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    Life Lately | Pushing my Limits

    When life gives you lemons, make lemonade Yeah, I relate to this way too much. And I say it time and time again –  surgery changed my life – but…

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    • Eating with an Ostomy
    • Mental Health
    • Ostomy

    Changing Attitudes

    13.06.16 I stared down at the box of tablets in some sort of disbelief. How did it get to this, needing to take anti depressants? It’s week five of my…

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    • Crohns
    • IBD Impact
    • Mental Health

    Painkiller Addiction – My Other Recovery

    Despite being chronically ill for the past four years, I’ve never thought of myself as needing painkillers to get through the bad days. Not that my bad days weren’t bad,…

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    • Life Lately
    • Mental Health
    • Personal
    • Self Love

    Life Lately | Making Progress

    Just when you think things aren’t going anywhere, life pulls you back in. If you’ve been following me for a while now, you’ll probably know that I haven’t work since…

    Read More
    • Mental Health

    When Will My Life Begin?

    Last week, I had several rough days when I was full of self doubt and getting utterly frustrated with many aspects of my life. I wasn’t going to share how…

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    • Mental Health
    • Personal

    I am not *quite* used to this, not just yet

    This weekend I was in London; I had an amazing time, look! But boy did I suffer. It was a very long day; with an super early start and a…

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    • Life Lately
    • Mental Health
    • Personal

    Life Lately | The Challenge

    I usually don’t get into this whole ‘giving something up for Lent’ thing. I’ve never been particularly religious or felt the need to give something up to prove something either.…

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    • Living with an Ostomy
    • Mental Health
    • Ostomy
    • Personal

    Sometimes; it just hits you, hard

    How long does it take you to accept something?  I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t be terrified to see my stoma. The first time I got to see…

    Read More
    • Medication
    • Medication Free
    • Mental Health

    Coming off “The Radar”

    I’ve had Crohn’s disease for over five years now and I think in all those years I have never ever been off the departments radar. You know what I mean…

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    • Crohns
    • IBD Achievements
    • Milestones
    • Self Love

    2017 Goals

    In 2016 I made a conscious effort to set myself realistic goals and hoped to hell that I could achieve them. I found that keeping goals helped me focus on something, especially…

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    • Eating with an Ostomy
    • Mental Health
    • Ostomy
    • Self Love
    • Surgery

    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…

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    • Hospital
    • Mental Health
    • Surgery

    One Week to Go

    Seven more days of having all my insides, still inside of me. Seven more days of this constant, terribly draining pain. Seven more days in this current chapter of my…

    Read More
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The products I use on a regular basis for my ileos The products I use on a regular basis for my ileostomy. What are your favourites? ⭐⁠
⁠
Coloplast light convex maxi bag (16633) •⠀Apeel adhesive remover spray (3501) •⠀Brava lubricating deodorant (12061) •⠀Medi Derma S 3ml barrier applicator (61090) •⠀Brava protective seal (12037) •⠀Respond barrier wipe (RMC3) •⠀Convatec orahesive powder (S106) •⠀Brava barrier cream (12000) •⠀Respond neutralising drops (GJN50 )⁠
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"You can't change what you have.⁠ The only thing "You can't change what you have.⁠
The only thing you can change is how you choose to deal with it."💗⁠
⁠

It’s an ongoing process, choosing how to deal with chronic illness.

Sometimes you can be just fine getting on with it, but at other times, you might need a helping hand. Be that extra support with chores, getting to appointments or getting your medications, even just having someone to talk to about it all. 

I’ve experienced a lot of different ways to deal with having IBD, and then again with have a stoma.

My best piece of advice comes in this:

Don’t be so hard on yourself. Chronic illness is exhausting, even when you are “well”. So take your time, be your own decider of what is realistic and go at your own pace 💛
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#adventureswithachronicillness #motivationmonday #mindfulmonday #grattitudemonday #mondaymotivation #wordsofwisdom #wordstoponder #wordstoinspire #ibdawareness #crohnsdisease #crohns #ibdwarrior #invisibleillnessawareness #chronicillness #inflammatoryboweldisease #letstalkibd
"It's August 12th 2016.⁠ It’s 8am and I’m w "It's August 12th 2016.⁠

It’s 8am and I’m waiting to get some IV morphine. 

I’m waiting for my team to come down and admit me to the Gastro ward. I actually asked to come in, I’ve been declining so fast lately without any really cause, I need answers. I’m terrified but I want to know what’s wrong.”

I haven’t had an emergency admission for almost four years. Yes, I’ve had surgeries since and some day excursions to the hospital 🏥 A&E department, but nothing like this.

I’m really grateful I did get my answers and we did solve my issues. My stoma was the main solve but also maintenance treatment too. But I remember that day waiting to get admitted like it was yesterday. 

I think less and less about that day as time goes on but as I come up to a decade with IBD, I often get wistful about key 🔑 moments. 

That girl lying on the hospital trolley came out of that admission a different person. I think about those three weeks as my turning 🔄 point. Another one came when I made my stoma  permanent. 

As I write everything about my health journey down, I’m not always happy but I am appreciative. Grateful. Thankful. 

Do you have any ‘stand out’ ‘key moments’ like this? 💭
✨NEW BLOG POST ✨⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ Let's Talk About ✨NEW BLOG POST ✨⁠⁠
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Let's Talk About… 🗣️ ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT IBD & STOMAS⁠⁠
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I think one of the most challenging parts of having a chronic illness is experiencing people’s assumptions about what your illness is all about ↪️swipe to see some examples, all of which have been said to me at some point 🙄⁠⁠
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It can be tough challenging what others already assume or think they know by explaining and showing them the truth; it often leading them to being ‘wrong’ and no one wants to be wrong 😑⁠⁠
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Breaking down these myths and assumptions helps reduce stigma, encourages patients to share their reality within their illness and helps them connect to others going through the same experiences.⁠⁠
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At times, the assumptions and comments can hurt. Like, really and deeply 😞 Other times they are just so wildly incorrect and bizarre, you end up laughing 😏⁠⁠
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I’ll be looking into IBD and stoma myths next month and in May. Until then, I’m going to keep on keeping myself busy challenging these assumptions 🤙🏻⁠⁠
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Click the link in my bio for the full article 👉🏻 then tap on the grid image ⁠⁠
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Please share & tag, save and comment to spread the word 😚⁠
“Instead of trying to mend me, I decided to enjo “Instead of trying to mend me, I decided to enjoy me. 
Instead of trying to solve me, I decided to discover me. 
It was one of the best decisions of my life.” 💗

I used to think I was broken because I was different. It took me a long time to see that being different wasn’t something I needed to mend but embrace, love and cherish.

Being different from everyone else is what makes us human and individual. In a world where there is a culture of following a trend or thinking, acting or looking a particular way, so many of us think different is bad.

Different is not bad.
Wanting to be perfect is - no one on this earth is perfect, no matter how much they profess to be. Perfection is not realistic or achievable. 

So I embrace the flaws I have and learn to love them. I see my mistakes and learn from them. I see challenges and look to solve them.

You do you. 

It is the best advice you could get. You do what makes you happy. F*ck the rest 💜
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#adventureswithachronicillness #motivationmonday #mindfulmonday #grattitudemonday #mondaymotivation #wordsofwisdom #wordstoponder #wordstoinspire #ibdawareness #crohnsdisease #crohns #ibdwarrior #invisibleillnessawareness #chronicillness #inflammatoryboweldisease #letstalkibd
“Something is wrong. Something is seriously wron “Something is wrong. Something is seriously wrong and I’m going to kill it. With fire 🔥
Body as it attacks itself: I’m killing it! Aren’t you proud of me?” 🤦🏼‍♀️

ANYONE ELSE EVER FELT LIKE THIS? 🙋🏼‍♀️👋🏻

When you’re on a good run 🏃‍♀️ or roll with your chronic illness, it’s *almost* like a personal vendetta when your body has other plans.

Most autoimmune disease are chronic - meaning they are life long but have periods of flare up and remission. Autoimmune is where your immune system mistakenly attacks your body. It sees all or some parts of your body as “foreign” and fights them, like they would a cold or the flu.

In IBD, this is an attack on the digestive system primarily - but can also include the skin, eyes 👁 and joints 🦵🏻- which results in our frequent diarrhoea, abdominal pain, blood 🩸 loss and weight loss 📉 . So we have targeted treatments to “switch off” the overreaction in our digestive system - super cool, right? Go science! 🔬

But as no one can determine exactly what triggers a autoimmune disease 🦠 to occur, we can’t just switch it off completely yet. 

So unfortunately you have choice when it comes to your body attacking itself. Treatments can dramatically reduce symptoms and ease pain but it’s not a quick fix at all.

The best plan is to be aware 🔎of your own symptoms, build a good relationship with your 🏥team for honest communication and stick to your treatment 📋 plan.

And it’s always important to remember: IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT 😘

Please share & tag, save and comment to spread the word!
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#adventureswithachronicillness #ibdawareness #crohnsdisease #crohns #ibdwarrior #invisibleillnessawareness #chronicillness #inflammatoryboweldisease #letstalkibd #autoimmune #autoimmunedisease
⚡️WHAT DO GELLING AGENTS DO? 💭⁠ ⁠ ⁠It ⚡️WHAT DO GELLING AGENTS DO? 💭⁠
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⁠It can be fracking frustrating to deal with liquid stool when you have a stoma. It can, at times, ruin literally everything - from your change routine to your clothes, even leave you dehydrated - so it’s not to be ignored.⁠
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Gelling agents - which are products which gel liquids when they come into contact with moisture - can be a great help to reduce the flood of output you experience when you empty the bag.⁠
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I’ve always had a little stash of them - Morform from @clinimed_securicare are my favourites, closely followed by @trioostomycare Pearls - to help me cope with my “more liquid than normal” output from time to time. It was especially useful during the times my hernia was being a bugger last year. ⁠
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⁠Have you had to use gelling agents before?⁠

Click the link in my bio for the full article 👉🏻 then tap on the grid image
⁠
Please share & tag, save and comment to spread the word!⁠
⁠”Trust the process. Trust that you will be ok ⁠”Trust the process.
Trust that you will be okay and that you are on the right path.” 💗

⁠It can be really trying sometimes to ‘trust the process’ and hope that this is indeed, ‘the right path’.

But then I am reminded by another set of wise words:

“When I’m overwhelmed, I force myself to do one simple thing before I have to make a decision: close my eyes and take three deep breaths… sometimes even three deep breaths can change everything.”

Three.
Deep.
Breaths.

Things do come good in the end.

I think about this today, on the Mother of all Monday’s when I am waiting for some many answers to my health questions.

But I remember that I am capable of trusting this process. I have access to my team when I in dire need and I am not there yet. I am able to chase people and apply gentle pressure and reminders. I am able to rest and focus on me, instead of letting my mind go into a whirlwind of emotions and false scenarios. 

I say this with some privilege but also wisdom.

I’ve trusted the process before and I can again.

So if you are finding it hard today to ‘trust’ then do one simple thing:

Take three deep breaths and then refocus.
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#adventureswithachronicillness #motivationmonday #mindfulmonday #grattitudemonday #mondaymotivation #wordsofwisdom #wordstoponder #wordstoinspire #ibdawareness #crohnsdisease #crohns #ibdwarrior #invisibleillnessawareness #chronicillness #inflammatoryboweldisease #letstalkibd
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