DBU Student Overcomes Obstacles to Raise Critical Funds, Awareness for IBD Patients

Ulcerative Colitis Patient and Family Take Steps for Cures on May 5

(DALLAS, TX – March 18, 2019) Twenty-year-old Madelyn Medina from Mansfield is motivating the local community to find cures by participating in the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s Take Steps Dallas Walk. This year’s event takes place on May 5 at 2:00 p.m. at the Baylor Scott & White Performance Center at the Frisco Star. Madelyn is living with ulcerative colitis which combined with Crohn’s disease are painful, debilitating digestive diseases affecting more than 3.1 million American adults and children, including an estimated 80,000 patients under the age of 18.

Madelyn was a high-school athlete embarking on her senior year when she began experience debilitating symptoms. Her determination kept her pushing through to participate in the sports she loved. After months of dealing with these complications, she finally shared her struggles with her parents as she could not take it any longer. Madelyn learned she had ulcerative colitis and would spend many months trying different medications to control her symptoms and inflammation. Unfortunately nothing was working and Madelyn was devastated that she was missing out on so much of her senior year of high school.

She would head off to college at Oklahoma State University, with uncertainty about what was to come. She continued to spiral and experience flares. During the fall semester of freshmen year, some of her sorority sisters had a stomach bug, and when their symptoms went away and hers didn’t, she began to realize the how debilitating her disease was. She came home for Christmas break and was treated with steroids but was able to convince her parents to let her go back for the spring semester, concealing the severity of her symptoms. By the end of freshman year of college, Madelyn and her parents made an appointment with IBD specialist at Johns Hopkins University Hospital in search of answers and new treatment options. “I had never been as sick as I was on that trip to Baltimore,” said Madelyn. This ultimately led to a 16-day hospital stay. “My parents truly saw the severity of my illness that I had hidden so well.” Looking back on that hospital stay, she says, “there were times when I went to the clinic on campus during and they should have hospitalized me. I felt so alone and helpless.” She had to make the difficult decision not to return to Oklahoma State following her freshman year, a decision that was met with disappointment and defeat.

She decided to attend a college closer to home, Dallas Baptist University, where she is a junior marketing major. Now that she is closer to her doctors and her family, she feels the support she needs, and her disease is under control. She is active in a sorority on campus, and she finds time to mentor two high school girls from her church in Mansfield. She loves taking care of her dogs, Boone, Bella, and Zoe,

“Madelyn is an incredible representation of how one patient sharing her story of bravery can positively impact the lives of the 70,000 North Texans living with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis,” said Jacquelin Leech, Executive Director of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, North Texas / Oklahoma Chapter. “Her positive outlook and desire to raise awareness of IBD is a true inspiration and provides hope to patients living with these often disheartening diseases.”

Take Steps for Crohn’s & Colitis is the nation’s largest event dedicated to finding cures and raising awareness for digestive diseases. Our events offer an incredible day for family, friends and the community to celebrate all of the efforts that have been put forth in raising funds towards our mission. It is a day that combines high energy and fun with access to valuable information and education. More than 60,000 peopled walked for cures last year, raising more than $11 million for mission-critical research and patient support programs.

For more information on how to get involved with Take Steps and to find a 2019 walk site nearest you, please visit www.cctakesteps.org or contact Amy Harrell at 972-386-0607 ext 5 or aharrell@crohnscolitisfoundation.org.

About Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis
Known collectively as inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis affects 1 in 100 people. They are painful, medically incurable diseases that attack the digestive system. Crohn’s disease may attack anywhere along the digestive tract, while ulcerative colitis inflames only the large intestine (colon). Symptoms may include abdominal pain, persistent diarrhea, rectal bleeding, fever and weight loss. Many patients require numerous hospitalizations and surgery. Most people develop the diseases between the ages of 15 and 35; however, the incidence is increasing in children.

About Take Steps
Take Steps is the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s national walk program. These walks raise funds for mission critical research and patient support programs, and help increase awareness of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, two painful and unpredictable digestive diseases. Our walks are family-friendly and are held in more than 110 communities across the country with activities for everyone including games, music, and great food. Funds raised through Take Steps will help transform the lives of those impacted by these diseases, and support the Foundation’s critical research, education, and patient support programs. Walk with us today: get started at www.cctakesteps.org.

About the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation
The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation is the largest voluntary non-profit health organization dedicated to finding cures for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). The Foundation’s mission is to cure Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, and to improve the quality of life of children and adults who suffer from these diseases. The Foundation works to fulfill its mission by funding research, providing educational resources for patients and their families, medical professionals, and the public, and furnishing supportive services for those afflicted with IBD. For more information, visit www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org, call 888-694-8872 or email info@crohnscolitisfoundation.org.


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