On Any Given Sports Day

We live life to pursue dreams, loves, happiness. But when you live with the debilitating effects of Ulceritive Colitis, you can’t pursue anything.

You merely exist.

I was diagnosed with UC when I was 18. The early flare-ups caused my spleen to malfunction. I developed severe anemia. It was removed. Following surgery, doctors began treating the UC with medications and yearly check-ups. I was told by the time I turned 40, there would, most likely, be a cure.

I began to live my life in pursuit of my dreams.

Working the sports desk at OCN

After graduating from the Cal State University at Northridge with a degree in Speech Communications, I became a successful Night Club DJ working clubs all over Southern California. Later, I began living my dream as a Television Sportscaster. They eventually over-lapped. Both careers can be quite stressful revolving around timely deadlines.

Not a good recipe if you live with UC.

My first order of business when working, be it at a Night Club or a Football Stadium, was to find the nearest restroom……just in case of a sudden emergency.

Moving ahead some 20 years, my 40th birthday rolled around with no cure. I turned 43 and the UC began to spiral out of control. Working for CBS affiliates in Idaho, I began to lose weight quickly. One day, I began experiencing severe pain in my left foot. Thinking it was broken, I went to a doctor who, instead of a broken bone, found a blood clot in the artery next to my left calf limiting blood-flow to my foot causing the pain.

That’s when I stopped living and began merely existing.

Working a sports desk in Idaho. I weighed, maybe, 130 lbs in this publicity picture.

The UC became so severe I suffered from malnutrition and dehydration. This caused my blood to coagulate, or thicken, causing the blood clot. Capillaries in the toes were so severely damaged, all of them were amputated. I was in the hospital for two months.

That was just the beginning of my nightmare.

The next two years, I was in and out of the hospital every four months. The UC was so bad, I needed high doses of prednisone to survive. Some of the side effects of the steroid. My weight fluctuated between 210 pounds at its highest down to 130 pounds at its lowest. I developed severe osteoperosis in my hips. I couldn’t walk up stairs without help.

Even though I had won some prestigious journalism awards as the state’s Best Sportscaster three out of five years, I lost my job.

The only way to begin living again was to remove my toxic colon.

Weighing in around 120 lbs before heading to L.A. for “J-Pouch” surgery.

At 45, I returned to Los Angeles where J-Pouch surgery was performed. That’s where I am now. I live with a temporary ileostomy until a second surgery to re-connect my digestive system. The pain is gone. I feel great. I lost organs and toes to live again. That’s my remedy. Not a cure. I’ll soon return to pursuing my dreams. I married my high school sweetheart and love of my life, Heather.

Anyone can suffer from Ulceritive Colitis or Crohn’s Disease.

President John F. Kennedy had UC. So does former San Diego Chargers kicker Rolf Benirschke as well as Hockey stars Theoren Fleury and Shayne Corson. Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback David Garrard and actress Shannen Doherty suffer from Crohn’s.

Someone close to you suffers from one or the other.

Our wedding day.

Between 2009-’11, I raised $5000 walking for the cause! Thank you so much for the support and for your generosity!!

We’re not done. There’s still no cure! Please remember my story. I want to help find a cure. Please sponsor me, make a donation and/or join me on TEAM ERIC G. for the LOS ANGELES TAKE STEPS! BE HEARD WALK FOR CROHN’S & COLITIS Saturday, June 23rd 2012.

Santa Monica Civic Auditorium
1855 Main St., Santa Monica, CA 90401
Registration & Festival 4:00PM, Take Steps Walk 5:00PM

Any amount you can afford is a blessing because every amount helps find a cure. Let’s help those afflicted, and merely existing, not have to settle for a remedy as I had to.

Let’s help find the cure.

Maybe, together, we can find a cure to eradicate both Ulceritive Colitis & Crohn’s Disease. Click here and go to my page at www.CCFA.org for more information and to sponsor me.

AGAIN, Thank You so much for your generous donation……So, others can start living instead of merely existing.

Always,

Eric Geller