05/11/2026
I’ve had Crohn’s disease since I was 11 years old. I volunteered for years as a teenager for different events and IBD organizations. I became involved with Martini Madness about 16 years ago. I met my husband through this event, as he is also on the board and a key organizer.
For years, I did this for me. Then I did it for myself and Dave. It’s always been deeply important to me, because of all I’ve experienced due to having Crohn’s disease. Being unwell when you’re so young really shapes you.
Now, I do it for our son. Children with two parents with IBD have an extremely high chance of developing it themselves. It’s something I thought about while I was pregnant. How do you cope with knowing your child may be as sick as you were, as your husband was. It’s something that weighed on me and still does.
Coincidentally, both mine and my husband’s childhood doctor spoke at Martini Madness. He stated that surgery for children with IBD is a rarity nowadays. That shocked me. When I was 16, I sat in the hospital for one month, not allowed to eat, while a board of doctors decided what to do about my situation. Whether to remove part of my bowel or wait for access to new medications. Dr. Mack reminded me of this period and how deciding what to do was so difficult, but that now, because of research, there are more options for children.
This is why Martini Madness is so important to me, and why research for Crohn’s and Colitis is so important in general. The goal is to help future generations of children to not have to go through what many of us had to, to be able to access medications younger, access treatments before surgery, and ultimately find a cause and a cure.
Sixteen years ago, Lauryn Santini and David Warren met through Martini Madness. They bonded not only through the event itself but by something far more personal: both had been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease as children. On Thursday, May 7, at Lago Bar & Grill, the couple stood together once ag...
