This is my story and the whole reason behind my Dyfi Enduro challenge.
I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis/Crohn’s in June 2012 and went from a fit and healthy, 13 stone, 30 year old male to a 9 stone man struggling to cope with just the basics of day to day living. I struggled for 2 years trying many different forms of treatment and medication but nothing worked long term. I spent countless months in hospital hooked up to an IV drip for the  steroids pumped into me to try and bring the disease under control. After trying everything the doctors suggested my body might finally give up, so I stopped fighting and ended up having a sub total colectomy in August 2014.This meant preparing to live my life for the foreseeable future with a colostomy bag. Coming to terms with this was terrifying but I and my body couldn’t take anymore and this was the only option. Little did I know this was just the start.
After 7 hours of surgery - which was successful –the surgeons removed all of my Colon (5ft in all!!!) and then it had to be sent away for tests to make sure that it was Ulcerative Colitis and not Crohn’s! The results came back and it was confirmed that I had Ulcerative Colitis. In a way I count myself lucky I had Ulcerative Colitis and not Crohn's as my disease just attacks the colon which I could have removed but with Crohn’s it can attack your whole digestive system.
With the doctors now happy with their diagnosis that my condition was Ulcerative Colitis, I was given the option that if everything healed ok (after having what’s known as a 'reversal') it would mean that in time I could get rid of the colostomy bag and live pretty much a normal life again.
A plan was set and I was told by my surgeon Mr Chris Morris at the Heath Hospital of Wales, that if I gained enough weight and strength I would hopefully be able to have the reversal within the next year. A reversal takes two operations for everything to get sorted. My aim was to get as fit and healthy as I possibly could to give everything the best chance of working.
Unfortunately things didn’t go to plan and I had numerous set backs and hospital visits - the most serious being when I had to get air lifted from Bronglais Hospital in Aberystwyth to the Heath Hospital in Cardiff where they had performed the previous surgeries. During the reconstruction surgery of my bowel somehow it had managed to kink and I was in danger of my bowel perforating which life is threatening.
I experienced various other complications which resulted in another 2 operations, had many infections and the wound opening and not healing properly. The things I found the most difficult to deal with were the lack of information available to patients and especially for the people who are taking care of you when you leave the hospital and the lack of resources for care outside the hospital.These are the main reasons i have decided to start to try and help other people who are experiencing what I had to go through and to try and make a very difficult situation a little bit easier to deal with.
I was lucky that I had the amazing support of my family, my fiancé and friends around me to help me through it - not everybody is so lucky.
I am now fit and healthy again and after a very tough 8 months mentally and physically and I’m now learning to live life to the fullest again. The hardest part of all of this and what I have been through was letting the people who love me, help me and realise it’s ok that sometimes everyone needs a little help. I want to help the Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis charity get their message out there for people who are suffering from this disease that they are not alone and it is worth fighting as I am proof that things can and do get better.
Thank you to everyone who helped to get me here.