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I spent the next year in and out of hospitals, visiting numerous Doctors and enjoying about 150 tablets per week. During the first year I was also involved in a serious car accident where a 24ft truck rear ended me into a roundabout, it turned out the driver was 8 times over the legal drinking limit. I was lucky to be alive but that didn't make it any easier, I was just coming off my steroid dose for the IBD and found out I had Hip labral tears and had to undergo surgery and go back on steroids again. This upset me the most because as a result of the IBD I no longer got to drink alcohol but the individual in the truck was and had abused his right.
Each person is impacted in different ways from IBD and with different levels of pain. For me it means no alcohol, which, to be honest, I found so tough and still do. No pasta/bread/rice/potatoes. Excessive sugar intake is torture and a lot of other things affect me and my list is still growing.For IBD sufferers your stomach rules your life.How your day is going to go, how a holiday will be, what your dinner will consist of and how much energy you will have. It’s a constant pain that I have to try keep at bay every day.
As a result of the IBD, I suffer from lack of energy some days, excessive energy on others, poor sleep, excessive pain from standing too long, bloated from eating too fast - irregular toilet movements from time to time, constant monitoring of food and so many other things; the list just goes on and on.
It’s a condition that rules my day-to-day life and how I face it will decide whose life I’m going to live, my stomach's or mine.
I chose mine but how?
30 minutes of exercise is described as taking a mild anti-depressant, so I decided there was no harm in trying and I took up running. It helps me focus my mind and to reach my goals, it helps me keep my weight down, I also go to the gym about five times a week, even if its just for thirty minutes it just helps decrease any bloating and keeps my mind focused.
For IBD sufferers anything that helps is so beneficial, when I train I wear my Tribesports clothing that I got after backing them on Kickstarter in August 2013 before my Dublin City Marathon. The fit is extremely comfortable and the waist band on the shorts is relaxed. I don't feel trapped in tight layers which helps me a huge amount. Tribesports have been very supportive of me and so many others.
Running and general exercise, along with a change in eating habits, has left me in a much better place physically and a more mentally stable position as well. But, most importantly, it has helped me to reduce my flare ups and pains and allowed me to live as much of a normal life as I can ask for.
A year on and I have completed Two Half Marathons, Numerous 10km runs and the Dublin City Marathon. I’m now training for the Las Vegas Half Marathon, which I am proudly doing for the ISCC in November, in order to raise much needed funds for ISCC but also to raise as much awareness as possible for IBD AND IBS. We live in a society that has information so freely accessible, that I hope this goal will not be hard to achieve.
For those who would like to support you can visit the donation page on www.idonate.ie/lasvegas
The ISCC is offering a 25% discount for Run For Your Lives, thrilling apocalyptic Zombie infested 5Km run, laced with demanding natural and man made obstacles where participants assume the role of a Survivor or as one of The Infected as a Zombie. Just us the code ISCC when signing up...
Fitness has really helped me and I hope it can help you too. It's not easy but it can be done and I’m by no means fine but I’m better than I was yesterday and I’ll be even more so tomorrow.
