Go Your Crohn Way: A Gutsy Guide to Living with Crohn's Disease

by Kathleen Nicholls

For Kathleen Nicholls, life with Crohn's disease has been a constant battle against her bowels. But life has also been about David Bowie, dancing, and laughter. Go Your Crohn Way follows the highs and lows of Kathleen's experiences, and is full of useful advice for maintaining self-confidence and positivity while navigating the world of work, relationships, and those conversations.

Warm and inspiring, this book demonstrates how Crohn's can be life-changing, but not just for the worse. Kathleen gives advice and tips on adapting and thriving through Crohn's, including a specially created phrasebook, which proves that so long as you know how to ask for the nearest bathroom, globe-trotting is still firmly on the agenda.

Full of fun and humour, Kathleen's journey through life with Crohn's disease will leave you - like her - in stitches.

Genres: Nonfiction, Health

280 pages, Paperback

Published May 19, 2016

About the author

Blogger and writer (no, really) who deeply loves Bowie, ALL the cats, and making people feel good! My first book GO YOUR CROHN WAY is out now!

Reviews

[MJ Nicholls · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have known my sister now for nearly three decades, and I have to say, I think the broad is growing on me. I first met her in 1986, when she had the audacity to emerge from the matriarch three years earlier, basking in the limelight of being the second child to appear after a startling hiatus of eighteen years. This effrontery aside, I finally deigned to speak to the wise and witty chick, and I found our colloquies stimulating and fruitful, and the childhood larks we spent of a high calibre. I am happy to say, then, that her book on Crohn’s Disease is a thorough and compassionate no-folds-barred peek into the life of a sassy Scottish woman with a big brain who has insightful and sensible things to say, who has a clear-sighted (loo)handle on her condition, and who is willing to share her ordeals to help the afraid with their fraught futures. Enough said. Order the book tomorrow. More on this diseased dame here.

[pizza boy · Rating 5 out of 5]

אולי אני משוחד. אני חולה קרוהן כבר 10 שנים. המחלה הבלתי נראית הזאת יכולה להיות קשה, מתישה, מגעילה,מעייפת ופשוט נוראית. המאבק במחלה הוא על בסיס יום יומי והוא משפיע לא רק על הגוף, אלא גם על הנפש, על מערכות היחסים ועל כל החיים. הספר מתאר את התמודדות של קטלין עם מחלת הקרוהן. היא מביאה טיפים מועילים ומשתפת כמה חרא, תרתי משמע, עוברים החולים במחלה הזאת. אני מקווה ומייחל לכך שהמודעות למחלות מעי דלקתיות תעלה ואנשים יבינו את הקושי שבמחלה הזאת. ספר מקסים וחמוד ואני מניח שיכול לעזור להמון

[Amy Elste · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

As someone living with Crohn’s Disease, I found Go Your Crohn Way by Kathleen Nicholls to be a relatable read. Kathleen’s personal experiences and humor make the book engaging and easy to connect with.

She covers many aspects of living with Crohn’s, from the emotional challenges to practical tips on managing symptoms and everyday life. It’s comforting to read about someone who understands what it’s like to deal with this condition daily. Her positive attitude and witty writing style make even the tough topics easier to digest.

While the book is really good, I wish I had read this at the start of my journey! It’s still a great resource and read for anyone with Crohn’s Disease or someone's loved one. I definitely recommend it for its honest and humorous take on life with Crohn’s.

And the dedication, hilarious!

[Leanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kathleen’s blog (and twitter) have been a lifeline for me over the years. Her writing is real, poignant, upbeat and humorous. Her puns are ridiculous and her love for Jon Hamm knows no bounds. She proves that she is so much more than just her disease but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t a huge part of her. When she announced that her first book was due to be published I was so incredibly proud of her despite never having met in person and knew that I would probably break my book buying ban in order to get a copy (in the end I didn’t have to as I snagged a kindle copy thanks to the kind folks at NetGalley).

For a book about something as serious as an incurable disease Go Your Crohn Way had me laughing out loud plenty as I read it on tubes and busses as part of my daily commute. Kathleen’s humour shines through on each and every page which makes the whole thing so much more digestible. IDB is a scary thing but this book is definitely not. It’s refreshingly accessible and I’d recommend it to anyone who’s been newly diagnosed or who has a loved one with the condition.

[Katey Lovell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably best suited to those with little to no knowledge of what it's like living with IBD, this accessible memoir had me nodding along - the battles for diagnosis, the difficulty explaining symptoms, that it's not the same as IBS ...

I'm a big fan of a pun and this book is chock-full of them - some better than others!

[Alyssa Shapland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely gorgeous book full of tips on how to get through your diagnosis and the rest of your life when you live with Crohn's Disease. It's such a personal journey full of individual triumphs and tragedies, but there are certain things that we all have in common and I found myself hooting with laughter like a total loon in some parts. I also felt really understood and not so isolated, which is so important when dealing with chronic illness. Fantastic book, would recommend to anyone with Crohn's Disease or anyone who knows someone with it.

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent book if you've never learned about Crohn's disease before & want to know about it, or for those who were just diagnosed very recently. For those of us living with the condition who already know a great deal about it, this book is mundane. The only new information I found in this book was related to how our chronic illness can affect our loved ones around us. In that sense it was helpful, I guess. Also very corny.

[Amelia Jung · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kathleen, I honestly wanted to hate this book.

The mention of Crohn's disease makes me angry which is extremely unfortunate considering I was diagnosed over 6 years ago. Diagnosed 6 years ago and shortly after I received this book. At first I thought it was overwhelming. It felt like reading this would somehow romanticize, or honestly make the diagnosis real. (I was 14 cut me some slack my frontal lobe was not developed.) In the years that followed, I was resentful that someone had written a witty book, and was making a profit off of the disease that plagued me. What changed now? Things got real. I've gotten the worst results from a colonoscopy that I have ever had in my 6 years of this disease and honestly, I got scared. It was the fear that made me realize, that the world is not against me, other people with Crohn's disease (whether in remission or not) are not against me. They did not choose me to suffer for them to prosper. Just the disease is against me and finding others who have fought off the Crohns monster may actually be beneficial.

However, you said it best Crohns disease is different for everyone that doesn't mean I can't find support from hearing about others' experiences. I found myself repeating the phrase "that is exactly how I feel, I am so glad someone else thinks that." The way Kathleen shines light while relying on humor to deliver on the many issues of Crohns disease is impressive. Kathleen encourages social outreach, something that I have never thought about, again seeking support makes it real. She talks about the issues no one else does, the mental drain that a chronic illness takes on a person, the issues that arise within every aspect and every relationship in their life.

Thank you Kathleen.

[Chris Nash · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was gifted to me by a friend when I first got my IBD diagnosis and is something I haven’t felt able to read until now. The author shared her experience of living with Crohn’s, and is clear that she doesn’t want it to be a self help book. For me, however, it has definitely helped. Not perhaps in the way you might expect, with tips and tricks, but simply by making me feel less alone, and reassuring me that some of the struggles I have had are ‘normal’ or to be expected. At times I found the constant play on words difficult, in terms of the flow of the book, but overall a really useful read.

[Chrissie · Rating 5 out of 5]

After being diagnosed in 2019, the only book (until now) I have found helpful in trying to gain some insight was “Crohns Disease for Dummies.”
I’ve laughed, frowned intensely, made “mmm” agreement noises whilst nodding and found myself emotional because of how Kathleen has managed to articulate so accurately how I have and do feel at times.
I would encourage anyone with IBD or doing life with someone with IBD to read at once. My husband is starting it tonight (despite the fact I’ve read almost half of it to him after laughing out loud and him wanting to know the culprit!)

[Niki Rowland · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Crohn’s disease has made me acutely aware of what I can achieve if I set my mind to it. When you choose to accept your lot, and ensure you don’t allow anger, bitterness and self-pity to eat you up, having this disease can fill you with a determination that’s hard to fake. When your own body tries to set limits for you, that’s when your mind puts it proverbial foot down and forces you to take action.”

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I had this book many years ago when I was diagnosed with Crohn’s! The author is completely open about all of her struggles with Crohn’s, and she tells her story with humor (and puns). Gastroenterologists should prescribe reading this book with every Crohn’s diagnosis to help patients know that they are not alone.

[Jennifer Summers · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who has very recently been diagnosed with crohns disease, I didn't have a clue about it. Medical jargon meant nothing to me, I just heard 'incurable' so this book has been a life saver.
Full of information, but also extremely funny. Keeps things light but also tells it straight.
I needed this. Thank you Kathleen!

[Elisa Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was great in the way that it was presented in a comedic way - adding humour to a disease which certainly at times lacks any humour. I would love to see many of my family and friends reading this book - so that they gain an understanding of what I face every day.

[Kelsey Eller · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a living human being with Crohn’s Disease I can say that this book is not only the most relatable but also the funniest book I have ever read about our not so friendly chronic illness! Wish I could give 10 stars because Kathleen deserves it!

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good. The humour and the information makes for an enjoyable read

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an interesting account of how someone dealt with their condition with a humorous, witty tone. I felt inspired to read it after recently being diagnosed myself. A good read

[Anouck Moortgat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gave me a lot of perspective of how other people deal with this disease as a newly diagnosed patient

[AV · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good messages, somewhat repetitive. Would have been more helpful when I had first been diagnosed with crohns but was still able to take some things from it.

[Antonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just what I needed after being diagnosed this summer...

[Lisa Bentley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tomorrow (19th May 2016) is Crohn’s and Colitis awareness day.

I know this because in 2012 I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis. Before that day, I had never even heard of Ulcerative Colitis. Once I was diagnosed I was still a bit confused and it took my boyfriend (then friend) to say to me “Ulcerative Colitis…isn’t that a chronic illness? You’re going to have this for life” and it wasn’t until that point that the enormity of the diagnosis hit me.

Everyone with IBD has their own story. You can read mine here – One Year Later: A Look Back at My IBD Story

Go Your Crohn Way is Kathleen Nicholls story. As I was reading this hilarious book (and believe me snorted with laughter many a time…attractive) I found myself shocked with the similarities of someone else living with this illness to my own experiences such as my go to phrase “I’m fine” which drives the people who love me crazy because they know I am not, how I have invented a new normal e.g. what is normal for me is not normal for everyone else and, of course, competitive suffering.

However, Go Your Crohn Way is so much more than a memoir. It is a non-technical, non-scary guide. It is perfect for the newly diagnosed and a fresh look from those who are ‘frequent flyers’ at the hospital. Having read other books to try and come to terms or get to grips with my own personal diagnosis, I have often been terrified and confused by the medical jargon that I don’t understand. I finish the books with more questions than answers. Go Your Crohn Way is different. Kathleen Nicholls has created the go-to book for the IBD sufferer and rather refreshingly for the family and friends of those who suffer.

Go Your Crohn Way needs to be on the TBR pile of everyone who has an association with IBD – the patient and the families. Go and buy a copy right now!

Go Your Crohn Way by Kathleen Nicholls is available now.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Using her own experiences with Crohn's Disease, Kathleen Nicholls provides a light-hearted guide to living with the disease. I suppose to could be useful to someone who is recently diagnosed and trying to learn about how to live now that they have it. On the other hand Nicholls form of the disease is very severe and might be frightening to someone newly diagnosed who may or may not ever experience such extreme symptoms. She does try and stress that the disease manifests itself differently for everyone, but I can still see how this book might scare people. I do appreciate the addition of anything about Crohn's Disease to the literature though. It's not something that gets talked about or written about a lot and the more resources there are available for people who are diagnosed the better. As someone who has been living with Crohn's for 12 years, this book didn't have much to offer me but I can see it being useful for someone new to the disease.

[Ilana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not a self-help book, this account is based on the author's experience of living with a rare incurable disease. It explain the process of medical investigation as well as how to maintain a trace of normality 'in living with an abnormal illness'. It is well written and reveals valuable information about Crohn disease and live surviving strategies of coping with it.
Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher via NetGalley.

[Kelly Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I would have enjoyed it more if I were diagnosed recently instead of 12 years ago. However, I appreciated the humorous approach and wow, I didn't know that many Crohn's puns were possible. I also just really like that this book exists.