My Story: ‘How Ulcerative Colitis Put My Dreams on Hold’
Health ConditionsDigestive HealthUlcerative Colitis

My Story: ‘Ulcerative Colitis Put My Dreams on Hold’

Abigail Marie VanHoose had wanted to be a chef ever since she was in elementary school. But when an ulcerative colitis diagnosis derailed her best-laid plans, she had to make an unexpected pivot.

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Published on February 26, 2026
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This is part 1 of   My Story: Ulcerative Colitis, a series in which we shed light on what it’s really like to live with a chronic illness. Read part 2 here and part 3.

I had no idea that ulcerative colitis was going to completely change my life.
— Abigail Marie Vanhoose

I n 2014, Abigail Marie Vanhoose was driving to her new job as a line chef when her life changed in an instant. The then-21-year-old had just earned her associate’s degree in culinary arts, and she had big dreams of running a restaurant one day.

But Abigail never made it to the dinner service. As she was driving down a two-lane road, a tow truck going about 60 miles per hour crossed into her lane and hit her head-on, throwing the car about 30 feet from the road.

When the paramedics arrived, Abigail was covered in blood and clutching her left side. The doctors ran tests at the hospital, fearful that her spleen had ruptured, but further evaluation revealed that she only had a fractured hand bone and sprained ankle.

“The doctors said everything seemed fine, and that I could go home,” says Abigail. Not long after she was discharged, though, her abdominal symptoms reappeared. She never imagined that those abdominal pains would turn out to be from ulcerative colitis (UC).

An Unexpected Ulcerative Colitis Diagnosis

A week or two after the car crash, Abigail, who now lives in Concord, North Carolina, began experiencing intense abdominal pain and blood in her stool. “I thought it was internal bleeding from the accident,” she says.

She called her doctor, who referred her to a gastroenterologist. A few weeks after that, she was given a colonoscopy, which revealed a condition she had never heard of: moderate-to-severe left-sided ulcerative colitis.

Initially, Abigail wasn’t given very much information about the diagnosis. “I remember asking, should I eat anything different? Is there anything I need to change lifestyle-wise?’” she recalls. “And the doctor was like, well ... we don’t really have a lot of great research.”

Instead, the doctor prescribed her an anti-inflammatory medication and told her to “just eat what you can tolerate.”

“I had no idea that UC was going to completely change my life,” says Abigail. “I had no idea that it was chronic, or that it was ongoing, or that there was no cure.”

Navigating Life With UC — on the Sauté Line

Her first few years of living with UC were difficult. She was trying to work toward a four-year degree in food service and beverage management, but she was also experiencing regular flares — sometimes three or four per year.

“I was going to the bathroom 20 to 40 times a day,” she says. “I was losing blood and couldn’t sleep because I was in the bathroom every 30 minutes.”

Abigail soldiered on, though, and by 2016, she’d landed a coveted position at the sauté station of a French-American restaurant in Charlotte’s SouthPark neighborhood. Her days began at 10 a.m., prepping for fast-paced, high-volume service that meant hustling in a hot kitchen for up to 12 hours at a time.

She also worked during a flare, finding help from her future husband, who worked beside her at the grill. “I would signal him, and he’d watch my station while I ran to the bathroom,” she says.

Even with that support, the work took a heavy toll. By the end of each shift, Abigail was physically and emotionally spent. “I would have so much pain, and I would go into the walk-in refrigerator and cry,” she says.

The Flare That Changed Everything

Abigail pushed through the pain, determined to hold onto the career she had dreamed of since childhood. “I was really trying to make it work,” she says. “That was what I wanted to do.”

Trying to make a change for the better, Abigail decided to quit smoking in 2016. While she undoubtedly made the right choice for her health, the decision to quit, combined with the continued toll of her job, triggered a massive flare. (In the short-term, nicotine has been shown to have a protective effect on UC, with one theory being that nicotine releases nitric oxide, which may soothe intestinal spasms.)

 And to make matters worse, her medication stopped working.

Soon, the strain began to catch up with her. Long hours spent standing and running around; the heat of the kitchen; constant on-demand tasks stress — everything about working in a restaurant made it much harder to manage UC.


Then, in 2019, a particularly bad flare appeared — one that landed Abigail in the hospital. This time, a new reality set in, and Abigail finally reached her breaking point: “I just came to a place where I was like, I can’t do this anymore,” she says. “I had everything mapped out — and then you realize, as an adult, that life doesn’t always turn out the way you plan.”
It was time to find a new career — one that was compatible with her UC.
EDITORIAL SOURCES
Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
Resources
  1. Ali I et al. Association Between Ulcerative Colitis and Helicobacter Pylori Infection: A Case-Control Study. Heliyon. February 9, 2022.
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Rabia de Latour, MD

Medical Reviewer
Rabia de Latour, MD, is a therapeutic endoscopist and gastroenterologist at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, where she serves as the director of endoscopy and chief sustainability officer at Bellevue Hospital. She is the host of Sirius XM Doctor Radio Internal Medicine Show.
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Susan Jara

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Susan Jara is a health communications strategist and writer with more than 15 years of experience transforming complex medical information into clear, accurate, and engaging content for diverse audiences of patients and caregivers. She specializes in patient education, health literacy, and SEO-driven content strategy, with expertise across chronic disease, mental health, addiction, arthritis, autoimmune conditions, and wellness.

Susan holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and media studies from New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study. Her career includes leadership roles at the Global Healthy Living Foundation and Health Monitor Network, where she developed multichannel health content across web, email, podcasts, video, social media, and print. Susan's work reaches millions of readers each year, and she collaborates with leading healthcare providers, researchers, advocacy groups, and industry partners to create resources that reach millions of readers each year.

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