Oh hey there, hello again. It’s been a while since I did a ‘me and my health’ update. Last time, I spoke about the final stages of my perianal wound healing and a quick GI update. Well, since then, I’ve had my wound close fully – celebrations all around! Only took six months of pure slog! – and I had a Vedolizumab infusion, which didn’t need any further antibiotic treatment…
IBD
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I do this alone.
I do all of *this* alone. IBD, it’s very isolating. Let’s face facts: it focuses on your digestive system, about what it produces. You endure tests and investigations for answers for everything – from your diagnosis, all the way through to getting treatment and management plans sorted – alone. You don’t have anyone to hold your hand. Well, at least I don’t. I have done all of my IBD investigations…
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Travelling with IBD and a Stoma
Let’s get out there! For the majority of people who live with IBD, they have to travel. Either commuting to and from their jobs or taking trips; some will rely on the public transport network – trains, buses and coaches – to do this. While I have been a commuter in my own transport, the majority of my working life – and thus my time being diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease…
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Does Experience Make you Wise?
“Turn your wounds into wisdom” – Oprah Winfrey I remember going to my first outpatient appointment when I first felt ‘well‘ and I wondered when would I get used to this? It seemed impossible. It also seemed to be improbable too; who would want to get used to this? To the barrage of appointments, procedures and the fearful anxiety of a chronic illness? But there was something about the routine…
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September: Going Back to Zero
September is my New Year. When I went through surgery in August 2016, I’d completely overlooked the fact that five year previous I was going through the early stages of living with undiagnosed Crohn’s Disease. I suppose I did have bigger things to worry about at the time – a incision that would spilt open at a family gathering, an infection of that wound, sore peristomal skin, phantom rectum…
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Vedolizumab – Two Years On
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.…