Today (19th May) is world IBD day. This meant I went to work wearing my purple tie and purple ‘Crohn’s and Colitis’ badge. Many of the children thought it was my birthday and it was great to share about want Colitis is and how is affected me – I didn’t mention surgery as I’m doing a good job of hiding my bag from the kids.

It is great to get that awareness out there. The idea that IBD is ‘just tummy problems’ is what many people believe, however they don’t necessarily see the other side – severe pain, tiredness, aching joints and depression are just many possibilities, not including side affects from the medication. 

One side affect of the Prednisone I was prescribed was facial hair. As a bloke in my twenties I am well past puberty and do regularly shave, but I was having to shave daily to keep stubble at bay. However, this wasn’t the only side affect… Soon along came he mood swings. I like to think (and have been told) that I have alot of patience (I must do to be a teacher), but I was starting to ‘snap’ at those close to me and constantly on the edge of feeling aggressive.

Another major side affect of the various medication was the loss of my hair. Now usually, my hair is rather thick and I have to use quite a bit to hair product to tame it even when it is short. However, it suddenly​ began to fall out. First a few hairs then in clumps. It got to the point where I would avoid washing my hair as otherwise I would loose 30+ hairs each time I ran my hand through my hair. This really affected my confidence. Being thinner than usual – I can deal with, losing the muscles in my legs – I know I will get back cycling. Being able to see more scalp than hair – I was worried (maybe I just realised in quite vain… 😕 )

Walk it! Plymouth

Last week my wife and I travelled over to Plymouth to take part in the first of the series of ‘Walk It!’ For Crohn’s and Colitis UK. These are a series of walks – either 10 or 5 kilometres – around the UK. Joining other people walking in purple to raise awareness and some money at the same time. Arriving slightly late in soggy Plymouth, we were the last walkers off. We followed the signs around Plymouth with cheery Marshall’s placed at regular points. 

Although we were the last to start, we had soon caught up some other walkers and pressed on in the mizzle to the 7km mark. Here we stopped very briefly to use the facilities at a friendly coffee shop on the Barbican. Sufferers of Crohn’s and Colitis often suffer from anxiety over where they can go to the toilet – when you join ‘Crohn’s and Colitis UK’ they provide you with an emergency toilet card – however to help sufferers complete their walk, over 15 toliet points were provided on the course.

Arriving back at the Hoe, we were greeted across the line with smiles and a cheer, only to notice that a trio of walkers who we had overtaken a few kilometres back were suddenly infront of us. For a moment we were outraged! Taking a shortcut when raising money for charity – now that’s not fair. But it didn’t take long for us to realise, last year I would not have been able to complete the walk and that was before I was at my worst. How your viewpoint changes when you have experienced he effects of Ulcerative Colitis.

Thanks to our friends, family and work colleagues we managed to raise just over £300 for Crohn’s and Colitis UK. This will help fund furher research to finding a cure as there isn’t one currently.