Hey guys! If any of you pay attention to my posts, you would know that I have been in and out of the hospital numerous times this year, but none of you really know what’s up. Well basically, I have crohn’s disease. When I’m having a flare up, my stomach feels as though I’m digesting nails and porcupines. When it gets really bad, I can throw up as many as 50 times, and it doesn’t stop until I go to the hospital. One time I actually threw up so much I was paralyzed and I couldn’t move until a few hours later. It’s truly awful and there is no cure. There isn’t even a medication that helps; the medication I take just lowers my immune system so my stomach doesn’t attack itself. I’m sick almost every week with the flu or a cold. But the good news is, I just finished a 3 month all liquid diet (it was awful), and now I am in remission! I’m celebrating by running a marathon for the cure in July….bad news is…it’s almost $4000 to run. The foundation that operates the marathon is letting me go for free because I have the disease, but my dad still has to pay. All of the money goes towards finding a cure. There is an option to raise money for a plane ticket, but we live in Arizona so we are just going to drive to California (where the race is held). We are drowning in medical bills so we can’t afford it alone. We have a few sponsors, but I really need tumblr’s help!! You don’t have to donate if you can’t afford it, but it would mean everything if you would spread the word!! Even one dollar will help because that’s one dollar we don’t have to spend!! This disease is awful and not a lot of attention is given to it because most people like to focus on cancer and diabetes but Crohn’s disease can affect as many as 700,000 Americans (See more at: http://www.ccfa.org/what-are-crohns-and-colitis/what-is-crohns-disease/#sthash.oukQx02r.dpuf) and can be life threatening without medical intervention. I’ve got a lot going on in my life but I really want to run! This is the real deal and I need help! Thanks!