This is
going off to beauty side of this blog but i've decided to write a bit more of a
personal post. I decided to write this post to raise awareness about Ulcerative
Colitis & Crohn's Disease. As a suffer myself i feel like when i mention to
people that i suffer from this disease it always ends up with my awkwardly
trying to explain what it entails! I would love to help raise more awareness
and i thought this is one way that i could.
Ulcerative Colitis
Ulcerative Colitis is a long
term condition that affects the colon, symptoms include weight loss, abdominal
pain, frequent need to go to the toilet, bloody diarrhea ( i never
thought i'd write that on my blog!) The cause of this condition isn't
exactly known, but researchers have looked into a few causes. The first
one being your immune system, one theory believed by researchers is that the
immune system mistakes "friendly bacteria" found in the colon for an
infection so it tries to stop the infection and attacks the bacteria causing
inflammation and pain in the colon. Genetics may play another part as
well. They have researched that one in six people who suffer from Ulcerative
Colitis have a close relative that suffers from the condition as well ( which i
do, my auntie and my nan are both sufferers.) The last cause researchers
have found is that the environment around us may play a part in developing this
condition, various factors have been suggested such as air pollution, diet and
hygiene. Diagnosis of this UC can be easy you will first have a blood
test, send off a stool sample for testing and finally have a small procedure
called a colonoscopy, this procedure involves having a small tube
containing a camera inserted into your bum ( embarrassing ) which
goes up and looks at your colon, there will be a screen that is connected to
the tube which is where the consultants will look at, take pictures and may
take samples of your colon to be sent off for testing. The procedure only takes
a half an hour and once you have rested a bit after and have eaten they let you
go home the same day ( the worse bit of this whole procedure is drinking
the strong laxatives and having to starve the day before as they need
you to be completely empty!) Once you have been diagnosed you
may be given a small dose of steroids to help with the infection and
inflammation initially and after the course has finished they will
give you regular medication to take daily to help keep the condition at
bay.
Crohn's
Disease
This is
slightly different from UC but there are
some similarities between the two. Crohn's Disease is a long term
condition that causes inflammation to the lining of the digestive
system ( so the inflammation is slightly higher that Ulcerative
Colitus.) The symptoms between the two are generally the same
which can cause problems for consultants when they
are initially trying to diagnose you. The causes of Crohn's
Disease are unknown but researchers believe that factors
like environment, smoking, genetics and your immune system play
a part much like UC. Diagnosis follows the same pattern as UC which will
eventually involve a colonoscopy and endoscopy which involves
swallowing a small tube with a camera at the end of it while your consultant
looks at a screen to see what's going on inside. Once you've been diagnosed
depending on the severity of the condition you may be prescribed
daily medication to help keep the condition at bay or you may need to take a
small course of steroids to help with the inflammation quicker than
the medication would.
Here
is how it started for me...
I was 13 at the time and started
suffering from stomach aches, i didn't really think much of them as they
weren't so serve i couldn't go to school so i just carried on with my school
work and going to school daily. One evening i went to the toilet and noticed
that there was a lot of blood when i got up to flush. I was so shocked i
shouted my mum and thought that there was something was really wrong with me
and started worrying! My mum tried not to show that she wasn't shocked but she
told me now that she was and was really concerned! At the time
we had a nurse as our neighbour and mum decided to call her up and show her! (
At this time i was hiding in the lounge all very embarrassed!) She didn't
really know what it could be so she suggested to my mum to take me up to
hospital and that she would stay and look after my younger sister because at
the time my dad was away in New York on business. Mum took me straight up and
they didn't seem to be too worried and told me to visit my doctor the following
day. I didn't go to school the next day and mum took me to see my local
GP he was lovely and decided to take my bloods and got me to do a stool sample
which he sent both off for testing. I went back to school the following day as
i wasn't feeling unwell i was just shocked and worried about going to the
toilet. The following days i went back to see him for the results and he
explained that he thought i may be suffering from Ulcerative Colitis of Crohn's
Disease which is when my mum realised that my nan & auntie are
also sufferers. He referred me to see a specialised all the way in
Southampton who i saw within the following weeks, he was lovely. He carried out
a Endoscopy & Colonoscopy within the following weeks and hopefully he
would diagnoise me with either Ulcerative Colitis or Crohn's Disease. Once the procedure was
finished he came up to see me to tell him how it went he explained that he
wasn't exactly sure what one it was but told me that it was one or the
other. He gave me a course of steroids to
help suppress the inflammation and bleeding. At the
time i was still 13 and wasn't sure what was exactly going on so he explained
it to me in a simple way and left my parents to go and do some
further research for themselves into the conditions to help them
understand more and how it would affect me long term.
I went back
to see him in the following weeks once i had finished my course
of steroids and he put me on daily medication that i had to take
every morning to help me with the symptoms which they did, the pain in my
stomach slowly started to get better and the bleeding had stopped.
Over the
following years i carried on going to see this consultant every few months who
carried on monitoring me and everything was finally at bay. When i was 16 he
decided that it had been a few years since he had seen my colon and now i was
getting older he wanted to make sure that nothing had changed so i went back
down to Southampton for the day and was put to sleep for the small procedure,
thankfully nothing much had changed but he was still unable
to diagnose me with one condition exactly he said he feels
like it is UC but couldn't say for sure. After the procedure he was happy to
refer me to a specialist that was closer to my hometown. I was sad to be
leaving his capable hands but was very thankful as he made me feel better and
looked after me so well.
I then
visited a new consultant in my hometown and because i was still only 16 i was
classed as a child so i every time i went to see my consultant i would be given
extra special care especially when it came to taking my bloods, which
was nice as it never gets easier going to the hospital, well i don't think
anyway. She looked after me well over the following two years and thankfully i
had no flare ups.
Around my
18th birthday i was passed on to an adult consultant who was to look after me,
because my Ulcerative Colitis or Crohn's Disease wasn't too bad and
was looked after with the medication i was taking, i only saw her twice a year.
Recently
though i haven't been too well, I've been suffering from pain in my stomach,
bleeding and have been generally feeling unwell and tired. I've also started
suffering from the worse pain in my stomach higher up than the usual. I was admitted
to hospital over the last weekend and got discharged the following
day and they suggested i booked to see my consultant as my
appointment wasn't until Decemeber. I went to see my consultant last
Wednesday and she suggested that seems as it's been a good few years that i
would have to have a colonscopy and endoscopy and she has booked me in for two
days time! I'm slightly nervous as it's been a few years since I've had this
procedure and because i am an adult they won't put me too sleep, I'm going to be
sedated and she made it clear that i will be awake but not in pain which
terrifies me! Hopefully when i go on Wednesday they may be able to put my
worries to rest, sometimes the anticipation before doing something is
actually worse than doing it.
I know
this post was a long one and is slightly off of the beauty direction but i hope
you understand that i just want to try and raise awareness.
If you are
suffering or know someone and you want to do a bit to try and understand what
they are going through there is a great website you can check out. It is full
of useful information and they run a sponsored walk yearly and other
charity events if you feel like taking part. I especially enjoy doing
these sponsored run as it gives me a chance to raise money.
Becki x
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| Here's a photo of me & my two sisters and my sisters friend many years ago at the start of the sponsored walk. |
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| Just waiting to start the walk - 2013 |
