Bles of Beebe, who has lived with Crohn's for nearly two years.
At school, "they ask why I'm short," she says. "I say it's a stomach disease. I don't want to say anything else about it."
"Anything else" is what Olson refers to as "the down and dirty." Details are available on the foundation's website, ccfa.org.
Basically, Crohn's is a chronic inflammation in the digestive system, and colitis is a problem with the large intestine. Symptoms are similar in both, including weight loss and abdominal cramps. Embarrassment is only a part of the condition, but sometimes the most keenly felt.
Emma Grace is back to playing softball thanks to medications and hospital-administrated infusions of Remicade, a drug for symptom control.
Before, "she had to be in bed," her mother, Julie Bles, says. "She couldn't play baseball or any of the sports she likes. She didn't want to play with her friends." Now, she's fantastic, but for all the advances in Crohn's treatment it remains a chronic condition -- recurring or constant.
"That's why we long for donations for Crohn's," Julie says, "because we want a cure."
STEPS TOWARD RECOVERY
The walk is a fun event with music and entertainment, Trulock says. Stepsy Market is this year's new feature, an array of outdoor booths with jewelry, clothing, collectibles and other goods or sale. (The name combines "step" with a hint of Etsy, the website of hand-made wares.)
The serious business behind the good times is that 14,000 Arkansans have Crohn's and ulcerative colitis, Trulock says. About one person in every 200 will receive this diagnosis, she says. Nationally, these two conditions affect more than a million Americans, the foundation reports.
Crohn's (named for the doctor who defined it in 1932, Burrill B. Crohn) is more common in developed countries and in cities, the foundation reports. Jewish heritage is a risk factor in colitis. Both conditions tend to run in families, but research so far hasn't found a cause or way to end it.
Patients "likely will experience periods when the disease flares up and causes symptoms, followed by periods of remission," the foundation reports. Extreme cases call for surgery. But treatment can make possible "a full and rewarding life."
Emma Grace and Olson illustrate that age makes no difference in acquiring Crohn's and colitis. People older and younger, too, have the problem. This walk is evidence they refuse to be limited by a disease they did nothing wrong to bring about.
Olson's recent surgery means no more running, but he will be there for the walk.
Emma Grace is all smiles and off to a softball game after the tedium of a newspaper interview.
If anyone asked her the first thing to know about Crohn's, she says, "I would say you're going to be fine." She is shy about claiming special attention for the charity walk.
"I feel honored," she says. "But a lot of people could have been nominated."
The Little Rock Take Steps for Crohn's and Colitis Walk will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. May 30 on the Clinton Presidential Park Bridge and lawn of the Clinton Presidential Center. A related event, the arts and crafts Stepsy Market, will be open 11 a.m.-4 p.m. on the lawn. Both are fundraisers for the Arkansas chapter of the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America. More information is available at ccfa.org, or by calling (501) 590-8948.
High Profile on 05/17/2015