SIUSLAW NEWS | SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2018 | 7A
HOPE from page 1A
By age 22, she had lost 30
pounds and finally decided it
was time to undergo a colonos-
copy. Over her Thanksgiving
holiday, she was diagnosed with
ulcerative colitis.
Ulcerative colitis is a chronic
autoimmune disease in which
the lining of the large intestine
becomes inflamed. Tiny open
sores, or ulcers, develop and the
combination of ulceration and
inflammation can cause abdom-
inal discomfort and sudden urg-
es to empty the colon.
Because symptoms can be
inconsistent, it is often difficult
to tell whether treatments are
working. Severe forms of the
disease can be life-threatening
or require surgery and there is
no consensus on the cause of
the disease.
Upon Sneddon’s diagnosis,
she was informed that there was
no cure and she would have the
disease for the rest of her life.
The news was devastating.
“I don’t think I got out of bed
for three days,” she said. “I had a
pity party, for sure.”
Family rallied to support her,
though, and doctors immediate-
ly put her on prednisone, a cor-
ticosteroid used to suppress the
immune system and decrease
inflammation. A common pre-
scription for autoimmune dis-
eases, the drug put her colitis in
remission and Sneddon was able
to get on with the next year of
her life with relative normality,
though mild symptoms persist-
ed and burdened her social life.
“That first term back I start-
ed getting straight A’s because I
didn’t have anything else to do,”
she said. “I had friends that kind
of cut me off because they didn’t
really understand what was go-
ing on.”
The challenge of daily living
inspired her to work the dis-
ease into her education and she
wrote a thesis on people living
with invisible diseases.
“It really helped me see that,
‘Okay, I’m not the only one liv-
ing with something,’” she said.
Over the years, however, se-
vere symptoms returned and
Sneddon was again put on
prednisone and other medi-
cations. By the time she was
24, her body was no longer
responding to these relatively
weaker prescriptions and doc-
tors upped the ante by putting
her on the biopharmaceutical
Humira, a much stronger form
of medication which blocks a
naturally-occurring protein in
the body’s immune response.
As a result, the medication can
lower the ability of the immune
system to fight infections and
Sneddon found herself catching
illness after illness.
“A lot of people find relief
with Humira, but at that point
I was so sick, I wasn’t really re-
sponding to it,” she said. The
medications she was taking felt
more like tiny Band-Aids on a
gaping wound.
In 2014, Sneddon graduated
college, but was unable to fully
bask in the accomplishment.
“I was incredibly sick,” she
recalled. “At my college gradu-
ation I had a huge prednisone
face.”
One possible side effect of the
long-term use of high dosages of
prednisone is “facial mooning,”
or swelling of the cheeks and
neck.
“It was very embarrassing,”
said Sneddon.
By that summer her diet was
still highly restricted and med-
ications no longer seemed to
brace against the tide of illness.
Sneddon consulted her gas-
troenterologist about surgery
to remove her large intestine.
Though he was at first resistant
and suggested continuing med-
ication, he soon put Sneddon
in touch with a Eugene-based
surgeon who, after consultation,
said he could perform the first
of two major surgeries within
the week.
The plan involved removing
the large intestine and extend-
ing the small intestine to create
a “J-pouch,” which can serve as
an internal reservoir for bowel
contents. As the pouch needed
time to form and heal, Sneddon
would have to live temporari-
ly with an external ostomy bag
until the second surgery, which
would finally attach the J-pouch
to her system.
Upon completing the first
surgery, the surgeon found that
Sneddon’s large intestine was so
thin and perforated as a result
of the ulcers that it was on the
verge of rupturing.
“I’m really glad I didn’t listen
to my gastroenterologist,” she
said.
Not everything went as
planned, however. Infections
put Sneddon in the hospital
for a solid month following the
first surgery and the next year
involved a series of small pro-
cedures to help aid the healing
process of the J-pouch.
Through it all, there was the
lingering risk that the surgery
would not take and Sneddon
would be forced to live with an
ostomy bag the rest of her life.
“I was thankful to not have
active disease anymore, but
also kind of scared the rest of it
wouldn’t work out,” she said.
Sneddon also experienced
temporary hair loss and bald
patches, a symptom connected
to repeated use of anesthesia.
The day before Thanksgiving
2015, at 25 years old, Sneddon
had her final surgery to connect
the internal J-pouch. All went
well. In the end, the process in-
volved 12 procedures and two
major surgeries.
Today, Sneddon has an im-
mense amount of gratitude for
the family, friends and medical
professionals who dedicated so
much of their time to helping
her deal with her disease.
The ordeal increased her ap-
preciation for supportive indi-
viduals like her boyfriend of six
years.
“At my first surgery, we hadn’t
been together very long. And all
of a sudden he’s sleeping next to
my hospital bed. That pretty
much ensures that somebody’s
in it for the long haul,” she
laughed. “We became so much
closer.”
Because Sneddon’s early 20s
were largely shaped by dealing
with an illness that heavily im-
pacted every aspect of her life,
she had to refocus her values.
“I really realized how materi-
al items are not important,” she
said. “I didn’t get my hair done.
I didn’t buy make-up. I didn’t
do the things that typical wom-
en in their early 20s are doing
… And you realize those things
are nice, but that’s not what life
is about.”
The experience has been
an inspirational ingredient to
Sneddon’s desire to help people.
“I learned that people are
dealing with things that you
can’t even realize,” she said. “So
you need compassion for peo-
ple.”
Now the 28-year-old high
school library media specialist
is not only outspoken about her
condition, but actively working
to raise funding for curative re-
search.
Sneddon became involved
in the Crohn’s & Colitis Foun-
dation, a volunteer-driven
nonprofit dedicated to finding
cures for Crohn’s disease and
ulcerative colitis. Through the
foundation, she has pledged to
raise $3,400 by Feb. 7, 2019, the
remainder of which she must
pay out of her own pocket if
she falls short. As part of the
pledge, she is running her first
half marathon on Feb. 17 in
Austin, Tex.
As well as accepting dona-
tions for each mile run in the
half marathon, Sneddon is also
holding a raffle during the
month of January. Tickets will
be $10 each.
“You can win a gift card
to Nosh Eatery, a gift card to
Green Salmon in Yachats, a bot-
tle of wine and a local pottery
artist is donating some pottery
items,” she said. Other prizes
are expected to be included as
well.
Money raised will be donated
to the foundation’s curative re-
search and a camp for children
with Crohn’s and colitis.
The drawing for the raffle will
be held Feb. 1, and donations
are also accepted through her
fundraising website at online.
ccfa.org/goto/hopesneddon.
Waste-free holiday
guide to recycling
Before we know it, the winter
holidays will be over, and it will
be time to pack up the reusable
items and pack out the recycla-
ble ones.
The Lane County Master Re-
cycler Program has collected
some handy tips to help you
take care of the most common
items generated during the holi-
days. For a list of additional hol-
iday recycling tips go to www.
lanecounty.org/wastefreeholi-
days.
Electronics Recycling
Recycling and reusing elec-
tronics saves the energy used in
mining and processing of raw
materials, conserves natural re-
sources, and reduces environ-
mental degradation, pollution
and greenhouse gas emissions.
According to the U.S. Envi-
ronmental Protection Agen-
cy (EPA), for every 1 million
cell phones we recycle, 35,000
pounds of copper, 772 pounds
of silver, 75 pounds of gold and
33 pounds of palladium can be
recovered.
Donating unwanted electron-
ics not only helps to protect the
environment, it can also provide
technical job skills and ensure
access to contemporary techno-
logical tools for others, regard-
less of income.
Locally, residents can recycle
electronics at NextStep Recy-
cling in Eugene — and residen-
tial drop-off is free. To find out
more about the items NextStep
accepts, visit www.nextstepre-
cycling.org/residential-recy-
cling.html or call 541-686-2366.
The EPA also provides a list of
companies that offer electronic
recycling options. The list can
be viewed at www.www.epa.
gov/recycle/electronics-dona-
tion-and-recycling.
cling. All proceeds from the re-
cycled lights go to Rich Schwab
Kidsports Scholarship Fund
through Jan. 31, 2019.
Recycle Christmas Trees
Siuslaw Valley Firefighters
Association is again picking up
old Christmas trees as a fund-
raiser. Pick up days are Satur-
days, Dec. 29 and Jan. 5, from
10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Call 541-997-
3212 for more information and
to schedule pickup.
Recycle Block Styrofoam
St. Vincent de Paul is Lane
County’s source for recycling
white block #6 polystyrene
(commonly known by the brand
name Styrofoam) and Styro-
foam packing peanuts. It shreds
block Styrofoam and compress-
es it into logs, making it more
cost-effective to transport it to
recyclers. Styrofoam peanuts
are used at Aurora Glass or re-
sold in thrift stores.
Households can recycle
small quantities of Styrofoam
at no charge at any St. Vincent
de Paul store location. Keep
packing peanuts and block
foam separate. No food con-
tainers, cups, etc. St. Vincent
de Paul charges a modest fee
for businesses.
Reuse Packaging Materials
Many area businesses re-
use clean packing peanuts and
bubble wrap, but especially the
pack-and-ship outlets. Check
with a business you usually fre-
quent to find out if they want
your excess, clean packing ma-
terials.
Lane County Master Recy-
clers invite community mem-
bers to celebrate the season of
giving by reducing, reusing, and
recycling waste that is typically
generated at the holidays. Visit
Recycle Christmas Lights
www.lanecounty.org/waste-
NextStep Recycling accepts freeholidays to view tips and
functioning and non-function- resources to help create a truly
ing Christmas lights for recy- enjoyable season.