Last season, as a true freshman Cameryn felt exhausted in practice all the time and couldn’t figure out what was wrong. By the spring of her freshman year, after a lot of doctors appointments, we realized she had anemia. Then, the summer after her freshman year, she was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. Crohn’s disease is an inflammatory bowel disease that causes chronic inflammation of the GI tract, leading to severe abdominal cramping, pain, fatigue, anemia, and joint pain among many other excruciating symptoms. Symptoms are triggered by diet, sleep and stress – and as every Mines student knows, sleep is often too little and stress is often too much. With that challenging environment around her, Cameryn worked with the coaches at the beginning of this season to make a plan to allow her to go to regular doctor’s appointments, get out of the pool anytime she needed a bathroom break and other accommodations. Even so, the year started with a lot of pain with the Crohn’s as her body was eating away at her GI tract. The ongoing impact was inflammation and joint pain, which lead to a lot of damage and internal bleeding. At mid-season, she started a medication (skyrizi) which helps calm her body’s immune response and her symptoms have lessened and allowed her to push herself more. She eventually qualified for the NCAA Division II Swimming & Diving Championships where he Crohns still kept her from reaching her goals as traveling is tough. As of spring break, Cameryn has reached mid-stage remission for her Crohn’s disease and has reversed all of the physical damage her body destroyed in her GI system. She is hoping to have cellular remission within the next year - which will hopefully also lead to even faster swims next season.