Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I was diagnosed with Crohns disease in 2000 after 18 months of suffering symptoms and being fobbed off and told I had Irritable Bowel Syndrome. In the years that followed I tried every drug and treatment plan possible to control the illness but I never managed to spend more than a few weeks symptom free which left me unable to live a "normal life". Biologic drugs were a lifeline but after spending many years being infused every eight weeks, my body created a resistance and they stopped working for me. Just as I was about to try another new drug on the market, I suffered a perforated bowel which left me fighting for my life at Christmas time 2009. 

Six years on and I am in better health than I have been since before my symptoms first appeared, which in hindsight is all thanks to the perforated bowel and resulting Ileostomy. I now have a job I LOVE, (something which was impossible for me before) and have bought my first house, both achievements I never dared dream about before my Ileostomy.

Of course there is sooooo much more to the journey I have been on with Crohns but I don't want this to be a "woe is me" story, I would be here for days trying to explain it all...I had it bad but I do not take my current good health for granted. I still have problems directly and indirectly related to my Crohns and I know that it could come back somewhere else in my digestive system with a vengeance  but I am hyper aware that there are people out there who have and are suffering far more than I have as a result of IBD. I am one of the lucky ones!!! So, mindful of the fact that there are so many people going through these debilitating conditions who are in despair I thought that it was time to start contributing in some way and this WALK IT event seemed like as good a place as any to start!...We need to fund more research into drug therapies to give sufferers some semblance of a "normal" life and work towards finding a cure for this dreadful disease and the stigma that undoubtedly goes with it.

My aim is to make this event the first of many I take part in and do my bit to raise funds for research into IBD.

Your donation should you choose to make one not only helps to raise money but also helps to raise awareness of the condition. We need to work together to help people understand that IBD in any of its forms is a serious illness that doesn't necessarily show on the outside and let people who suffer from these conditions know that they are not alone and that we wont judge.  All anyone with IBD wants is to feel like they are understood and not discriminated against because "You don't LOOK sick"

Finally, if you could pass this on to your friends, family, colleagues and anyone else you can think of, please do. Even if they don't feel they want to donate, it will have put IBD in the forefront of their thoughts for a short while and maybe even spurred them to find out a little more about it and become IBD aware.

Thank you so much for reading my story

Lots of love xoxo

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