Most of you will probably know my history with IBD, I was diagnosed age 4 with Ulcerative Colitis, I was on up to 20 medications a day to try and get it under control but it got to severe and I had to get surgery to remove my large bowel. In some ways I’m quite happy that it all happened when I was younger because I was quite oblivious to what was going on. I’m much better now as to how Ill I was 5 years ago, but IBD still affects me daily.
I can feel fatigued, this is one of the hardest things for people to understand that don’t have IBD. It’s a different feeling to just feeling tired. I can get 11hrs of sleep at night and wake up in the morning feeling exhausted. Sometimes even having a shower can be tiring. I use the toilet more than others and get sore joints and I don’t do day trips and sleepovers because I won’t use any other toilets apart from my own.
Starting high school this year was a big change for me. I was the last person to know what high school I was going to. And the anxiety and stress of it all overwhelmed me which resulted in me missing a month of school in June being ill, my last month of primary school. I missed the leavers service and prom and my friends didn’t understand all of it which didn’t really help me. But I’ve been at high school for 6 months now and have met great friends and the teachers are not only supportive of my illness but my fundraising too!
But if I didn’t have IBD I wouldn’t of met Derek and Julie McEwan who are now like part of my family, and other people I have became really close to over the years…
IBD can be a difficult thing to talk about, but raising awareness is really important and I want to help other people who are going through the same by raising as much awareness as I can.
Jenny x