See the picture? Yum! But no Crohn's sufferer could tuck into this kind of plateful. Food - especially for those who have severe Crohn's like my son - is a problem every single day and every single meal. Some Crohn's patients - like my son - are dependent for nourishment on liquid food which is pumped into them over 12 hours each night. Proper food is more for entertainment than nourishment and they can eat only very limited amounts of a very few foods. 

Imagine how much socialising is based on meals. Then imagine not being able to do it.

Thanks so much for coming to my page. St Mark's Hospital is one of the glories of the NHS but it is tiny and you may not have heard of it. It is The Great Ormond Street of the world of bowel disease - the first specialist bowel hospital in the world and still leading the way in research into and treatment of bowel problems. Most severe cases of bowel disease - cancer, Crohn's etc - from the UK and worldwide - end up at St Mark's.

My son has been given life-saving support by St Mark's for more than ten years. His Crohn's began when he was only 10 years old. The dedication of the St Mark's doctors, nurses and other specialists is extraordinary.

If you know someone who has come through bowel cancer, the chances are their treatment will have been pioneered at St Mark's. The research they do into treatments for all types of bowel disease is new and pioneering. And unlike breast or lung cancer, there is very little support for research into these less well-publicised but equally life-destroying diseases.

Please give whatever you can to support this vital research.