Although Im a big believer in positivity, I also think it is healthy to expel all the things you hate, to write them down and cast them out and so I though Id do a list of things I hate about IBD, ileostomies and chronic illness. With my surgery looming I am possibly not feeling […]
I have just discovered that people with Ulcerative Colitis, Crohns, a stoma or other long term illnesses that mean they need to use a lot of water could be entitled to reduced water rates. The Watersure scheme caps your water payments. To qualify you must… be on a water meter or have applied for one and be […]
My hernia is getting worse by the day, it’s hard to know what to do for the best. It will be fixed in April during my pouch surgery but till then it’s getting increasingly difficult to deal with. It’s a large hard swelling behind my stoma about the size of half a large grapefruit. There’s […]
With my pouch surgery coming up in the next month or so, my consultant has asked me to try and lose some weight. Since January I’ve lost 12lbs and so I’m doing quite well but seem to have plateaued. He has asked me to try to lose another 6 or 7 lbs as people carrying […]
As I start to mentally prepare for surgery next month I began to think about how lovely it was last time when I had visitors and I thought about some things that would help me this time. When you are sick in hospital, visiting times really break up the day. Last time I was in […]
After visiting my consultant (and ANOTHER bloody cock up with appointments!!) the decision has been made. My hernia is causing too many problems and so my pouch surgery is being brought forward…. to April. I’m really anxious and nervous but I am in the very safe hands of Mr Brown, my surgeon. No exact date […]
We all know the old sayings of ‘beauty is skin deep’ and ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ but do we actually live by them? Beauty is a billion dollar industry, we are sold images of beauty every day, studies say we see over 3500 marketing messages a day designed by marketing execs […]
On Saturday 8th March I was invited to talk at Barnsley Town Hall as part of International Women’s Day by Experience Barnsley. My talk was about my journey of ten years of chronic illness, surgery and living with a stoma. I talked about Ulcerative Colitis and how my colectomy and ileostomy affected my life. It […]
It’s hard to be positive all the time, in fact it’s damn near impossible. The last couple of weeks have had ups and downs and I’m feeling the strain. I blogged about Fridays events, Saturday we had friends over for dinner and had a brilliant night, it felt great to have a relaxed, fun dinner […]
My ileostomy is part of me and my scars , stoma and bag make my body no less beautiful than a body without. If you have an ostomy, be proud of it, own it, love it. It probably wasn’t part of your life plan but it’s here now and you need to accept it and […]