What initially led you to start writing your blog, The Crazy Creole Mommy Chronicles?
Brooke Abbott: I actually started blogging before I even had a child to share random thoughts about things that I liked. Then, when I became a mother, I shifted focus and started writing about that experience.
Was IBD something you talked about on your blog in the beginning?
BA: Not at first. I was originally diagnosed in 2008 and after I had my son my disease took a drastic turn. I was working in entertainment and hadn’t told many people about my illness because I wanted to protect my job and I was concerned about the stigma associated with a gastrointestinal disease.
Then in 2012, I had a total colectomy, meaning my entire colon was removed. When I was in the hospital preparing for surgery, my mother suggested that I write a blog post about everything I had gone through and what was next. She told me to be completely honest because there might be someone else out there who was going through the same thing. So I did it. I wrote my story.