Gracie Cappelle should have been looking forward to her freshman year at Texas State University.
Instead, she got a crash course in ulcerative colitis (UC).
“I had never heard of ulcerative colitis,” Cappelle, 19, told The Post. “It took me a really long time to even understand what was happening within my body.”
Cappelle was diagnosed with the chronic disease in the summer of 2024. She spent her freshman year eliminating dairy and fatty foods from her diet — not easy as a college student — in the hopes of managing her symptoms since there’s no cure for UC.
About a million Americans are believed to have UC, the most common type of inflammatory bowel disease. Experts aren’t exactly sure what causes the condition, but they think it’s related to abnormal immune system reactions.
Inflammation and ulcers develop in the lining of the colon and rectum, often causing stomach pain, bloody diarrhea and frequent bowel movements. Crohn’s disease is similar but can affect any part of the GI tract.
UC is most often diagnosed in people 15 to 30 years old. Adults between 50 and 70 are also at higher risk.
Cappelle didn’t immediately realize that something was amiss. She occasionally noticed blood in her stool but figured it was no big deal.
“It wasn’t bad at first,” Cappelle recalled. “I looked it up a couple of times, and the only two things that would come up were internal hemorrhoids or colon cancer. And I was like, ‘OK, well, I don’t have colon cancer, so it’s probably just internal hemorrhoids.’ So I wasn’t worried about it.”
The bleeding eventually intensified to the point where it was happening every day — and she found herself rushing to the bathroom more often. A colonoscopy was scheduled for two weeks before she left for college.
“I literally came out of my colonoscopy, and my doctor told me that I had [UC],” Cappelle said.
She needed to overhaul her diet immediately.
Individual triggers vary, but UC sufferers tend to experience flare-ups with high-fat foods, spicy foods and foods rich in insoluble fiber.
Alcohol, caffeinated beverages and sugary drinks are often no-nos.
Before her diagnosis, Cappelle typically had yogurt for breakfast, a sandwich with Cheez-Its for lunch and ground turkey, chicken or steak with potatoes or rice for dinner — or fast food.
“I definitely didn’t eat well,” she admitted. “If I wanted [Raising] Canes or Chick-fil-A, if I wanted fast food, I was going to go get the fast food.”
She first axed spicy foods, including her beloved Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and hot sauce, soda and gluten.
Unfortunately, her stomach pain didn’t go away right away.
“I was trying to eat whole foods, but obviously that’s hard, especially being a freshman in college,” Cappelle said. “You’re living in a dorm, so you really don’t have a kitchen.”
She came home to the greater Houston area in December, cutting dairy and alcohol from her diet and stepping up her exercise routine.
She also began working with a therapist and getting infusions of Entyvio, prescription medication that targets gut inflammation.
Her stomach pain and bloody stool subsided, and she plans to return to Texas State in August.
“I think it’ll be easier this next year, because I will have an apartment and my own kitchen,” Cappelle said.
“It is hard because you can’t necessarily eat what everybody else is eating. But, for me, personally, it’s not worth it to eat like that, knowing what could happen if I do eat like that.”
She’s been sharing her journey on TikTok, hoping to connect with people facing the same challenges.
“The hardest part for me [is] feeling so alone,” Cappelle said.
“I really just want to put the message out there of, you’re not alone in this, and you can get better, and you will get better.”
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