My dad has it, and I have it's milder cousin, IBS. A maddening condition because it waxes and wanes on its own little path. What helps to relieve it one flare up doesn't the next. There is a fantastic organization, the Crohns Colitis Foundation with lots of resources. Overall, I would say the hardest thing your son is going to have to deal with is that he is no longer Superman. He has a touchy constitution and has to watch his health regime--eat right, get a enough rest, practice stress relief techniques, learn coping strategies for having a chronic illness. And despite what people say, it is not about what you eat or your stress, although managing those things can help lessen your symptoms and lessen your suffering. It is an autoimmune condition. Keeping yourself stress free and healthy is good for the immune system, no matter how you look at it, but not always possible. We do what we can. It is also related to seratonin. I have migranes, another seratonin related condition, which is also chronic, so I definately can related to what your son is going through. Like I said, he needs to just realize that this is part of being human, he won't always have flare ups, it will pass and he will have many, many good days. And when he has a bad day, he will just have to take it easy and people will just have to understand. Then he can go back gangbusters on the good days. If you try to drug yourself into "normalcy" with these chronic conditions, my experience has been that you just drag out the hard times all that much longer. At least that's the way it is with my migranes. I can drug myself into a three day migrane to try and function, (which I can only manage to do marginally) or take a day off work and be back 100% the next day. Same with my dad, he was ill on steroids for 10 years, absolutely miserable, until he accepted his disease, went off steroids, adjusted his lifestyle and has been feeling great ever since. He also ended up with steroid related degeneration, so I would avoid that route if I possibly could with your son. My friend was taking steroids for asthma for years (which actually ended up being misdiagnosed and who knows how many of her subsequent health problems were a result of the steroids), and has had nothing but grief the past five years from fallout from that. I'm not saying steroids haven't saved some people's lives with these chronic conditions, but IMHO the best route is to try holistic management of a chronic condition first. My friend didn't even HAVE asthma, which shows you how the medical field can get things VERY WRONG some times. You need to educate yourself and be your own advocate. Your son is not alone! Just from my own experience, a mild diet low on the rough fiber (from wheat bran and vegetable and fruit peels) and low on dairy, but including soluable fiber (from things like applesauce, barley and oatmeal) is helpful. Some people are sensitive to onions, peppers and cruciferous vegetables, but if your son is not, then don't worry about that. Doctors say stay away from lots of fat, lots of sugar and caffeine and eat smaller meals spread out througout the day to keep from hyperstimulating the digestive tract. But that's good advice for anyone. Again, your son will just have to watch himself. He doesn't have an iron gut, but then no one should actually act like they do, although a lot of us do. My friend who has it swears by herbs, (and she's a scientist), but your mileage may vary. Everyone is unique in how they respond to various natural treatments. That's one thing you learn with a chronic disease, you have to find your own unique combination of coping techniques that work for you. There are lots of resources out there. Approach all with an open mind but a healthy dose of skepticism. It has been my experienc that a LOT of doctors know nothing about treating chronic diseases through prevention and lifestyle managment. They only know to prescribe this or that pill which is what they get from the pharmaceutical companies. I'm not totally dissing pills, but bear in mind that these pills all have side effects, many of which are NOT reported on. For example, my dad was on cholesterol lowering medication for TWO YEARS which gave him chronic lung congestion. He was on round after round of antibiotics and claimed to have a constant cold. Well FINALLY after going to many doctors, one realized it was a little publicized side effect from the medication. Same goes for my friend with "asthma," she actually had a rare swelling of the trachea, and 10 years of asthma treatment, (which is a bronchial condition), treatment for swollen vocal chords, etc. did nothing for her. Eventually x-rays revealed the problem was in the trachea, which is between the vocal chords and bronchial tubes, which had not been looked at all that time. I'm mentioning this because I really think that my dad got some BAD advice early on in his battle with ulcerative colitis and I would urge you to not take the kool aide totally with all these drugs the doctors push. Find out some alternatives from people who are also scientific in their approach, knowledeable, flexible and skeptical, but aren't totally under the sway of the drug companies and the billions they pump into research. Good information takes a little rooting around to find. There's probably an active Chrons Colitis group in your area to join. Here is a link that might be useful: Chrons Colitis Foundation

OK maybe this just touched a nerve for me, but I really hate to hear about people suffering from digestive upset of any kind, because it has haunted my family. My dad has ulcerative colitis, and I have IBS and also this interstitial cystitis thing, which is chronic inflammation. Same with migraines also, which I get, they are chronic inflammation too, along with their friend, menstrual cramps, which is uterine inflammation. So I've been round the bend for many years trying to figure out how to stop my body from becoming "inflamed." Same with ulcers of the stomach, you've basically got the stomach tissues becoming inflamed with gastritis. So call it gastritis, colitis, cystitis, it basically means "inflammation" of the "fill in body part." And I've tried every imaginable herb and diet advice. A lot of it is just hooey, IMHO, even coming from doctors. Also, if you get chronically "inflamed" then you are going to be prescribed and take "anti-inflammatory" drugs, which then have their own fun side effects. Along with pain killers and anti-biotics, all of which wreak havoc with your body, IMHO. Of course what are you going to do, not taking them is also bad because of the pain and infections that won't go away. Here's a few things I have learned. If you don't have a food allergy or sensitivity, then going without it isn't going to help one bit. I've gone off gluten and dairy and acid and nightshade and purines etc. and not much of it has helped. But it did help me identify my triggers, which going without them is very helpful. For example, I really have a difficult time with the whole "low acid" diet recommendations because your stomach is full of acid and I don't think you can throw your whole body's pH off by just eating a tomato. Maybe a bushel of them! The real issue is avoiding foods that are going to make your own stomach acids increase, not foods that are acidic. Having said that, I still avoid some high acid foods. For me, absolute DEATH food is anything with artificial sweetener in it. If your daughter was ingesting that kind of stuff, I highly recommend she stop. Also bad for me is alcohol and tea. If I was trying to rebuild my gut bacteria, I wouldn't drink those things. Alcohol is the waste products of bacteria so too much of it is toxic to bacteria. Also, tea contains tannins which are toxic compounds made by plants. A little is OK, a lot and you'll pickle yourself. (Note: that was a JOKE, not a scientific pronouncement!). Some herbs stimulate stomach acids, some calm them. I have good luck with fennel, which is given to babies to help with colic. Chamomile too. Tumeric and saffron also are anti-inflammatory. But a little bit goes a long way with those. Parsley, cilantro and other green herbs like basil and dill are also wonderful for digestive health. I already went on about probiotics, they are a very good idea but it really takes some doing to get live cultures. A lot of folks are into doing their own, food culturing, I may try it some day. A lot of products that you can buy that might have contained probiotics may not have any live cultures left by the time you eat them. Dairy, especially modern pasteurized dairy is pretty hard on the stomach. Don't get me wrong, unpasteurized milk carries lots of health risks, but it also if managed properly, has some health benefits. But if I was going off to college I wouldn't fuss with finding special dairy products. I would just avoid high lactose ones like milk and fresh cheeses. I do really well avoiding dairy. But if you're going the soy route, make sure it is organic. The best thing, and the hardest thing, is just to avoid junk foods that are high sugar and use refined carbs. That includes most bread and baked goods! Those are my weaknesses. Also, soluble fiber is very good for the stomach. If I have an IBS flare up, a bowl of oatmeal is often the best medicine. I can't tout the benefits of oats enough, although some folks are sensitive to them. If that's you guys, never mind. Other soluble fibers are barley, white and sweet potatoes, squash, bananas, berries, beans, (they have insoluble too, so watch out!), apples, carrots, almonds, flax, (I don't do flax, I sub sunflower or pumpkin seeds instead, because you have to grind flax or it is a total wash and it has insoluble fiber too)j. I don't try and AVOID bad foods, I have just developed a repertoire of recipes I like with the good foods. I eat lots of oat things like oat bread, oat muffins, granola, (in moderation since it is loaded with fat and sugar), oat pancakes, etc. I also throw butternut squash in with a lot of things, and routinely make roasted root veggies which are great. Luckily I love greens too, so eat lots of braised greens like cabbage, collards, kale, etc. Again, in moderation because they have some negative chemicals in them if you go overboard on them. Insoluble fiber in my case is NOT good, so watch out for things that are high in that, one of which is wheat bran. Also lots of fruits and veggies have the insoluble fiber but can be cooked to help soften it. Corn is somewhat problematic but I eat it without problems. Here are links to three recipes that I have made and liked that are loaded with soluble fibers. Asian Style Corn Chowder Note: Make this with coconut milk instead of the recommended cream. And add some carrots and a green veggie like green beans, pea pods or broccoli. Pumpkin Shitake Risotto. Note: Use UNCURED bacon. I make this with pureed butternut squash, just as good. Can throw some spinach in it too. Thai Pumpkin and Chicken Curry Note: use mild red curry paste and don't go overboard with the hot sauce! Same with this, throw some cabbage or spinach in with it. Also, if your daughter is taking NSAIDs for a chronic pain problem, she needs to get that as much under control as she can, because pain killers and terrible for the gut. One thing about pain killers, better to take a moderate amount proactively at the onset of pain than to wait until the pain is unbearable and then you have to take much, much more. There are a lot of books out there on managing chronic pain, your daughter might want to check them out. I had been healthy as a horse in my youth so it took me a while to realize what I had wasn't just a temporary headache or a bad period month, but rather an ongoing problem that had to be managed. So I started out way abusing pain killers. I was popping Vanquish like sweet tarts. Again, pain killers don't do much good once the pain is bad, but you can use NSAIDs to manage menstrual pain if taken ahead of time, before the pain gets bad. And honestly, she might want to think about going on the pill if that is her problem, because that was something that nipped my bad periods in the bud. I wouldn't want to be on them forever but for a while to see her through this upheaval time might be OK. But you can also manage them through exercise, like yoga and running. When I was very physically fit I didn't have near the problems I did later on in life. Of course maybe that's not her problem, maybe it's a skeletal or muscular problem. But at any rate, an exercise regime is pretty close to a miracle cure for a lot of ailments. It's just sticking with it that is difficult.

Pictures can be wildly inaccurate, as can monitors. The 2 cm doesn't have to look scrawny. You can get a mitered edge if you want the chunky look. I like the stone. It's beautiful, and looks good with your red stain. Not so much with the butter. In fact, the butter is exactly the wrong color with it. Peachy white would be okay, as would a blue-gray. I also think, at least from what I can see in the picture, that the tile might be too close a match to use right next to it. Not sure on that.

Wow noda what you describe is exactly how I feel....since my last bout with this about 5 or 6 years ago....I have been fine....I have had trouble for the last year on and off...but started the vomiting old blood and clots and KNEW I have to get to the doc..... (sorry probably to much info there)...Yep I can't eat and bubbly is a good way to describe how my tummy is besides when I get like the sharpe burning shooting pain in the middle of my chest....like heartburn....I hate this but know it will get better...I have been using the prilosec on and off for the last year....probably should have been better at taking it...but I wasn't....Anyways thanks all for the kind thoughts....and i will keep you all posted... I will ask my doc about that on Friday....Stacy