As part of December 2019’s Crohn’s & Colitis week, popular online portal, Glasgow Live, ran a few features on their site to raise awareness of those in Scotland affected by Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).

Following on from our recent share of their story on 14-year old Amelia from East Kilbride, we now look at 19-year old Reiss from Cumbernauld, who has been living with Crohn’s disease for 10 years now, after being diagnosed at the age of 9.

Reiss talks openly about his struggle to manage school and how he has spent much of his life in and out of hospital, going through numerous operations.

Reiss: “During high school I was focussing on trying not to fall behind. Mentally, when it came to thinking about the condition, there were times that I did think to myself, why am I the one that has to go through all of this? Everyone else is fine, they don’t have anything wrong. People looked at me at that point, and just thought, oh, he’s a bit tired. But for me it was kind of like being in a shell, there isn’t really anybody there. The teachers would say, if you need anything you can come to us, but there’s not a whole lot they can help with, in that sense.”

This is just a snippet of the full interview with Reiss, and again, we encourage you to read the full article on Glasgow Live here.

Again, many thanks to the team at Glasgow Live for this great feature and helping the Catherine McEwan Foundation, as we continue to try and improve the lives of those who are living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Scotland.

At the end of last year, Glasgow Live was supporting the Catherine McEwan Foundation in raising awareness for those in Scotland affected by Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). It wasn’t just those suffering from Crohn’s or Colitis that they featured though.

Sometimes overlooked in medical articles that run on lifestyle websites are the consultants, doctors and nurses who are in the front line, doing everything within their powers to help the patients in their charge.

Someone who has been a great source of strength and a key figure at Glasgow Children’s Hospital in the treatment for those suffering from IBD in Scotland is Paediatric & Inflammatory Bowel Disease Specialist Nurse, Vicki from Glasgow.

Vicki has been a specialist IBD nurse for over 14 years now and understands more than most the affect that it can have on those who suffer from it.

Vicki: “One of the most challenging things about this job is that you see young people with a chronic and often life changing condition, trying to kind of get on with their lives and do the things that a young person should be doing. But, also, one of the great things about that is that, you see them doing it and they are stronger than they ever believed they were, and we’re lucky to be able to support that, and that’s the truth.”

It’s another great feature on Glasgow Live and we urge you to read the full article, which you can access here.

Vicki has been a huge support to the Catherine McEwan Foundation as we try to improve the lives of those living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Scotland.

The 1-7 December 2019 was Crohn’s & Colitis awareness week which helped to increase awareness of those affected by Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), not only in Scotland but across the UK and the rest of the world.

In support of the Catherine McEwan Foundation (CMF), as we continue to try and enhance the lives of those in Scotland who suffer from Crohn’s or Colitis, the Glasgow Live website featured a number of articles that focused on those living with IBD and those at the front end in supplying the care, medication and support for its sufferers.

One of those sufferers is 16-year old Jenni from East Kilbride, who was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis at the age of 4. With the support of her family, particularly her mum, Kirsteen, Jenni has been inspirational in the way she has challenged her condition head on, determined to raise money and offer support to all those who suffer from IBD. 

Jenni started raising money for the Catherine McEwan Foundation and Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity at the age of five, raising £5000 at a primary school cheese and wine party. Since that day, Jenni, who is a Young Ambassador for CMF has gone on to raise over £400,000 for both charities!

Jenni: “I think the advice that I would give to someone who has been diagnosed with IBD, is to know that you’re not alone because there’s so many people of your age group that are going through the same, and are having the same worries as you. Don’t isolate yourself, reach out to them. I’ve met a lot of amazing people through having this illness which I’m so glad about. Reach out and don’t keep everything into yourself.”

Thank you once again to Glasgow Live, and please take the time to read Jenni’s inspirational full story here.

In support of those suffering from Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) in Scotland, Glasgow Live recently ran a few features on its website to raise awareness of this life-changing condition. 

The website featured a few articles on those suffering from Crohn’s or Colitis, in addition to an article on Vicki from Glasgow, a Paediatric & Inflammatory Bowel Disease Specialist Nurse. Glasgow Live also ran an interview with Kostas, a Senior Lecturer in Clinical Nutrition who is based between Glasgow University’s School of Medicine and the Glasgow Royal Infirmary.

Kostas talks about the challenges he and his colleagues face as they try to understand how a diet interacts with gut bacteria in people with Crohn’s Disease and how it affects gut bacteria, which may play an important role in the onset of Crohn’s disease.

Kostas: “The Catherine McEwan Foundation has been very important to our research, in enabling us to understand how the diet reacts with the gut bacteria in patients with Crohn’s disease. Through their fundraising they have been able to give us money to purchase equipment, that allows us to study how the diet interacts with the gut bacteria and how the fibre we’ve consumed is broken down into bacterial molecules which is very important for gut health. The Catherine McEwan Foundation has also provided a significant amount of funding to employ a research fellow to study how the new diet can improve the outcomes for patients with active Crohn’s disease.”

The work of Kostas and other scientists and researchers is invaluable in the fight against IBD and as always, we encourage you to read the full story here.

Thank you once more to Glasgow Live in their amazing support of the Catherine McEwan Foundation as we try to enrich the lives of young people and adults who are living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Scotland.

The 1-7 December 2019 was Crohn’s & Colitis awareness week which helped to increase awareness of those affected by Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), not only in Scotland but across the UK and the rest of the world.

In support of the Catherine McEwan Foundation (CMF), as we continue to try and enhance the lives of those in Scotland who suffer from Crohn’s or Colitis, the Glasgow Live website featured a number of articles that focused on those living with IBD and those at the front end in supplying the care, medication and support for its sufferers.

One of those sufferers is 16-year old Jenni from East Kilbride, who was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis at the age of 4. With the support of her family, particularly her mum, Kirsteen, Jenni has been inspirational in the way she has challenged her condition head on, determined to raise money and offer support to all those who suffer from IBD. 

Jenni started raising money for the Catherine McEwan Foundation and Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity at the age of five, raising £5000 at a primary school cheese and wine party. Since that day, Jenni, who is a Young Ambassador for CMF has gone on to raise over £400,000 for both charities!

Jenni: “I think the advice that I would give to someone who has been diagnosed with IBD, is to know that you’re not alone because there’s so many people of your age group that are going through the same, and are having the same worries as you. Don’t isolate yourself, reach out to them. I’ve met a lot of amazing people through having this illness which I’m so glad about. Reach out and don’t keep everything into yourself.”

Thank you once again to Glasgow Live, and please take the time to read Jenni’s inspirational full story here.

As part of December 2019’s Crohn’s & Colitis week, popular online portal, Glasgow Live, ran a few features on their site to raise awareness of those in Scotland affected by Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).

Following on from our recent share of their story on 14-year old Amelia from East Kilbride, we now look at 19-year old Reiss from Cumbernauld, who has been living with Crohn’s disease for 10 years now, after being diagnosed at the age of 9.

Reiss talks openly about his struggle to manage school and how he has spent much of his life in and out of hospital, going through numerous operations.

Reiss: “During high school I was focussing on trying not to fall behind. Mentally, when it came to thinking about the condition, there were times that I did think to myself, why am I the one that has to go through all of this? Everyone else is fine, they don’t have anything wrong. People looked at me at that point, and just thought, oh, he’s a bit tired. But for me it was kind of like being in a shell, there isn’t really anybody there. The teachers would say, if you need anything you can come to us, but there’s not a whole lot they can help with, in that sense.”

This is just a snippet of the full interview with Reiss, and again, we encourage you to read the full article on Glasgow Live here.

Again, many thanks to the team at Glasgow Live for this great feature and helping the Catherine McEwan Foundation, as we continue to try and improve the lives of those who are living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Scotland.