My name is Riffat and I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease on 21st July 2017. Prior to this I went through suffering 6 months of tiredness, joint pains, 12-15 toilet visits a day, vomiting, stomach cramps and the list goes on. During these 6 months I was told I have a severe deficiency in Vit D, Calcium and Iron with no idea what it was leading to. Eventually I was hospitalised in the middle of the night after passing out on my bathroom floor. Thankfully it only took 6 weeks for the IBD team at Wythenshawe hospital to diagnose me with Crohn's Disease after plenty of steroids and finally a colonoscopy. 

I started taking Azathioprine in August 2017 but only two weeks of taking this drug gave me Pancreatitis which completely floored me. Back to square zero and in the worst mental state of my life ever with no hope of seeing that light at the end of the tunnel. I then had to go through a drug cleanse and wasn't able to take anything apart from paracetamol and Buscopan for pain relief which didn't even touch the sides. All this whilst trying to be the best mum I could to my little girl on my own. The only thought I had at this point is "I'm never ever going to feel 'normal' ever again! Very dark times.

Finally I moved onto Infliximab infusions in October 2017. After a few back to back intense treatments I started to feel 'normal' again. Fast forward 18months and I am still having my infusion once every 8 weeks with constant regular bloods too. It's so hard to constantly sit in a Ward and have drugs dripped into me for hours but I finally feel happy and normal again and it's all thanks to the NHS and my close knit of family and friends who supported me every step of the way. I will be having another colonoscopy and many more tests by the end of 2019 after which I will hopefully fall into remission.

After reading so many other stories I now know how lucky I am to have been diagnosed so quickly and treated so well. I am stronger for this and am grateful everyday for everything I have in life no matter how big or small. I paint a smile on my face everyday for my little girl as she looks up to me for everything and I have to be the best role model to her no matter how much I may be dying inside. Without her constant support I wouldn't have fought as hard as I have done to manage this debilitating disease especially after her having to see her mummy at her worst. She dried my tears, held me and reassured me it's all going to be ok and she was 100% correct!

I am doing the 10k Walk It Manchester to raise awareness to all about Crohn's & Colitis. My daughter Zara will be walking with me side by side to support me. This is a crippling, incurable disease and we have to keep fighting strong in the hope to one day find a cure. In the meantime I want to do everything I can to help the research into diagnosis and treatment. Special Thanks to Taona McGivern for inspiring me to do this. Such an inspiration! Please dig deep and give as much or as little as you can. It all helps. Stronger together! Thank you for reading my story! X