Zalena Bassin Peterson, wife of Jeremiah Peterson, was not diagnosed with Crohn's Disease until she was 40 years old. Up until then she had spent over 20 years in and out of the hospital while doctors tried to figure out why she kept getting so sick. By the time she was finally diagnosed, over 13 inches of her colon needed to be removed. After over 20 years of being sick from unknown causes, she finally knows what is happening with her body and is on medications. Unfortunately, she is still battling this life debilitating disease and is as eager as Jeremiah is to do their part to help find a cure.

Crohn's disease is an autoimmune disease, in which the body's immune system attacks the gastrointestinal tract, causing inflammation; it is classified as a type of inflammatory bowel disease. One of the side effects of this is that Zalena will have to always be near a restroom, she never knows when she will start having cramps, she will often have to use the restroom 5 or 6 times in one day. Even with proper care, it is very hard to predict when or how often she will go and this is the way she will have to live the rest of her life.

On December 5, 2010, they will be walking 13.1 Miles with Team Challenge to help raise money for the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA). The CCFA has spent 40 years creating research programs dedicated to finding the cure for these diseases.

Please help us join in the fight to help cure Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis by donating what you can and letting your friends and family know about our journey because every little bit helps.

Simply visit http://www.jerlasvegas.com/ccfa to make a donation today and pass this on to your friends family to let them know of our goal.