Kiersten Thomson leverages the power of food to battle Crohn's (E44)

In today’s episode, Kiersten Thomson shares her journey with Crohn’s Disease and how she leans on the power of food to help manage her symptoms. Diagnosed in 2017, she described herself as stubborn and decided against taking the medications her doctor prescribed after a colonoscopy confirmed Crohn’s. Her doctor, at the time, was adamant that food did not play a role in managing IBD, yet her instincts kept telling her different.

Not willing to accept the idea that food didn’t matter, she sought the help of a functional medicine doctor. For the next year, she did well. She cut out inflammatory foods like sugar and gluten and kept to a strict diet. But despite her best efforts, in late 2018, she developed a microtear in her colon. The intense pain sent her to the hospital and she was informed she would need immediate surgery.

In a surprising twist however, on the day of her surgery–just minutes before–her surgeon came in and recommended that she not have the surgery. Instead, he told her that she could avoid the surgery if she took medications and followed exactly what he said; she took his advice and followed his plan. Kiersten went on a round of steroids and was then able to start Humira injections, with the help of her first doctor who was able to assist her with the paperwork for Humira’s patient assistance program since she and her husband were self employed and didn’t have traditional insurance.

Humira helped her symptoms to calm down for most of the past year, but toward the end of that first year, the effectiveness was already starting to lessen. Kiersten shares her recent decision to come off of medication–from insurance to family planning–and talks about her renewed effort in focusing on her diet and adhering to the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. While food has always been a passion for Kiersten, it also became a part of her identity. She talks openly how Crohn’s has challenged her emotionally and created difficulty in figuring out who she was...a former foodie.

She’s now embracing a new path, a new reality that has been shaped by Crohn’s. She’s sharing more of her journey, advocating for those with IBD, sharing research and information on her social media, and now revamping her blog to focus on what lies ahead with new SCD recipes and life with IBD.

Follow Kiersten at:
https://www.instagram.com/theformerfoodie/

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