Carrie & Nathan's Inaugural GYGIG Ride!

Get Your Guts in Gear

Carrie's story is not so different from others you may know or have read about. The year was 2000...something. Early in the decade, in any case, I think. Actually, as we looked back, the first symptoms were retroactively-recognized in 1998. That's what I remember, anyway. Well, much of it is a blur. We had a trip in the car so "legally-fast" we were able to avoid the proverbial "accident," but not by much. The show we were going to see was ultimately viewed by only one of us, with the other spending her time in the powder room. I don't believe we felt at that point anything was "wrong," only that it was an extreme circumstance of...well, you know. This was during the summer and by the following February, Carrie was in the hospital.

She'd had arthritic problems since about 5th grade, and was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (yes, I can do it...JRA) though no blood tests were done to confirm the diagnosis. The first I was ever aware of this, though, was when were dating in the early 1990's. It was a real eye-opener for me, seeing her in this intense pain - her sacroiliac joints this time. No, no, it's not at all about me, but I must tell you I felt so very helpless, scared, sad...it was tough. Note that we're not even talking about any IBD stuff, yet. Well, time went on, and the pain moved from here to there, hips to knees to chest to back, to la-di-da...and back again! To worsen matters, during Carrie's senior year of college she had a severe bout of iritis (inflammation of the iris of the eye). It was because of the iritis that she was referred to her now rheumatologist, who diagnosed her with ankylosing spondylitis. Okay, try this drug, then this one, then this one, how about this one for pain, exercise as much as you can tolerate, and come back in 6 months. That reads probably pretty common for some of you. Medicine being a practice, not an exact science.

Okay, so let's get to the guts...Carrie's hospital visit a couple paragraphs up was when we first heard "Crohn's" disease. Carrie's a nurse, so she had all the books. We already had her diagnosed, you might say. Well, that is, it wasn't a shot in the dark. There was education to back this up, but we found ourselves as befuddled as her would-be ultimate gastroenterologist in a concrete diagnosis, hence Crohn's Colitis, having symptoms of both diseases mentioned at the outset of this missive, but leaning more towards Crohn's. From here on out, I shall refer to the disease as simply "Crohn's." So where are we? Oh, yes, we have a beautiful young woman, inside and out...well, her literal insides were not so beautiful, but otherwise...wow! She is a terrific woman! (who happens to have two diseases at work known as Crohn's and Ankylosing Spondylitis)

You're getting bored, so I'll fast forward, just hit the high points, and attempt to summarize why all this is available for your reading pleasure.

We have been most fortunate and truly God-blessed that Carrie's "conditions" have been manageable with, really, very little medication now. And while surgery has been the best and most-thankful option for many folks with the disease, this has not had to be a consideration for us. Neither Crohn's nor UC have a cure. As many people that these diseases affect, still very many more have never heard of them. What Carrie and I are going to do this year is join Get Your Guts in Gear in a bike riding adventure through northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. Throughout the months leading up to the ride, we'll be training extensively and fundraising, helping to raise more and more awareness about the diseases, and of course the necessary funds that support the research and support networks dedicated to finding more effective treatments and ultimately a cure for Crohn's and UC. As you may have found by visiting the GYGIG site, the ride has been occurring for several years, having started in New York, then expanding the event to Seattle and Texas. Through the UOAA, Carrie being the local chapter's support group coordinator, she found out about the rides a couple years ago and has been pining to do one ever since. With the advent of the Midwest ride, being relatively close to home, she set her sites on October.

I hope you will consider supporting us in this venture. We're fundraising as a team and are attempting to raise at least $3,600. We'll be hosting a few events this year to promote awareness and to give you all opportunities to donate to the cause in person. GYGIG has also made it easy to donate online! Just visit our donation page on GYGIG's website. When you click the donate button, our information should automatically fill in, so the organizers know your contribution is on our behalf. If it doesn't for some reason, be sure to direct your contribution to Nathan & Carrie Carls, rider numbers MW-5 and MW-6. You can also mail in your donation and find the address via the link a few lines up. Hey, it's tax-deductible, too!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read about the cause, and for considering a donation. Certainly prayerful support is always appreciated!

My very best to you and yours,
Nathan