Epicure Collective

In the spring of 2003 I met my favorite guitar player from my favorite band. One year earlier I nearly died, not once, but twice.

I've lived with Crohn's disease since 1986 and endured a handful of procedures and surgeries during my adolescence and college years to keep my disease under control.  But then things got bad...

On December 8th, 2001 I was rushed to the emergency room in severe abdominal pain. I spent most of the next several months in a hospital bed and by the spring of 2002 I had lost over 50 lbs and was on the brink of death. A couple days following one particular surgery my intestine ruptured and I'd gone septic. While attempting to walk from my bed to the bathroom, the 10 inch incision site on my stomach opened up and spilled a mess of infection and bowel contents onto the floor of my hospital room. I was rushed to the operating room, yet again, to undergo another life saving emergency surgery. While in recovery, the surgeon pulled my mom aside and said, "I'm so sorry, but I'm not confident Chris will wake up..." 

Thankfully I did wake up, and over the course of the next several months, started getting healthier. I was spending more time and home than in the hospital, but there was still a tiny fistula, or intestinal leak, and my doctors could not figure out where it was coming from. After much thought, and many consultation meetings, it was decided that I go in for an 'exploratory' surgery to find the source of the fistula. And on October 14th, 2002, nearly 11 months after that initial trip to the ER, I had my final surgery.

During those long days, weeks and months in the hospital, nearly every night I would watch one of my Pearl Jam DVDs. Years earlier after being cut from my Jr High baseball team, music became my passion with Pearl Jam leading the way. Some evenings in the hospital my surgeon would sit with me for extended periods of time watching those videos with me. I told her all about my favorite band, the songs, and all the friends I made just from being a fan. 

As I began to heal after that last surgery, I knew something was different. I was eating and digesting food without issue, and I was gaining weight. I felt a level of health that was foreign to me. I had been sick for so long, that I didn't remember what it like to feel truly healthy. 

On December 8th, 2002, exactly one year to the day that I was rushed to the ER, I was on my way to a Pearl Jam show and received a phone call that would change my life. I found out Mike McCready, my favorite guitar player for my favorite band had Crohn's disease. I was not only shocked, but also felt an even stronger connection to the band. Mike had just announced that he had been living with Crohn's disease since 1986, the same year I was diagnosed. 

In the spring of 2003, nearly one year after I came out of that life saving surgery, a friend told me that Mike was scheduled to speak at the annual benefit luncheon for the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation NW Chapter. I cold-called the chapter office inquiring about attending to hear Mike tell his story...

At this point, you either know the rest of the story, or you want to hear more. Either way, I empower you to take a moment and dig deep, and make a donation to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. A Foundation that has elevated me and countless others on their journey with IBD.

I'm grateful for any gift you make, but I'm elated by a gift that is meaningful and helps represent the connection that you and I have, as a friend, a family member, a colleague. I'm grateful for your generosity. 

To hear more about my journey with Crohn's, check out my presentation from the 2020 TEDx Event in Big Sky, MT.