Third Time Lucky Between October 2015 and September 2017, I started Vedolizumab three times. The first time – October 2015 until February 2016, I was the second patient – first female – at my hospital to receive Vedolizumab as it was only NICE approved that summer and available on the NHS from September. It was a definite bridging medication to get me into 2016 where we had time to develop…
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Life Lately | Early September Madness
Oh hey, hi, hello. It seems my ‘updates’ have been falling under my month review for the last couple months, but this is something else; a significant update. I had a routine surgical check up with my surgeon in late August which we had planned in my care as just a way to better monitor my wound situation. When I last spoke, my wound was no longer being packed or…
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Do You Ever Feel Like a ‘bad’ Patient?
As I’ve ‘grown into’ having IBD, I’ve taken on more of my illness by knowing more and more about it. When I was first diagnosed – almost eight years to the day ago – I just wanted to get better. I wanted my pain to stop, I wanted to eat again, I wanted to not wake up tired and I wanted to not need the toilet every ten minutes. Pain,…
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IBD & Mental Health
Disclaimer: This information is based on my own research into this particular aspect of IBD as well as some personal experience and should not be used as medical advice or a diagnostic tool. The suggestions given within are taken from sources laid out in the references header. If you seek advice regarding your mental state, please make contact with your GP for medical advice or reach out to Samaritans for anonymous therapy and guidance.…
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Mental Health: My Anxiety
Welcome to my new blog post/s on Anxiety. This post aims to provide educational information about anxiety, as well as my own experience in diagnosis, treatment and coping with daily anxieties. Today, I will be sharing information I have gathered, sharing my own thoughts, as well as articles I’ve found useful and my own hints and tips. This is be expanded as my mental health improves. Mental health struggles are nothing…
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Stoma Life – YEAR THREE
What I’ve Learnt and Achieve in the Last Twelve Months with my Ostomy Year Three with Priscilla has been one of calm in the mist of chaos. I made the gutsy decision to say goodbye to my sassy stump and hello to the Barbie butt club. My mental recovery has and still is the hardest part of living with IBD and a stoma. It is a hidden undercurrent and blinds me…
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Discharge Euphoria
“You can go home today” The most joyful words that can be uttered during a morning ward round when you have been in hospital for anything more than a couple days. You think back to your home and all the wonderful lovely things that await you – a soft bed. A shower! Fresh pjs and bed sheets. No more bleach smell. Peace, quiet and your creature comforts. But what…
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IBD & My Relationship with my Parents
Chronic Illness and Family. Being sick definitely changed the dynamic of our family. Diagnosis Day landed a brick in our household that came from nowhere. We didn’t know how to act, we didn’t know how to communicate and we didn’t know how to respond to what I was being told – You have an incurable illness that will be lifelong and difficult at times. I remember just being glad it wasn’t…
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Dealing with the Dark Cloud of Depression While Taking on IBD
No one feels their best when they are unwell, and this is no different for those with chronic illness. There is an ebb and flow to anything chronic – meaning there are good and bad days – but what happens when your bad days outweigh your good days? I hit rock bottom six months into my IBD diagnosis. I struggled to find a treatment plan that worked. This involved months…