Christina Wood Matthies

Christina Wood Matthies created LivingSick.org to advocate for men and women fighting chronic illness and chronic pain. By sharing her personal, thought-provoking experiences as a dedicated parent, spouse, and employee with severe Crohn’s disease and systemic inflammation, Christina works to highlight the unique challenges that chronically ill patients face.

Christina’s experienced the frustration, fear, and discrimination that chronic patients are forced to handle while attempting to navigate an increasingly convoluted modern medical system. She's suffered from numerous complications affecting different organs due to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and hypertriglyceridemia, and has taken medications that have life-threatening (and bankrupting) side effects. She's had three small bowel resection surgeries and a fistulotomy in the past four years due to inflammation and infections, earning herself the self-awarded title of "IBD Overachiever".

Christina created her blog, "The Crohn's Diaries", on LivingSick.org to offer support and advice to the millions struggling to be productive members of society while managing what can be fatal health concerns. By sharing her experiences as a “Crohnie”, Christina hopes to lighten the load of other chronically ill patients who are trying to adjust to their new lives of “living sick”.

Christina is a trained writer who has more than 15 years' experience in non-profit administration. She holds a master's degree in the humanities and is currently completing Stanford's creative nonfiction writing certificate program. Christina is well-versed in social media communications and takes courses on how to market the unique concerns of the professional patient. Her interests include compassionate pain management and emergency room treatment of the chronically ill. She can be reached at [email protected].

  • Education
    • Master's degree in the Humanities