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| Erm... just saw that typo. Minor mistake. They still do great work. |
While I have some issues with the walk, (the talk of "overcoming" disease that seems to crop up with these events is always a little strange... although I totally understand that it comes from a place of encouragement and caring) I don't want to talk about that right now. What struck me most as I walked alongside this incredibly diverse group of people, each in some way affected by IBD, was the importance of community and a support system.
Almost everyone there, as far as I could tell, walked with a team of people. Some small, some large, almost all of them (including the Incrohnables) wearing team shirts. The shirts, some of which made jokes like the team sporting shirts with picture of a toilet with the words "Sh!* Happens" written underneath, some dedicated to the memory of loved ones lost to IBD, each showed just how necessary a support system is both for IBD patients and for their family and friends.
The experience of living with chronic disease can be extremely alienating. It is such an internal experience, and it can be really hard to verbalize such an experience. However, I feel that the importance of the support of family and friends can not be underestimated in these moments of extreme isolation.
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