Health · Fitness & Nutrition · 4 hrs ago
Chloe Melas describes hiding ulcerative colitis during Sundance
Chloe Melas has lived with ulcerative colitis for 15 years, after being diagnosed at 25.
The condition is an autoimmune disease in which the body attacks the colon.
She struggled to hide her symptoms, including blood in her stool, bloating and constipation, as she pursued her career and relationships.
In 2012, she went to the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, with Brian Mazza, whom she had recently started dating.
She planned meals and mapped nearby bathrooms so she could manage the illness without drawing attention to it.
Keeping the condition private added to the emotional strain of living with it.
Melas is sharing her experience in a book co-written with Judy Batalion, The Girl’s Guide to Guts, in hopes of helping others feel less alone.
Chloe Melas says she spent years hiding her ulcerative colitis, an autoimmune disease that affects the colon.
She was diagnosed at 25 after finding blood in her stool.
In 2012, she went to the Sundance Film Festival with Brian, who is now her husband.
Melas says managing her symptoms and concealing the disease became difficult as she pursued her career and relationship.
She shares the story in an excerpt from The Girl’s Guide to Guts, co-authored with Judy Batalion.
- Who
- Chloe Melas, a journalist and co-author of The Girl’s Guide to Guts.
- What
- She described hiding her ulcerative colitis and attending Sundance while experiencing the disease.
- When
- She says she was diagnosed at 25 and has battled the disease for 15 years. The Sundance trip was in 2012.
- Where
- The Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
- Why
- Melas says she is sharing her story in hopes of helping others feel less alone.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Melas says she was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis after finding blood in her stool.
Melas went to the Sundance Film Festival in Park City with Brian, who was then her boyfriend.
Women's Health published Melas's account, excerpted from her book co-authored with Judy Batalion.
- Disease
- Ulcerative colitis, a form of inflammatory bowel disease
- Diagnosis
- At age 25, after finding blood in her stool
- Duration
- Melas says she has battled the disease for 15 years
- Sundance trip
- 2012, Park City, Utah
- Book
- The Girl’s Guide to Guts, co-authored with Judy Batalion
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What people are saying
I spent 15 years battling a form of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) known as Ulcerative Colitis.
I thought if maybe I ignored my symptoms (the blood, the bloating, the constipation), it would eventually go away.
I didn’t want to be holed up in some bathroom while he was out there wondering what he’d gotten himself into.
Trying to hide my disease while also managing my day-to-day emotional spirals, however, became a lot to handle.