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Exercise Helps Woman Combat Crohn's Disease Effects

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By Eric Horchy | The Suncoast News

Published: March 4, 2009

Sometimes the best opportunities can come during what seem to be the most turbulent and tumultuous time life has to offer.

The past year for Land O' Lakes resident Marci Flatt is a prime example of such an ebb and flow.

Flatt, 38, was diagnosed more than eight years ago with Crohn's disease, an inflammatory bowel disease that can wreak havoc on one's lower body. According to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America, it affects more than 1 million Americans and has no known cure. Symptoms include mild to debilitating abdominal pains and fever, among many others, along with subsequent mental stressors of trying to live with the disease.

To help combat the disease's frequent flare-ups, Flatt takes Prednisone, a type of prescription corticosteroid that suppresses the immune system. One of the drug's undesirable side effects is weight gain that can negatively add to the psychological anguish for those suffering through Crohn's.

That adversity, though, also begat a positive turn in Flatt's story that has changed her life ever since.

With Flatt struggling through a roughly 80-pound gain in weight while regularly taking the Prednisone, a friend recommended she meet with Michelle Dumovich, a personal trainer at Trinity's Fusion Fit Club, in the Trinity Village Center.

Despite reluctance tied to a general feeling of anxiety toward trainers and the "Drop and give me 20!" stories about them she had heard in the past, Flatt heeded her friend's advice and met with Dumovich.

"The first day I met Marci she told me she never works out, she's never been in a gym and that she didn't want to be there," Dumovich recalled. "It all poured out of her on the first day. But she also emotionally cleansed her desires for weight loss and how she wanted to be active for her daughter."

After the initial wavering subsided, the near immediate progress has been immense, both trainer and trainee said.

"The last year of my life has just been an amazing change for the better," Flatt said of her time with Dumovich. "She's so much more than just a trainer. I don't know how to put it into words. She's given me this whole healthy life that I wasn't even aware of before. Without her I would not be here."

Flatt said one of the main keys to her success is Dumovich's knowledge and understanding when it comes time to work out. Equipped with a vast array of physical training and sports medicine accreditations, Dumovich created a unique routine specifically for Flatt that is successful at getting results with the right amount of activity so as to not irritate sensitive core areas.

"In three months we began to notice a completely different person," Dumovich said, noting it was just as psychological as it was physical. "She went from sitting on the couch thinking she'd never be able to do anything to 'Look out, here I am.'"

Along with her life-changing relationship with Dumovich, Flatt cites two other influences she says are critical to anyone's success in coping with Crohn's.

The first is strength derived from her familial support group. Flatt grew up through her father's dealings with Crohn's, and her husband, John, and 4-year-old daughter, Miley, offer bountiful motivation to keep fighting. In fact, Flatt was told prior to Miley's birth that her Crohn's would likely prevent the chance of a successful pregnancy.

The second key is her persistent, upbeat nature and outlook toward life in general.

"I've always been a positive person," Flatt said. "I'm very blessed with that. I think it's about 90 percent of the battle."

All told, Flatt has already dropped more than 50 pounds of her Prednisone-induced weight gain and she is now trying to spread the word of her success to let other's know hope does truly exist.

"If I can touch just one person that is reading this to think, 'Gosh, she did it and look at how much weight she's lost. I can do that, too,' that's what I'm really trying to do," she said.

"Most people just don't have the support system and a type of person like Michelle around.

Now I have the tools because of Michelle to know that this is for the long term. This is not a temporary thing.

"This is for life."

Further information on dealing with Crohn's disease can be found at the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America Web site, www.ccfa.org. Also, local support and awareness will be raised May 2 in St. Petersburg for the Take Steps for Crohn's and Colitis Walk.

Eric Horchy can be reached at 727-815-1071 or ehorchy@suncoastnews.com.

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