IBD

  • 2016 – Year in Review

    To say it’s been a challenge this year, is abit of an understatement. I went into 2016 knowing I would be having surgery and thing would be unstable for a while. The build up to surgery was agonising but I knew it would improve my future prospects of getting along with my illness – it could become easier to treat, more manageable, I would be in better health and I…

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  • Being Chronically Ill at Christmas

    Each year I am so thankful I make it to the festive period and survive it. Why? Christmas for me is a time to reflect and see what I’ve been through. It gives me strength for the year ahead. We can draw a line under what has happened and focus on continuing my good streak. That’s what it always feels for me; I am in a game with my health,…

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  • 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 when things got shitty and problematic. So I’ve set myself some specific health ordinated goals. These are things I wanted to achieve once I had recovered from my op in August and are focused around building myself and my life around…

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  • Please, Just Respect my Decision, OUR Decision

    When I turned sixteen, I announced to my best friend that I wasn’t going to have kids. It was just something I wasn’t interested in becoming a mom, raising children wasn’t any part of the life I had planned for myself. She laughed, quite amused by my statement. How can you know that at sixteen?! She asked me, confused. I bet you change your mind. In fact, I bet you’re…

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  • Surgical Review – 12.12.16

    This is my surgical review for both my surgeries I had done this year. I had my Right Hemicolectomy in May and my Subtotal Colectomy in August. The second surgery superseded the first by giving me my ileostomy. I was sort of expecting to be on the way to being discharged at this appointment but I knew deep down that this probably wasn’t possible. It’s only been three months post-op…

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  • REVIEW: Coloplast NEW Brava Protective Seal

    At the end of November, I was invited to Coloplast HQ in Peterborough to find out more about their new Brava Protective Seal and of course sample the product too! Why the new product? Coloplast wanted to improve on their exisiting Brava Moudlable Ring and provide a more comprehensive variety, to fit better with more sizes of stomas. Feedback from their customers lead them to look for three improvements: 1.…

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  • Travelling Solo with an Ostomy

    So last week I travelled alone. Not unheard of right? Some thing people do all the time; without hesitation, without thought, just ordinary and normal. Not for me. I’d always loved travelling – I spent a year living and studying on Vancouver Island, Canada as part of my degree, I travelled to and from university a lot and I generally got out and about when I could. But when the IBD struck…

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  • Remaining Positive in the Face of [Chronic] Illness

    Once the battle of being diagnosed with an illness, be it chronic or not, has passed – with elation, fear, and exhaustion – it is not long before the next battle comes. For me this was “finding my feet”. I spent six weeks or so in hospital over the space of four months, as we sorted out my medications and relieving my symptoms. Once I was on an upward path,…

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