Tackling Pediatric Crohn's Disease: Ethan's Story

Ethan was diagnosed with Crohn's disease at a young age. Watch how Ethan and his family have tackled his diagnosis and the success he has found with the help of the pediatric gastroenterology team at Boys Town National Research Hospital.

• Transcript Pediatric GI: Ethan's Story - Boys Town PediatricsHe was five. He had just started kindergarten and he started having just chronic stomach aches. He would cry himself to sleep every single night. I just knew from the get-go that something was wrong. I was always tired. I was always not feeling good and I saw all my friends that were having fun playing at recess and I was always the one that just had to take a break. After trying a few simpler remedies, acid reflux, things like that, we contacted our pediatrician and he recommended that we go ahead and see a specialist and start down that avenue. He was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease. It was a word I didn’t know. It was a word I wasn’t comfortable with and of course, now in today’s age, we have way too much knowledge at our fingertips. He was always a kid that was off the charts, size, height, weight. From the moment he was born, he was a ten pound baby and we’re watching him shrinking. He is severely losing weight, losing lots of baby teeth and then teeth aren’t growing in. We just knew everything had kind of stopped. So when they gave me a name to it, I was really afraid. I do remember saying things to God of am I going to lose my son? I love Dr. Kunnath. He is my favorite. He really cares about me and the well-being of me. He notices that I love to play sports and he makes sure that that is one of my top priorities, is getting me healthy and getting me to be able to play my sports. He cares about us. He takes time to laugh with us, to know Ethan in his life, to ask him questions, to make sure that we’re not just recovering and managing this disease, but that he’s thriving. He’s enjoying school. He’s able to participate in sports. He pays attention to what is important to Ethan and makes that a value for him too. I take my morning medications in the morning, a couple pills but besides that, I go to school and I have a great day. He’s doing wonderful right now. When you see him and you talk to him, you would never know he’s sick. We know we can’t take it for granted. The thing that I love about the attention that Boys Town is giving to Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis is that we are doing research and we’re finding new medications. It gives me hope as a parent to know, okay if we hit another hiccup, we know there are more options out there, but he’s managing well and he’s strong and healthy. The more people that you got fighting with you and the more people that will help you with your fight, it just makes it a lot easier for you and a lot less stressful.