My Dad lived with diagnosed Crohns for 25 years. We covered for him as a family however we could. But you just don't get how debilitating it can be unless you're intimate with it.
As a kid I thought my dad was lame and a bore for not doing a lot of things I wanted. As an adult and having cared for him for most of the last 10 years, I realized he was a warrior that achieved more than any other in his body could've.