This NBC correspondent hid her bowel disease for years. Now she's sharing her story

NBC News entertainment correspondent Chloe Melas has publicly disclosed that she has lived with ulcerative colitis, a form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), for 15 years. Diagnosed at age 25 after finding blood in her stool, Melas kept her condition secret while building her journalism career, fearing it would derail her professional ambitions and personal life. In a new book titled "The Girl's Guide to Guts: Everything Your Doc Didn't Tell You (But Your Bestie Would)," co-authored with Judy Batalion and published by Dial Press on November 10, Melas recounts her experiences with surgeries, hospitalizations, countless colonoscopies, and the daily challenges of managing a chronic illness.

Melas describes the emotional toll of hiding her disease, including an incident at the Sundance Film Festival where she soiled herself while wearing an all-white outfit and had to throw away her new jeans. She writes that she became adept at mentally mapping bathrooms wherever she went, timing meals to avoid emergencies, and even dehydrating herself out of fear that water would trigger symptoms. The physical symptoms were only half the battle; she felt embarrassed, ashamed, and convinced the disease had torpedoed her chances of finding love and building a career.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, millions of Americans live with IBD. Melas notes that gut health issues are rising in the United States, citing colorectal cancer as the leading cause of cancer death among Americans younger than 50, 45 million Americans living with irritable bowel syndrome, 3 million with celiac disease, and over 2 million with diverticulitis. She argues that while women have normalized talking about periods, hormones, and mental health, bowel movements remain a taboo subject.

Now a wife and mother of two boys, Melas says she has continued to "take big swings" despite her illness, traveling the country covering major entertainment stories. She writes that parenting with ulcerative colitis is "a little like trying to pitch a tent in the middle of a tornado" and describes the "mom guilt" of missing parts of her children's sports games and spending time in warm baths to calm inflammation. Her practical advice includes asking for help from a support network, keeping a strict medication and diet routine, and always having an exit strategy with knowledge of the nearest restroom. Melas hopes her story helps others feel less alone and proves that a chronic illness does not have to derail one's dreams.