Honorees
Take Steps Honorees understand first-hand how difficult — and empowering — it can be to live with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis. Honored Heroes share their stories to let other patients know they are not alone on their journeys — because no one should face the challenges and uncertainty of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in isolation. Through their stories, Honorees raise awareness of these diseases, raise funds in support of the Foundation’s mission, and inspire hope in those living with IBD.
Pediatric
Hello! I'm Isabella Corte. I'm 7 years old. I live in Rocky River with my mom, Dad, and two crazy dogs Nacho and Layla! My favorite things are playing with my friends and dogs, swimming, crafting, shopping, playing soccer, cooking and dancing. I live the life of a normal 7-year-old; however, I became a superhero when I was diagnosed with VEO-IBD.
My IBD path began at the age of 4, when I started having accidents at preschool. Sometimes there was blood in my poop. After a visit with a pediatrician, I was referred to Superhero Dr. Kurowski! After lots of tests, I started medication to treat my IBD.
The medications were not really helping my symptoms, so Dr. Kurowski suggested we think outside the box and try a new diet. So, my whole family changed our diet and started following the SCD diet! This was not easy, but we noticed some improvement. Since things were not improving as fast as we hoped, we headed to CHOP to get another opinion. With input from our CHOP team and Dr. Kurowski, with small adjustments to my meds and diet, things started improving quickly! As of March 2021, I am in remission.
I currently go for Vedolizumab infusions every 5 weeks at the Cleveland Clinic. During my infusions, I get visits from the child life specialists and my favorite facility dogs, Kid & Trotter. The infusion center nurses and Kathy, the peds GI nurse, have a special place in my heart, they have been some of my cheerleaders.
Life has not been easy with all the pokes, tests, appointments, but all my experiences have not been bad. My first Take Steps was the drive thru in 2021 and I had a fun time. In addition, I participated in virtual camp Oasis in the summer and winter and had a blast. I knew after that, my family and I wanted to become more involved by fundraising for the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation. My first fundraiser was a SCD friendly Lemonade Stand at my house that raised over $500. Next came the start of Isabella’s Incredibowels, our Take Steps team. My goal is to raise money to fund research, find a cure and support the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation. Take Steps and the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation have helped me realize I am not alone in this fight. I want to share the support I have received from Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation and Take Steps with other kids that have been diagnosed with IBD. I am honored and excited to be this year’s pediatric hero for the Northern Ohio Take Steps Walk. Thank you for your continued support.
Adult
My name is Isabela Insana, and I am 20 years old. I am a student at Kent State University, and one of my areas of study is disability advocacy and community inclusion. I have proudly been involved with the foundation for the last three years. With the help of many generous supporters, my “Believe in Bela” Team has raised thousands of dollars for crucial IBD research.
I was diagnosed with severe Crohn’s Disease in May 2018 when I was just 15 years old. Months up to my diagnosis, I was experiencing intense nausea, fatigue, weight loss, horrible abdominal pain, constipation, and an overall feeling of being unwell. My mom had taken me to my pediatrician’s office for many visits, but I always left with no relief or diagnosis. Ultimately, I became so ill that I was taken to an emergency room and admitted quickly. I underwent many tests, including MRI and CAT scans, ultrasounds, a colonoscopy and endoscopy, and blood labs. I was finally diagnosed with severe Crohn’s Disease. I had no idea what Crohn’s Disease was and was emotionally unprepared for what would be ahead of me mentally and physically. The doctors found multiple fistulas and abscesses located in my small intestine. The plan was to take antibiotics and steroids to shrink the fistulas and abscesses in my stomach while remaining on a liquid diet to nourish my body without intensifying my flare-up.
After a few weeks on this regimen, the abscesses would not heal or shrink, so my doctors performed a partial resection of eight inches of my intestine. Only a week after my surgery, I was cleared to return home after being in the hospital for two months. I was discharged on June 26th, 2018, at about 3 pm, yet returned to the hospital within hours in excruciating pain and a high fever. This specific surgery has a 5% chance of failure; unfortunately, I was one of the 5% who experienced an anatomic leak. My intestines split open, causing waste to fill my stomach, leading me to endure septic shock again. This was the second time I experienced the life-threatening issue of sepsis in a few short months. I was rushed back to the hospital and taken to emergency surgery, where the surgical team saved my life. I woke up in the ICU with an ileostomy bag, which was very difficult to come to terms with. After amazing doctors and nurses aided me back to health, I was finally discharged at the end of the Summer. I jumped back into school, cheer, and dance, continuing to live despite having a disease and an ileostomy bag. After a few months, I received a reversal of my ileostomy and continued my sophomore year of high school. I was and am still grateful to have survived my surgeries and the excruciating pain I experienced every day and night of that terrible Summer.
Since then, I have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia and enteropathic arthritis, but I generally have my disease under control. I have been in remission for five years, and during these five years, I’ve taken countless medications to manage my illness. After trying Adalimumab and experiencing negative symptoms, my doctors started me on Infliximab infusions. I have been on Infliximab for three years. Although I have experienced side effects, Infliximab has helped me manage this disease and live a somewhat “normal” life.
Though medications play a huge role in managing my disease and the challenges it brings every day, the support offered by my family, friends, the Cleveland Clinic, and the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation helped spark the fire in me to continue to fight while living the life I desire. If it weren’t for my family and friends, I would certainly not be where I am today. I am forever grateful that Crohn’s Disease has shown me how much I am loved, how strong I am, how there are always people around that want to help, and how beautiful it is to enjoy the simple things in life that can be taken for granted.
I am incredibly grateful to be the Adult Honored Hero of 2023 for the Northern Ohio Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation Chapter! I am committed to making a difference for myself and others like me who live life with IBD.
Healthcare provider
I am Dr. Mo Naem, a practicing private Gastroenterologist on the Westside of Cleveland. I have been working at North Shore Gastroenterology for the last 7 years after completing my GI and IBD training at the Ohio State University. I am the Director of IBD at the North Shore Gastroenterology IBD Center of Excellence (official designation anticipated this summer). We have over 1800+ IBD patients under the care of a dedicated group of providers and an IBD research team that has continued the fight against IBD in hopes of finding a cure.
We have the distinct honor of being able to care for the growing IBD population in our community. Although we don't have a cure for IBD, we have several treatment options available for our patients to achieve remission. Our success at North Shore is driven by our ability to communicate effectively with our patients to tailor a personal plan of care which provides the best chance of remission and a normal life. There is nothing more gratifying than seeing your patient succeed and win his or her fight against Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
The values and mission of the Crohn's Colitis Foundation closely resembles that of North Shore's. It is due to this that we have stayed committed to the foundation in hopes of finding a cure. The Crohn's Colitis foundation provides invaluable resources for our team and our patients.
I TAKE STEPS to help our researchers continue their fight against finding a cure. I TAKE STEPS to support our patients in their journey with IBD. I TAKE STEPS to give back to our community that has supported our organization.
I hope as the current Northern Ohio Take Steps Healthcare Honored Hero that we are able to have another successful fundraising year which helps fund current and future IBD research. We have reached a therapeutic ceiling with our current medications but the disease continues to evolve. It is our job to continue finding new therapeutic options until we are able to find the cure
