Redondo Beach family opens up about battle with Crohn's
This article was posted with permission from Kevin Cody, Publisher for Easy Reader, Inc.
By Rachel Reeves/Easy Reader News
When he was a junior at Redondo Union, Zach Zent (Alpha Gamma/Michigan 2016) was awarded the Ivy Chain, an honor reserved for the cream of the academic crop. His name was announced at an end-of-year ceremony organized to recognize recipients.
But Zach, now 19, wasn’t there.
He was lying in a hospital bed at Cedar-Sinai, as doctors removed the part of his intestine that bore the scars of Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis, which are painful diseases that afflict Zach and 1.4 million other Americans.
“I was diagnosed when I was a sophomore,” Zach said last week from Ann Arbor, where he lives while attending University of Michigan on an academic scholarship. “At first I didn’t think it was a big deal and I figured I’d be able to take it in stride. About a year later I got really sick, and that’s when I realized it wasn’t a joke.”
It wasn’t. Zach’s disease was severe, and over the years it would cause him unbearable pain at unpredictable intervals. At a glance, Zach seemed to be sailing through life. He met all the prerequisites for model high school student: captain of the varsity football and lacrosse teams, Scholar-Athlete of the Year, sports editor of the school newspaper, a grade point average of 4.2.
What people didn’t know and couldn’t see was Zach’s internal battle with Crohn’s, which he fought with teeth-gritting resolve and a credo of mind over matter.
Shannon Rodriguez, who taught Zach in AP government and AP economics, said that during her 22-year career as an educator she has never met a student she respected more highly than Zach.
“At times, it pained me to watch him work so hard,” she said. “I wanted to offer special arrangements for him to keep up with the class without him having to work so hard outside of class, but Zach would not allow anyone to treat him any differently.”
Frequently, he was forced to miss school or leave at lunchtime. At one point, he was bedridden for more than a month. To maintain straight A’s, Zach studied nights and weekends; to retain his position as starting linebacker, he ran and lifted through severe discomfort.
“Most people, [including] my close friends, didn’t know – still don’t know – how it affects me from day to day,” Zach said. “Most people don’t really know the magnitude of the disease.”
Another thing most don’t know is that one in 200 people suffers from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), the umbrella term for Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis.
“That’s a recurring theme you’ll hear with this disease,” said Paddy Harrigan, development coordinator for the Los Angeles chapter of Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA), located on Santa Monica Blvd. “There’s a real lack of awareness. Most people in this country don’t know that 1.4 million people have this disease.”
Like Zach, most people with IBD initially write their disease off as “just an upset stomach.” They delay seeking medical attention, and the longer they wait, the worse their intestinal scarring becomes.
There is, Harrigayn said, also a surprising lack of Crohn’s and colitis awareness amongst the medical community. The first ever Crohn’s-specific drug is scheduled for release in February, but until then Zach and others have to rely on medicines targeting unrelated conditions like psoriasis that can cost up to $15,000 per month.
In an effort to raise awareness about Crohn’s and colitis and prompt people to donate money toward research, the U.S. Senate in 2011 carved out the week of Dec. 1 through 7 for Crohn’s and Colitis Awareness Week.
It is an occasion Zach’s younger brother plans to commemorate with an awareness campaign of his own. Armed with educational material – T-shirts, buttons, pamphlets, bracelets – he will set up and man a booth on Redondo’s campus next week.
“I want to tell people what my brother suffered and how big a deal this really is,” said Zane, who is 16 and a junior at Redondo High. “The more people that find out, the better.”
Like his brother, Zane is a busy kid – he juggles football, baseball, two clubs, and a rigorous academic schedule – but the campaign is a priority for him.
“I wanted to do this because I watched my brother suffer through Crohn’s,” Zane said. “It was sad to watch, but he still did a lot of great things. He didn’t let it shut him down. I want to do this for him.”
“I’m really proud of him for stepping up,” Zach said of his brother’s effort to raise awareness about his disease. “I really admire him for doing the table at the school – that takes a lot of guts.”
Harrigan agrees, and points out that CCFA exists largely because of people like Zane – people who have been directly impacted by IBD and are moved to help in some way.
“Someone like Zane, who has seen what’s happening to his brother and how it’s affected their family, and takes it upon himself to spread the word and get information out there and possibly raise money to find cures – we are very appreciative of someone like that, and of people like the Zents who have stepped up to take control of something that’s going on in their lives,” Harrigan said.
Zach is fiercely determined to control his disease, and refuses to let it control him.
“It’s all about willpower,” he said. “There are a lot of times when you’re just sitting there, figuring, ‘I’m not going to be able to do this,’ but then you take a deep breath and think about all the things you’ve got going for you – how many people get to go to such a great school, have such great friends, live in Redondo Beach? – and you keep going.”
He [was] president of his pledge class at Theta Chi, and while he can’t play football anymore, he is diligently working toward his dream of becoming a lawyer. He’s also anxiously awaiting the release of a new Crohn’s drug.
“Zach doesn’t let the disease slow him down,” his father Steve said. “If his story can help anybody, it’s the kids that have this disease.”
Steve’s message for them?
“Don’t give up. You can do anything you want. Don’t let it beat you down. A cure is coming.”
CCFA hosts support groups and camps for people with Crohn’s and colitis, which eases the feeling of isolation that many of them know well. The foundation’s primary mission, though, is to raise money for research that will find a cure. It organizes fundraising walks, a half-marathon, triathlon, golf tournament, and women’s luncheon to cover its operating costs, as it receives no government support. Visit ccfa.org for more information.
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