THIS PHOTO WAS TAKEN JUST BEFORE I WS TAKEN DOWN TO SURGERY 7 YEARS AGO.
Crohns & Colitis awareness week has always been a week full of awareness on social media. I think it is so important to talk about it, as anyone with bowel issues will understand. Poo and all things related to poo hasn’t always been talked about until recently. When I was first diagnosed over 30 years ago it was a very different story.
I didn’t have a clue what was happening to my body. I was a teenager enjoying life when all of a sudden ( yes it was that quick ) I found myself in hospital with a young doctor snapping on his rubber gloves with a wink to my friend.
I was terrified because I was being sick out of one end and what felt like losing my ‘innerds’ out the other. Pain, embarrassment and bewilderment followed, with lots of scary tests and needles. The threat of a nasogastric tube if I didn’t stop being sick ( I refused point blank). I didn’t have a clue at the time how on earth it could stop me being sick.
A very young male nurse coming to my call for help when I had soiled myself in the toilet, that was awful for a young female girl.
After many weeks in and out of hospital being pumped full of steroids,I was told I had inflammatory bowel disease. They didn’t know for sure if it was Crohns or colitis but at that stage the treatment was the same. After a clinic appointment I saw a leaflet by Crohns & Colitis UK, this would be my source of information in those early weeks. So for the next 30 years and many other hospital visits, I had indeterminate colitis, Crohns colitis, ulcerative colitis and or Crohns, it was never decided on which one I had. I don’t have any photos of when I was poorly back then, the camera wasn’t invented in those days ; )
Fast forward to 7 years ago and that was when Tomas the stoma joined my story. No need for me to go into those awful times, as this blog covers all of that, but I want to raise awareness of this awful disease, because there are a lot of people out there suffering in silence. If you know someone with IBD then please check in with them, their life has been changed irreparably and they may not think talking about their fears, or their bowels to friends and family is ok, but it should be ok.
