Sorry I haven’t posted in a while, busy busy busy. I am also excited about a thing I was involved with to do with stomas, but it is still hush hush at the moment so I can’t tell you yet. Watch this space !!
I went to the National ileostomy and internal pouch association information day the other week in Birmingham, and it was a great day out. I met many people who I only ” know ” from social media so to meet them in person was so nice. It was based around Living well with a stoma or internal pouch and it was very informative. We got to have a great taster session about exercise with Sarah Russell called Move without fear, which was great for me personally as I have a fear of exercise for my abdomen. She is a massive inspiration having achieved so much since having her own surgery.
I missed hearing a talk given by Natalie Gardner ( aka @thespooniemummy) with the young IA peeps which I am sorry about because I now wished I had been there, as it was about body image which is a topic that can mean a lot to people with a stoma, particularly the younger generation.
We also had a mindful session which gave us techniques on how to slow down and relax which I found useful. ( Although me and Sue did a bit of giggling 🙂 )
The talk I was very interested in was called ” Should it be called Crohns” but alas as is usual for me, it wasn’t at all about the subject I had thought it might be about. I might just add though that it was a very good talk and very interesting, so I am glad I attended. I really thought that it might be about the question mark over indeterminate colitis/ Crohns colitis. I thought maybe he was going to discuss whether Crohns and colitis were actually variants of the same disease, as I have often wondered. Yes they are both IBD, but many folk have been told one then changed many years later to the other. Some say they have been told they have both, is that possible? is it just the same disease showing in a different way? ( The talk was actually about who really discovered Crohns disease.)
Many years ago when I was first diagnosed, I was told I had Crohns disease and that diagnosis stayed for about 10 years. I even had a biopsy that showed Crohns of the large and small bowel. Those notes are now so old I don’t think I can get hold of them, it was also in a hospital in Surrey. Move forward years and I was then told I had indeterminate colitis ( unsure which IBD I have) or Crohns colitis ( Crohns of the large bowel). Then it was decided I had ulcerative colitis.
I have always had a few doubts about which one, even now without the large bowel. The histology said severe UC but there were some bits that could be Crohns related, like thickening of the bowel wall. I also had severe swollen skin tags before surgery which is more Crohns like, and mouth ulcers.
Now, things again seem strange for me once again. The perineal sinus tract that I have had for a few years and have had a few surgeries on, has now been proved to be a rectovaginal fistula. Fistulas can happen with UC but again are more likely to be Crohns disease. I also have the fistula at the base of the stoma ( which is part of my small bowel.) Hopefully nothing else will appear within the small bowel to suggest I am not clear of IBD.
- FISTULA – an abnormal or surgically made passage between a hollow or tubular organ and the body surface, or between two hollow or tubular organs. So could be linking any internal organ or skin together.
This is why it would be great to get the conversation going about the subject of one IBD or two? who else has the question mark over their diagnosis? I hope and think that I had UC with some tendencies of Crohns in the colon that has now been removed.
