Branford 8th Grader Leads Fight Against Digestive Diseases

From the Chron's & Colitis Foundation: Caroline Spaulding is serving as the Youth Honored Hero for the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s CT Shoreline Take Steps Walk. Caroline is 13 years old and is an 8th grader at Walsh Intermediate School in Branford, CT. At the age of 9, Caroline started losing weight, stopped growing, and was tired all the time. Recalling that time Caroline said, “I was scared because I did not feel well and had to see many doctors who could not tell my parents or me what was wrong.” But she knew something was wrong because she could not keep up with school work, playing with her friends, or participating in the sports that she loved. Just a year later, at the age of 10, she was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease.

After going through various treatments that were unsuccessful, Caroline said her doctor and parents supported her when she Exclusive Enteral Nutrition (EEN) for 12 weeks instead of continuing with the steroid treatment that was making her feel sick. Caroline remembers, “It was really hard to only eat through an ng tube and not chew my food for three months.” Her family helped her get through this by making a countdown calendar with fun things to look forward to. Caroline’s friends at school were also supportive, calling their friend group “The Warrior Squad” and would bring her gum to chew at school so she did not feel left out.

Caroline acknowledges Crohn’s Disease is part of who she is, but refuses to let it define her, “It has been a lot of work but I am feeling better and am growing again. When I was diagnosed I weighed 49 lbs. and now I am 76 lbs. strong! Even when I had my ng tube, I played soccer, went on my class trip for 4 days, took pointe class, and danced in my ballet recital.” She uses her sense of humor to help her get through hard days and knows that her family, friends, and doctors will always have her back. This past May, Caroline represented her congressional district as a patient advocate in Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation’s IBD Day on the Hill in Washington, D.C. Also this past August she was very excited to go back to Camp Oasis, the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s week-long summer camp for pediatric patients. Caroline feels these are great events and said, “These opportunities enable me to pay it forward where I can and help someone else who may be walking in my shoes.”

Take Steps for Crohn’s & Colitis is a family-friendly community walk dedicated to raising awareness and mission-critical funds for cures for digestive diseases. The Shoreline Take Steps Walk is Saturday, October 21 at the Guilford Fairgrounds in Guilford, CT. Registration and the festival start at 9:00 a.m. and the walk is at 10:00 a.m. Caroline is excited to bring her team, Caroline’s Crohn’s Warriors, to the Connecticut Shoreline Take Steps Walk. Caroline walks, as she states, in the hopes she will “see a cure for IBD in her lifetime.” For those who like to support Caroline’s efforts, donations can be made through the Take Steps website, http://online.ccfa.org/goto/CSpaulding.

The Shoreline Take Steps Walk is sponsored by AbbVie, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Takeda. For more information on how to get involved with the Shoreline Take Steps Walk please visit www.cctakesteps.org/shoreline2017 or contact Mary Kate Doherty at 203-376-4336 or mkdoherty@crohnscolitisfoundation.org.

Photos courtesy of the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation