Digest This

About Kyle MacFarlane T here's no doubt that many people suffer from digestive disorders such as Crohn's, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and Gastroparesis, all of which can be treated with medication. For Kyle MacFarlane, however, his digestive disorders have not yet been fully diagnosed. He lives with symptoms that keeps his body from digesting the nutrients from food, leaving him at times in a situation where he can dramatically lose weight and his body can starve to death. At age 29, MacFarlane has been living with a dangerous and undiagnosed digestive problem since he was 14. "I was going in and out of hospitals and seeing multiple doctors who were misdiagnosing me with all sorts of different digestive disorders," said MacFarlane. "This was going on for five years and at one point, doctors thought it was my gallbladder and removed it. That unfortunately ended up not being the problem." Most of the doctors that Kyle saw were unable to correctly diagnose his digestive disorder and prescribed medication intended to help him digest his food. While the medication did aid his digestion, it also caused Kyle to develop Type 1 Diabetes. Frustrated with the lack of help and some doctors who simply thought he was faking a sickness to get medications, MacFarlane found help with Dr. Linda Nguyen at Stanford University Medical Center. Dr. Nguyen helped him learn that eating a healthy diet, could ease his symptoms and keep him from relapsing into a dangerous malnutrition situation. Learning to cope with his symptoms, MacFarlane wanted to create awareness towards digestive diseases and inform others about what he's learned along the way. "The Kyle MacFarlane Foundation began with family members, friends, and professionals who helped me along the way," said MacFarlane. "They joined me in bringing awareness to digestive diseases and gave support to those that need help. In my experience fighting this disease, I've learned that digestive issues are what lead to other diseases such as diabetes and even cancer." The Kyle MacFarlane Foundation is a true homegrown start-up, and has already earned the Robert Wood Johnson President's Grant Fund of the Princeton Area Community Foundation. The Kyle MacFarlane Foundation is actively promoting new programs such as Digest This! Magazine, to demonstrate the importance of eating healthy, and its relationship to digestive disorders. "Every day I see a growing number of digestive diseases, and education is what's needed," said MacFarlane. "So the idea of Digest This! Magazine is that it be a digital publication that is free and available to everyone via their mobile device, laptop, or tablet. Our media partners will be working on stories and updates on digestive diseases, including updates on my own condition and what doctors are doing to find out what I have. "By bringing awareness of digestive disorders and raising money to find cures, we can make a difference," said MacFarlane. "It's also my personal goal to help those that don't know where to get help, and not have to go through what I did." KM FOUNDATION 2 DiGEST THIS

• Cover