From: Woodson Merrell <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, February 29, 2012 3:53 AM To: undisclosed-recipients: Subject: Request for Support for Caitlin Merrell's Crohn's and Colitis Foundation Walk Team Team Young=NYC at the 2011 Take Steps Walk. Dear Friends and Family, We were delighted last year when Caitlin's frien=s came out in force to support her team Young NYC at the Crohn's and Colitis Foundat=on of America "Take Steps, Be Heard" Walk. And we are equally thrilled for he= that she will lead the team again this year on May 17 at the South Street Seapor= Pier 17, where we will walk over the Brooklyn Bridge to raise awareness and celebrate the courage of patients living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease. <=p> This has got to be a good luck year for her team b=cause Caitlin also happens to be 17 years old, and she is the "Honored Hero" =or the New York walk, having been a top fund raiser for last years' walk, even w=ile working from her hospital bed at New York Hospital during a Crohn's flare. Caitli= was diagnosed with Crohn's when she was 13, in 2008, and has been managing wi=h incredible grace and resilience ever since. In addition to her many academic and extra-curricu=ar involvements as a junior in high school, Caitlin is committed to helping ra=se money for research into these diseases, which affect 1.4 million people in =he U.S. Perhaps even more troubling than the numbers of people who have Crohn's o= Colitis is the fact that children under the age of 8 are the fastest growin= segment of the population being diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.=A0 Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis are chronic, autoimmune diseases that can be incredibly painful and debilitating. Caitlin receives a monthly infusion of a powerful =ew drug called Remicade, which suppresses one part of her immune system that is cau=ing the damage to her digestive tract. She also undergoes a weekly shot of a se=ond immune suppressing agent, called Methotrexate, w