For three years, Crohn's disease had control over Brooke Smith's life. This painful GI inflammatory disease made her dread eating. "It felt like I was swallowing tacks," she said. Her daily life was marred by constant stomach pain, vomiting, nausea, and diarrhea. Working and socializing became impossible.

For a young woman, living with this chronic form of inflammatory bowel disease was no life. After she was told she might have to lose three feet of her intestines, she found treatment without surgery at Stanford Health Care. Under the steady care of Crohn's specialist Berkeley Limketkai, MD, Smith is back on track to be healthy. "He made me feel I was being taken care of," she said. "The skies have opened up for me."