When I was a kid, I didn’t want anyone to know I had a disease. It helped that nobody could see it. Decades later, something changed and it started with a drawing — a character named Norm that gave me the confidence to tell the story I’d avoided my whole life.

In first grade I discovered that I could draw better than anyone in my class. I designed a poster that my teacher entered in a citywide competition. I won a plaque and 200 books for my school’s library. Wasting no time, I mapped out a life plan. To escape the frigid winters of Canada for sunny California and work in the most glorious and respected of all professions: Animation. Little did I know that same year I found my gift, I also found my curse. I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease .

My relationship with my disease began as o

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