I first learned about GWG on Facebook and when I connected with Alicia and we chatted about our medical issues. I’ve been a member of the GWG FB group for years and through the group and another that I belong to, I became an active supporter and advocate for other women with IBD. Once I became more familiar with the specific goals and intentions of GWG, I knew that I wanted to volunteer and support the group.
I was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease 45 years ago and to say there was a dearth of information about IBD back then is an understatement. As I got older and experienced myriad flares/illness, and surgeries, as well as my permanent ostomy, yet knowing no one else who had lived with this disease, I knew that I wanted to connect with other women with IBD, both to share my years of experience and knowledge, as well as to learn from their experiences.
When I am not volunteering with GWG I work as an adjunct professor for a small university in SE Pennsylvania Chairing and participating on doctoral dissertation committees. I am a member of the CCFA Patient Advisory Task Force as well as a mentor in their Power of Two advocacy support program. In addition to my IBD work, I started volunteering for an organization, Anne’s Place located in Danbury CT, whose goal is to support anyone, men or women, going through treatment/surgery for breast cancer. They provide access to additional resources, including therapeutic activities, such as yoga, counseling, and acupuncture. Funny story, I met a member of their board at my nephews wife’s baby shower where she saw the baby sweater and hat I knit for the baby and she asked if I would be willing to knit a baby sweater for their silent auction fund raiser, noting that the woman who used to knit these for them had recently passed away…this was eight years ago and I have been knitting for them ever since.
As a retired full-time educator, I continue to feel strongly about my responsibility to support and educate others who might be newly diagnosed or recently struggling with their Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
