Toni's Story

Before I got sick, I was just a typical kid: going out with my friends, hanging out, having a good time, and then I started to not be able to go to the bathroom sometimes or having diarrhea and painful fissures. I became secluded. I did not want to see anybody, didn’t want to do anything. It’s hard; you’re embarrassed.

“I can leave my house without worrying about where the nearest bathroom is located.

At the time of my diagnosis, I was attending nursing school and I had difficulty concentrating on my coursework. After completing my degree, I was out of work a number of times because of flare-ups. I spent years on steroids and special diets, and underwent several surgeries to try to ease my symptoms, but nothing remained effective for an extended period of time.

One of the things I wanted most in life was to be a mom and when I had a son, I thought I’d be running around and doing all this stuff but I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t go out and run with him or play ball. I remember crying and telling my husband, “I feel like I’m failing him.”

Then my gastroenterologist suggested that I try REMICADE and I could not believe the results! I started feeling relief after my first dose. I now receive a maintenance regimen of REMICADE and have never felt better since my diagnosis.

I’m able to go out and play with my son and do things that I wasn’t able to do before. I can leave my house without worrying about where the nearest bathroom is located. I carry a full-time job as a nurse and inaddition, I can take care of my son, go to the beach, and go out to dinner.

“My stress level has dropped dramatically, while my comfort has increased.”

Toni is representative of patients responding to REMICADE under a physician's supervision. Individual results may vary.