As many of you know, in November 2016 I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis and told that at some point in my life, there was a very high chance I would need to have my large bowel and rectum removed, meaning I would have a stoma. Little did I know, that I would need to have my bowel removed 10 days later. That's how I ended up with Sally, my stoma.
Ulcerative Colitis is a form of Inflammatory Bowel Disease. It's an autoimmune disease where your immune system mistakes the lining of your bowel as foreign body cells, so it attacks it. This causes the lining of the bowel to ulcerate.
For the last 15 months that I've been living with Sally, I've been in a constant flare in my rectal stump. This means it is permanently ulcerated, which leads to cramps, toilet urgency and blood loss. My consultant has told me he will not treat this flare as the drugs would create too many other side effects - my hair has finally started growing back after five months of steroids back in 2016 / 2017!
At the moment, there are many different drugs used to treat IBD, however they all cost a lot of money and some of them are no long term fixes. One long term fix though would be to find a cure, which unfortunately there isn't at the moment.
Some people with IBD suffer for years before surgery is the only option they have, and for others it's only a few days or weeks to get used to the idea. But no one should have to get "used to" the idea of pooing in a bag attached to their tummy if there is another option.
It may be a little too late for myself as I may have my rectal stump removed in the next few years, but I would love a cure to be found for this awful disease.
Every penny donated to Crohn's & Colitis UK goes towards finding a cure, or helping those living with the diseases to maintain as normal, healthy life as possible. Thank you in advance x
