The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America recently featured this question from a parent on its Facebook page: “My son was just diagnosed with Crohn’s at the end of last school year. We did a lot of resting over summer break and he was feeling almost normal again. School is now back in session and he is starting a flare up. I know he feels bad and I am letting him take his time in the morning but I want him to attempt to go to school. I don’t want to push him too hard but I think it is important that he try to start the day and then if it’s too much come home. How do you other families handle this?”
This post received nearly 200 comments and advice from parents, a nod to the fact that while going back to school is a time of excitement, it can also be very stressful if your child has a recent diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which includes Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. In children with IBD, the digestive tract becomes swollen and inflamed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that IBD affects about one million Americans, occurring most frequently in people ages 15 to 30.
To help with the transition back to school, I’d like to share eight tips for parents. These tips and more are also in a video produced by Seattle Children’s.
