Tonight I hosted the #IBDHour chat on Biological Treatments. In the last six years since I was diagnosed, I have found that I respond best to biological medications; which have given me good quality of life (QoL) and the ability to be closely monitored and managed by my IBD teams. In this post, I’ll answer – at length, because 240 characters and a tweet threads just aren’t enough! – the…
IBD
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My Love for You, Dear Stoma…
Today we celebrate love. A single day devoting to telling whomever we love, that we love them. We shower them with gifts, affection and kind words. I am doing that today too. But for my stoma. Yes, you read that correctly; my stoma. My stoma used to be that elephant in the room, the alien living under my top, a living and breathing weird little thing. These days, whilst she is…
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IBD and PCOS: Another Battle – Part I
Disclaimer: This information is based on my own research into this particular aspect of GYN 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 the things you experience within your own disease, please contact your consultant for medical advice. PCOS – Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome – is something…
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Life Lately | Pushing Through
I like to think that life throws you only what you can handle. That we get given things that will test us but will not break us. Sure, they push us to breaking point but we never break. I’ve dealt with a lot of things in the last six years, especially in the months following surgery. I like to believe that those months in post op recovery is where…
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Entry #3: February 7th 2018
A different day, time and location for CBT today. I’ve been feeling bit brighter the last day or two, able to sort of think and process what I’m feeling instead of being numb and like I’m stuck under water. I even did my “homework” and looked at some situations where my anxiety stops me from doing those things; cognitive retraining. But today we spoke about my trip back home for…
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Brava Protective Seal Shoot
Something I have been unable to share about – until now! – is my involvement with Coloplast and their Brava Protective Seal. I reviewed this product earlier on – read more here – but I was also approached by Coloplast HQ in Denmark to do a testimonial for the product too not long after that review went live. This would involve a video shoot and interview, showing me in my…
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Life Lately | Vedolizumab Side Effects
When I feel ill last summer, I was given the opportunity to start Vedolizumab again. For the third time. At the time, I was given a ‘that speech’ about the risks and benefits of this medication and what it could do to me. You get this every time you start something new, it is a doctor’s prerogative to explain your treatment in full, with side effects, possibly risks and hopeful…
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Entry #1 : January 11th 2018
I started CBT this week. Well, the first pre-session appointment. And the psychological wellbeing practitioner hit the nail on the head with some of the issues I have. When someone, who doesn’t know you in any capacity, can spend twenty minutes with you and your reactions, pin point your issues and make a treatment plan; you know it’s going to be worth the effort. I went in to the room…
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Open Letter: Stoma Bag Change
Despite doing my own research prior to my ostomy surgery, nothing really can prepare you for changing your bag for the first time. Let alone the hundredth or whatever. I sat removing my leaky bag earlier on, remembering my first bag change when I felt in control. It must have been a couple months post op when I wasn’t afraid of looking at it or feeling it. I’d gotten use…