Winning The Race

Kelly Adrine is an avid runner. She has competed in the Cleveland, Portland and Boston marathons. But Kelly didn't always run. In fact, she completed her first marathon two years after a difficult bout with Crohn's disease and surgery to remove her entire colon.

As a newlywed living in Cleveland, Kelly Adrine faced a diagnosis of Crohn's disease that nearly brought her life to a complete halt. After honeymooning in Aruba, her Crohn's flared up in a big way. Kelly was hospitalized and treated, but her condition continued to deteriorate rapidly.

Kelly was too exhausted to work, enjoy activities with friends or keep up with the most basic housework. She recalls, "when I was sick I remember not even being able to put dishes in the dishwasher."

While every effort was being made to save her diseased colon, her condition continued to worsen. After repeated hospitalizations and an emergency admission, surgery seemed to be the only remaining option.

"Kelly remembers, 'before I’d gone into surgery the doctor told me my life was going to be completely different, after I got out and recovered – he was definitely right.'' Everything changed for the better."

A doctor in Cleveland Clinic's Department of Colorectal Surgery recommended that Kelly's entire colon be removed through a minimally invasive procedure, or laparoscopic surgery, as it was almost entirely diseased.

Kelly remembers, "before I’d gone into surgery the doctor told me my life was going to be completely different, after I got out and recovered – he was definitely right." Everything changed for the better.

An ileostomy was performed, creating an alternate path for her waste to be drained, and six months later, a j-pouch surgery was completed as well, allowing Kelly to have an internal pouch rather than a stoma (external bag).

Since that time, Kelly has led a normal life. That is, if you consider running 26.2 miles normal. In October, 2008, Kelly ran the Portland Marathon while being paced by her brother. She finished 133 out of 4,200 females in 3:31:08 and qualified for the prestigious Boston Marathon, which she subsequently ran in 3:35:52, placing 1,908 out of 9,400 female runners.

A short four years earlier, Kelly and her family prayed that she would win the medical battle with Crohn's. Anything further was beyond their expectations. Kelly and her family thank Cleveland Clinic's exceptional staff for helping her recover. Looking back, Kelly says "I would tell others to trust their physician, because they have their patients’ best interest at heart."

Because of her care, she is a healthy vibrant woman who is able to lead a normal life and compete in world-class marathons. Her brother and marathon pacer, recently remarked, "Notwithstanding the diagnosis of Crohn’s disease and after two surgeries that included the removal of her colon, most people would have given up physically and mentally. Not Kelly. Her thirst for life and can-do attitude makes her my hero."