What was suppose to be a relaxing weekend in preparation for holiday to Cornwall with Ben this week, turned out to be somewhat of a small disaster: Going to Good Hope A&E twice in the space of 12 hours. Oh joys. Saturday started off fairly normal – breakfast, shopping in Lichfield, food shopping in Tamworth, followed by lunch at home. I had made chocolate flapjacks the afternoon before and had…
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Vedolizumab: The Final Loading Dose 07.11.16
Four weeks have passed. My blood work was done the day of stoma clinic last week so I was on schedule to receive my final loading dose of Vedolizumab then on to a regular schedule of having it. As I said in my last post about Vedo, we still didn’t know if this was working yet or if it was going to work. We just had to complete the loading…
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Returning to Work…?
Today I attended a work coach appointment at our local Job Centre. NB: I currently receive ESA because I’m unemployed and recovering from surgery. I’m still yet to my surgeon for my post op check, but so far things have been going well with my stoma and my Crohn’s; I haven’t been left without any help or care! So today was about seeing what will happen next. Usually, a person…
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Taking my Stoma to the Spa
I love a good spa day. Swimming, a steam, hot tub, a treatment and being pampered in a robe and fluffy slippers. My idea of heaven. Over the years I’ve found being in a relaxing environment such as a spa very much help me with my mental health and give me some much-needed reflective time alone. I tend to ask for them as gifts for Christmas or birthdays so, that…
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Grieving: Those Waves Don’t Stop
They “prep” you for surgery; you hear that a lot in the weeks and days leading up to an operation. Medically, you should be fit enough to withstand the trauma your body is going to under take. You should be aware of the potential dangers, prepare yourself for things to be different than what you’re expecting, what you’re thinking could happen; even if you’ve had surgery or this surgery before. What about…
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Seriously?!
So, knowing I was going to be in town today for a dental check up, I decided to do some writing in a local coffee shop. Got a loyalty freebie so I was all set. But my stoma had other plans. I was just finishing up my coffee and got my notebook out, and pain shoots through my bag. My stoma is working overtime to push something through; last nights…
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How do I hate something that has saved my life?
No, seriously, how? Maybe the question should be ‘CAN I hate something that has saved my life?” or even “Can I hate something that has CHANGED my life?” Because, I can hate the fact that my disease was so bad, they had no other option than to remove my colon and give me my ileostomy. I can hate that fact until the cows come home, it still doesn’t change what…
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Hitting the Wall (of Denial and Regret)
I think like most people, I am guilty of living in some denial and regret in certain aspects of my life. When it comes to a chronic illness, it’s just that CHRONIC. It doesn’t go away, it can’t be cured only treated and those treatments change and sometimes fail. It takes time to become comfortable with what you have, what is wrong with you and how you go about living…
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Vedolizumab: The Restart
Following my subtotal colectomy in August; my IBD team recommended returning to Vedolizumab. I had already tried Vedolizumab; receiving the three loading infusions last winter. This is where I was and how I was feeling as 2015 turned into 2016: “… So, it hasn’t gotten any worse, but the past year’s drug choices haven’t made it any better. I’m on a plato; and its going down, albeit slowly, over time.…