Hey Gutlesswondergirl,
I'm an disabled "bean counter". Most people these days don't know that term means. I have counted many things during inventory testing. For example an entire brick yard as they sold the manufacturing company as of the end of the year. 2 days in the cold Midwest I had to actually climb to the top of the piles to make sure they weren't stacked so it looked like there were more bricks. Those were no beans. I've counted shirts, socks and turkey bags for a few other non beans examples 
So from one former CPA, certified public accountant, CMA, certified management accountant, to another bean counter, UC is a below the waist disease. My 7 year old grandson understood that I was sick, the doctor operated and I am still alive description.
You are right people have heard of Crohn's more than UC. I also had ulcers in my inflamed colon and agree that UC is more descriptive than many other diseases. Last stats I recall 1 million people in the USA have crohn's and 400,000 have UC. So crohn's name is more recognizable.