My friend Dana is a remarkable woman.  She’s only 22, but has been through many lifetimes’ worth of hardship as a result of the debilitating Crohn’s Disease she’s had since she was a toddler.  The two statistics of Dana’s life that really puts things in perspective are the eleven hospitals to which she’s been admitted, and the six major surgeries she’s undergone (what Dana describes as “cut you open, intensive, weeks and months of recovery surgeries”), by the age of 22.  That’s beyond intense.  Completely makes me think twice about the bitching I do about my pending knee surgery (Don’t get me wrong; I’m still bitching, but I’m doing so with pause…).

Earlier tonight, guests were invited by Cari Marshall and Ed Bernstein to join them at a special party in honor of Dana – their daughter – who would discuss her story, and the strides made by the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America, at A Tasteful Evening of Wine & Tequila, at Vintner Grill’s swanky VG Strip at Neiman Marcus.

There are two things for which I wasn’t prepared.  First was the science part of the evening’s affair, which involved a fairly deep MS PowerPoint presentation to accompany a talk given by  Dr. Dermot McGovern, M.D., Ph. D.  As the Director of Traslational Medicine at the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center and Immunobiology Research Institute (IBIRI) at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, McGovern is a brilliant man who was still in the unenviable position of having to dumb-down biogenetics enough to make it appealing to a room full of people getting their drink on.  Despite my brain hurting after the presentation, I think I retained just enough partial factoids to get me through a few cocktail parties.  And just in time for the holidays, too…  Thanks Doc!

Then came Dana’s turn at the mic.  She poignantly spoke about not just the physical toll Crohn’s takes on one’s body, but the psychological and emotional strain the disease places on the soul and psyche of a young person for whom the disease has shaped virtually every decision she’s ever made.  How she was forced to live “in a place between guilt and worthlessness,” convinced that “somewhere along the way, I had done something that made me responsible for my body's continuing sickness.”  Dana spoke of how, despite the best efforts of her loving parents, her childhood was made-up of “the unbearable pain, bathroom marathons, and medicinal side effects” she described as “far too much for someone so young to have to handle.”

By the time Dana got to her reflections on the way her parents have always maintained that they would trade places with her, and how she could never deal with seeing someone she loved in anywhere near that level of pain, well, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room.  (“Well, this is just great!” I thought.  Now, not only did I have homework from the geneticist, but now I’m crying and I don’t have a handkerchief; and I’m standing in the front row, trying to appear all nonplussed and blasé…  Thank God, I decided to forego the guyliner, tonight!)

But I’ll tell you what.  Roughly $75,000 was raised last night, which means that – thanks to an especially generous donor who agreed to match, dollar for dollar, whatever monies were raised – more than $150,000 will be donated to the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America.  Which is, in the words of Cari Marshall, “Not too bad!”

Not bad at all.  Meanwhile, on Sunday, December 4th, Zappos.com is presenting the Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon and Half-Marathon, to raise money for the same incredible organization.  Find out more about this event by clicking HERE.

A Tasteful Evening of Wine & Tequila
VG Strip at Neiman Marcus Las Vegas
Wednesday, November 17th
Click HERE for info about the CCFA

Get into it!