Hey fellow IBDer's, it's that time of the year again, no not Christmas, that is still 19 days away. It's Crohns and colitis awareness week!

What's your story? Do you know how powerful a story can be? Not only for yourself but for others if your willing to share it.

It took me years, about ten in fact up to get brave enough to put myself and my story out there. Ten years of hiding a part of me because even while enduring the hardest thing I has ever been through I was worried about what others thought.

Crazy the things we do... My quick story for those who don't know me, I was diagnosed with UC in 2006, by 2007, I had gone from 78kg to 47kg and my bowel perforated on the operating table, with my heart stopping soon after. I was revived only to quit once more before waking with an ostomy and entering a week long trance of pain filled ketamine hallucinations.

Where I kid you not I thought I was an umbrella, a wicker chair & table set, where people kept sitting on my chest and was so strong my grip could crush anyone's hand that went to hold it. The fact I hadn't slept for 13 days straight by this point didn't help. 100mg IV steroids every 4 hours will do that to a girl.

Things we do to save the things trying to kill us still amaze me.

Fast forward through a few surgeries and I have a j-pouch, yay, no more ostomy and every thing I had hoped for since getting a "bag", or not... within a month my UC had flared in my pouch and I was back to living in the toilet.

Fast forward though some more surgeries, back to ostomy life and some serious decisions, I choose to go permanent and be a Barbie for life. As Murphy's law would have it, the first attempt landed me back in hospital with infections and I had an open wound for months post the second try.

All up I had 12 surgeries, four stomas, spent months in hospital and what felt like years in the toilet, only to now live a healthy active life with my amazing husband and newly adoption son.

Long story short, when I thought my life was over, I now know the best was still to come.

share2steem #crohnsdisease #ulcerativecolitis #ostomy #ileostomy #ibd #ibdawareness #ostomybag #barbiebutt #jpouch #ostomylife

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^{Posted from Instagram via Share2Steem}