Chellie Mills, morning anchor and reporter for Oklahoma City NBC affiliate KFOR, has revealed her fight with Crohn’s disease in the hopes of helping others.
“I feel like not a lot of people talk about this,” said Mills in a report on KFOR. “It’s kind of disease that people are afraid to talk about or they’re ashamed to talk about or mostly embarrassed to talk about.” You can watch the report after the jump.
Crohn’s disease is an auto-immune disease that usually affects the intestines.
“It is a big deal, especially for people who have it,” said Dr. David Stokesberry, a digestive disease specialist and Chellie’s doctor. “It causes great disruption in their life often at a time when their life is just getting started.”
“People might look at me and see me on TV and think I’m fine,” Mills said. “There have been days when I just sit at my desk, close my eyes and pray that it will go away.”
Mills revealed in the report she relies on three hour infusions of Remicade, a medicine that helps fight diseases like Rheumatoid Arthritis, Psoriasis and Crohn’s disease.
Viewers may have noticed a few physical changes in Mills over the last year. “I’ve lost 13 pounds since this time last year,” said Mills. “None of my clothes fit. They’re all falling off of me. My hair is falling out.”
“Everybody struggles with something, whether its an illness or just a struggle in life,” said Mills’ husband Nathan. “But we’ve learned that that can be used to be a story to be used to help and encourage other people.”
Here’s the report on KFOR: