enlarge Gordon Chibroski/Staff Photographer

Kevin Dineen was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease while playing in the NHL more than 20 years ago. His worst flare-ups usually occurred late in the season when his body was worn down.

MORE INFORMATION

• Free copies of the Crohn's Advocate are available by visiting www.CrohnsAdvocate.com

PORTLAND — Kevin Dineen has been willing to share his story almost since he was first diagnosed with Crohn's disease more than 20 years ago.

"Word got out that I had another Crohn's flare-up and couldn't play hockey, and I was just overwhelmed with the amount of feedback I got and the number of people who reached out and tried to help me by sharing their story with me, people who had similar symptoms going on," said Dineen, in his fifth season as the Portland Pirates' coach.

"It was quite an eye-opener for me, the feedback I received. The mail. The phone calls," he said. "That just opened it up for me. I said there's nothing to be embarrassed about. It's not a dirty secret of mine. It's something that I have, and I've got to deal with it. I figured through telling my story I may be able to help somebody else."

Recently, Dineen discussed his experience with the potentially debilitating disease in an article appearing in the Crohn's Advocate, a quarterly magazine devoted to the chronic condition.

Crohn's disease is a bowel disease that results in an inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. Its most common symptoms are abdominal pain and diarrhea.

"Part of the problem for most people is it's a very private disease," said Dr. Marla Dubinsky, director of the Pediactric Bowel Disease Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, who writes a column for the magazine. "Most people don't like to talk about their bowels and running to the bathroom all the time. It's not a sexy disease. Having someone like Kevin talk about it helps more people become aware of the disease."

Dineen, 45, was first diagnosed in 1987.

"It was the fall and I had been in Europe and I thought I had an intestinal bug, and it turned out to be more serious than that," he said. "At that time, I was taking a lot of medicines, and I wasn't sure how it was going to affect my hockey career. It was something I was very worried about and had legitimate concerns on how it was going to affect my career because it is a very debilitating disease."

But Dineen learned how to manage the disease. He spent 18 seasons in the NHL. A feisty player, Dineen is one of only eight players with 300 goals and 2,000 penalty minutes during his career.

"Fortunately, for me, I was able to get good medical care and keep my symptoms under control," he said. "I just had to really manage it. A lot of times I would have to be very careful with what I ate, (take) massive doses of medicines."

While he was playing, Dineen would sometimes have problems during the later stages of the season.

"For me, consistently, I was ill during the season when I was run down, in January and February," he said. "People who are diagnosed with Crohn's have different symptoms, and it affects them differently, and there are different causes and reactions, different things that trigger the issue. For me, I think it was when I got physically worn down. Lack of sleep. Travel. Basically, it was a sign that my body wasn't going to go any further than that."

Dineen still has an occasional flare-up.

"Last spring, I went and saw a doctor here," he said. "I went through some small symptoms."

To stay on top of the disease, Dineen gets a colonoscopy every two or three years.

"I just stay on top of my health," he said. "I depended on doctors and medical care when I was younger, but now I deal with it when I notice the signs of a flare-up. If you didn't treat it, you would have some major issues."

In recent years, Dineen has worked with the Colitis and Crohn's Foundation of America to help inform people about the disease.

"I felt by people hearing my story they could realize you could live your life with Crohn's disease," he said. "You have to treat your symptoms and stay on the program that has been given to you."

Dubinsky said it is important for people to hear someone like Dineen talk about...