07:40 PM PST on Friday, March 5, 2004

By SAINT BRYAN / Evening Magazine

From the very beginning, Pearl Jam has been a socially conscious band, but perhaps nothing they've done as a whole will make as much of a difference as what Mike did earlier this year.

The spotlight isn't an easy place to keep a secret, but for nearly half his life, Mike McCready, lead guitarist for one of the biggest rock bands in America, did just that.

Mike McCready performing with Pearl Jam

"It was something I was ashamed of for many years," he said – "something" so painful and so unpredictable, it sometimes forced the Pearl Jam guitarist to abandon the stage mid-song to find the one place where he could deal with his awful secret – the bathroom.

"I probably didn't want anybody to know about it," he said.

Not anymore. Not after a Seattle luncheon where the rock star revealed his secret to the world.

"My name's Mike McCready and I suffer from Crohn's disease," he said on stage, but this time without a guitar to hide behind.

Mike told the crowd about his 20-year battle with a chronic disease that has no cure, that causes extreme abdominal pain and attacks of diarrhea, that can force patients to go to the bathroom up to 20 times a day.

"It could hit you at anytime. I could be the poster child for Depends," said Mike.

With a sense of humor and blunt honesty, Mike shared some of his most embarrassing on-stage experiences.

Some of them may seem funny, but it was anything but.

Mike decided to tell the world about his disease.

In 1994, Mike made fun of the Seattle rock scene on an episode of "Almost Live."

Looking at Mike then, fans were probably wondering what was going on.

"I must have been on 30 mg to 40 mg of Predizone because my face is blown out," he said.

It's a side effect of the drugs Mike takes to keep Crohn's in remission.

"I take up to 14 pills a day," he said.

So why is Mike talking about something he could keep hiding from the public?

He says because there a million other Crohn's sufferers out there and most get diagnosed at the most difficult time in their lives – the teenage years.

"To have Crohn's and have to deal with that on top of being a teenager and growing up, that's a loaded deck," he said.

Federal Way's Kyle Tate has been dealing with Crohn's for 3 years.

"When I first got diagnosed it was almost heart-breaking… It was like the end of the world," said Kyle.

But now, with the help of a fistful of pills, Kyle has got some bounce back into his step, some back spin on his shot, and plans to play for the varsity basketball team.

It's a disease Kyle will live with for the rest of his life, but doctors say there are many more out there too ashamed to get treatment.

Many patients initially think they have something that will go away and they actually get used to the symptoms.

To raise awareness, the Northwest chapter of the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation sponsors an annual "You Gotta Have Guts" run in Sandpoint Magnuson Park.

Mike was there running 9-minute miles. So was his dad.

"He's a terrific role model for a lot of people including his parents, so that's why I'm out here supporting him," said Roy McCready.

For more than 10 years, Mike has been a guitar hero to a generation of rock fans. Now that his old secret is out, he's become a hero even to people who may never hear him play.

The Seattle Thunderbirds are pleased to announce a partnership with Mike McCready that will benefit the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America.

McCready will join the Thunderbirds for a very special fan appreciation night at KeyArena on March 6, 2004. If people call 206-448-7825, they can designate their tickets as part of the CCFA group and all proceeds will go to the charity CCFA.

Mike credits the other members of the band with supporting him through the disease. They've covered for him when he's had Crohn's attacks on stage and they were all there at the banquet when he first spoke publicly about the disease.