Ok, so in therapy I was told to keep a mood journal to keep on top of my depression, but the thought never crossed my mind to publish it into a blog that could ultimately help others going through the same or similar issues as me.
Until now!
So where to start - since this is my first blog, I see it only fair to give a quick background of myself and then outline what I want to blog about and why.
First things first, my name is Samantha-Rose and I am 28 years old. I have always worked, be it part-time when I was at college/uni or full-time, since the age of 16 (until recently!) and used to do part-time work as an entertainer for 7 years, including things like podium dancing, stilt walking, fire eating/breathing, and angle grinder dancing. I hope to go back to this when I am well enough!
Now the main bit - I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease back in 2008, when I was 21. After daily bouts of pain that affected every single aspect of my life, I was rushed into A&E in 2010 with a blockage in my bowel. I couldn't physically go to the loo for a 'number 2' and it had been like this for 2 weeks so I was in agony! After a week of being in hospital, nil by mouth and on a saline drip, I was taken down to surgery first thing in the morning and I had my first operation to remove the affected part of my bowel. It turned out that more bowel was affected than the surgeon first anticipated and performed what they called a 'right hemi-colectomy'.
I experienced many complications after that but I won't go into that now - I'm sure I'll get to blog about that soon enough!
So, present day, I'm still in pain daily and fighting a never ending battle against IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease). I recently set up a Twitter account @fightagainstibd which is to provide support, advice and generally a shoulder to cry on for when others need it. I found such a great IBD community and support structure on there - it really helped me to realise that I am a FIGHTER and not a SUFFERER.
I reached 1,000 followers yesterday and it was only then that I thought to myself that sharing my experiences could help others, raise awareness and also aid in any research out there! All points which would give my disease a positive meaning!
So here we are! I plan to post further blogs about my ups, downs and ongoing battle with Crohn's Disease. Hopefully parts will make you laugh and smile, but mainly it will allow you to see that you are never alone. No matter what you're going through, you can count on the fact that loads of people have gone through similar, if not the same, things too. And that goes for how you're thinking and feeling too.
Well, this is the end of my first blog - all that's left is my sign off!
Much love,
Samantha-Rose XO
