May is over and June has officially begun. That might sound like an obvious statement, but it means that the days are ticking away before the Prudential Ride London-Surrey 2018. I haven’t been counting down before now, as my main focus has been to get to the end of half term with as many mile under my belt, but it is now 55 days away. I’ve now done over 800 miles in 2018, some people might not think twice at that statistic. Three of my close friends have done 2,582 miles, 1,497 miles and 3,258 miles respectively. However, to put that in perspective, I’ve now done more miles this year than the last 2 years put together (322 miles – 2016 & 385 miles – 2017), so I am rather happy. This month I’ve added another 217 miles to my total bringing me up to 805 miles for the year so far.

Sponsorship

Of course, this journey is not just about racking up the miles. It is about raising awareness and funds for a charity who have always been there with the information and research I needed since being diagnosed with uceraltive colitis. When I was diagnosed my wife and I didn’t know where to turn, but the information Crohn’s and Colitis UK provided helped massively with diet, drugs and expectations. They were also there when my bowel gave up and I had my a ileostomy operation.

Without this charity I know that my health would have been in decline so much faster. My wife and I had a clear out of all the information and leaflets I was given after my diagnosis and Crohn’s and Colitis UK logo was present on pretty much every piece of paper.

Please help me and my team raise as much money as possible for this amazing charity by visiting our just giving page. We are over 30% towards our target, please help us get closer by donating.

http://www.justgiving.com/titanium-legs?utm_id=121
REST NEEDED

An important part of having a stoma is listening to your body. I constantly have to be looking after my body and ensuring I’m not putting it under too much strain. As a teacher, I’m on my feet pretty much all day and some days I have to ensure I stop for lunch (the alarm on my watch goes off everyday at 12:30 to make sure I do so!) That means when I get to the holidays I need to make sure I stop and relax, mentally as well as physically. This usually means heading out on a gentle ride to clear my head (something I definitely need when writing reports and completing data), but this last week has been different.

In the last week of term, I was really struggling to keep my energy levels high enough to teach, so the 1st part of my life I cut out was the cycling. My body needed physical rest, so that is what I gave it. Duncan down at my local bike shop summed it up when he said rest is important as training when your are aiming to improve. Therefore, I listened to my body and gave it the rest it needed.

It was interesting to note, that as my body got more and more run down, the more problems I got with my stoma bag sticking to my skin. Earlier in the year, I had a really good run without getting any leaks, but in the last 2 weeks I have had to change my bag regularly in the night as the flange (the part that sticks to my skin) has become unstuck as I’ve been sleeping. Not an ideal situation, but one which seems to be slowly improving as my energy levels return to normal.

The stigma of having a bag

One of the main reasons why I write this blog is to raise awareness of Crohns and Colitis as well as showing that having an ileostomy and a stoma bag is not the ‘end of the road’ for having a good life – it is actually the opposite.

It is always interesting people’s responses when I tell people about my bag. I majority of the time, there is a brief look of surprise and maybe a question or two asking what I can and can’t do. However occasionally, I do get a negative response and feel the stigma of having a bag. This blog helps me demonstrate that there is not much I can’t do (other than eat sweetcorn and peas), and that sometimes there will be problems or worries. One example is that I’m 75% likely to get a hernia at some point in my life, so need to ensure I’m not doing any heavy lifting. Another, more light hearted situation, was when I went away for a couple of nights with friends and woke in the middle of the night thinking my stoma was bleeding, but then remembered I had eaten beetroot that evening and the subsequent side affect was my output being blood red.

People shouldn’t judge before getting the full facts and learn that comments like “Eww, you mean you have that for life!” do not help and will never help. Children are probably the best examples of how to react to finding someone has a stoma bag. One young girl at church noticed my bag asking what it was, I told her my digestive system doesn’t work properly so my poo goes into my bag. Her response: “Ok, do you want to see my new water bottle?” Complete acceptance, I have a bag for life, she has a cool water bottle.