DripDrop ORS: Behind the Company

Inflammatory Bowel Disease is an autoimmune disease that affects the digestive tract, resulting often times in malnutrition and dehydration. As someone who no longer has a colon and has lost a significant amount of small intestine, my body does not absorb the nutrients from my food or the water from what I eat quite like someone with a fully present and functioning digestive system. As a result, I have become very conscious as to what I put into my body.

I have talked many times about my experience using DripDrop, an oral rehydration solution that helps to combat dehydration, throughout my illness. We discovered DripDrop on a whim while my parents were desperately seeking options to help keep me hydrated when I was losing extreme amounts of fluids from using the restroom 40+ times a day. It was easily the best-tasting and most effective solution that we found, as I could not tolerate enough of the other rehydration solutions enough to drink at the volume that I needed to stay hydrated. I continued using DripDrop throughout 6 surgeries and the many challenging recoveries that followed those surgeries. It is not often that I find a product that I can actually tell makes a significant difference in my life and that is exactly what DripDrop has done for me as someone with a chronic illness and an ostomy.

Recently, I have felt like my journey has come full circle.

On January 16th, I travelled to Cleveland, Ohio for the opportunity to listen to Dr. Eduardo Dolhun, Founder of DripDrop, speak at Cleveland Clinic the following day. This was an opportunity that felt so surreal to me, as I was getting the opportunity to meet the brilliant mind behind a product that has had an incredible impact on my life.

Upon arriving in Cleveland on Wednesday, I finally had the opportunity to meet Tara Pate, Brand Marketing Manager for DripDrop, for a delicious dinner at the Lola Bistro. Tara has been my point-of-contact with the company since the Summer, so to finally meet in person was a wonderful experience. I highly recommend the Lola Bistro to anyone who is travelling to the Cleveland area.

Thursday morning, we set off early to Cleveland Clinic for Dr. Dolhun’s lecture. A little-known fact about my journey: I actually had an appointment at Cleveland Clinic when I still had active IBD, but there were difficulties with the insurance that delayed us too long and that is how we ended up going to The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore instead. Thursday, it was relieving to be at Cleveland Clinic for a reason that was not related to me being sick.

Dr. Dolhun’s talk was to registered dieticians and doctors from the Nutrition Support Team and Center for gut Rehibilitation and Transplant at Cleveland Clinic. Going into the talk, I knew Dr. Dolhun’s story and how DripDrop came about, but to hear the story from Dr. Dolhun himself was such a wonderful opportunity. For those who are unfamiliar with the story of DripDrop, here is a little backstory:

Dr. Eduardo Dolhun, during a Guatemala cholera outbreak in 1993, took to a remote jungle village to treat patients suffering from life-threatening dehydration. The problem was, the oral solution was hard to get down, hard to keep down. Especially for kids, who’d unwittingly spit up the very thing that could save them. The number of preventable deaths due to dehydration stuck with Dr. Dolhun, and led him to this question: What if the solution could taste good?

The question was a turning point not only for Dr. Dolhun’s life path, but for the medical industry at large. Now, Dr. Dolhun, having meticulously arrived at a formula that meets the rigorous standard of the World Health Organization and the rigorous standard of the kid palate, has made his product available to everyone, everywhere. From US military to California wildfire fighters, sports teams to medical centers, backpackers to business travelers to moms of sick kids. And of course, to the field, where it was first conceived, places marked by disease or natural disaster or political refuge, where dehydration once had the power to destroy, and now…has a cure.

During the talk, Dr. Dolhun shared a video that was taken during one of his trips of a very young child who was critically dehydrated. The baby was still and barely able to move- a truly heartbreaking thing to watch. Dr. Dolhun then administers a small syringe of the solution that is now known as DripDrop into the baby’s mouth and several minutes later you see the baby blinking and wiggling his arms and legs. This was such a powerful thing to see, especially because I have felt those same benefits from DripDrop when I was in critical need. Following the talk, I was so inspired to hear doctors sharing their experience with DripDrop and the positive impacts that it had on their patients. One of the lines that has stayed with me was a doctor who said her patients explained how DripDrop made them feel to “a wilted flower coming back to life.”

After the talk at Cleveland Clinic, I had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Dolhun personally to talk about DripDrop and to share my story with him. We met at Pour in Cleveland, a very cozy, trendy coffee shop in downtown Cleveland. I already knew that there was great passion and drive behind DripDrop, but after sitting down with Dr. Dolhun personally, I could feel just how much this really means to him. DripDrop was not made by a beverage company or a pharmaceutical company. It was not made to be seen in a magazine with a smiling celebrity endorsing it. Dr. Dolhun set out on a mission to save lives when he created DripDrop and that is exactly what he has done. From hurricanes to earthquakes and other devastating natural disasters, Dr. Dolhun has made it his priority to be present in those locations and make a difference.

From my brief conversation with Dr. Dolhun, it became very clear that DripDrop is more than a product to him. DripDrop is a way for him to change the lives of people all over the world by lowering the number of preventable deaths caused by dehydration.

To say that this experience was eye-opening would be an understatement and I hope that my experience serves as an inspiration to you as well. Dr. Dolhun is proof that one person can make a difference and that even what may seem impossible can be done with the right strength and determination. Thank you so much to Tara, Dr. Dolhun, and DripDrop for this wonderful opportunity and for what you are doing for patients all over the world.

You can read more on the story of DripDrop, order samples, and find a store that carries DripDrop near you at: https://dripdrop.com.

And to my international readers that have asked me about DripDrop: Dr. Dolhun has many plans for expanding to other countries and I will be sure to keep you updated on anything that I hear regarding when and where!

If you would like to try DripDrop, use code "CLEVELAND20" for 20% off of your order!