About

My name is Ellen and I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis in 2007 when I was 14. Ulcerative Colitis is an Inflammatory Bowel Disease (or IBD) similar to Crohn’s Disease. I managed my symptoms pretty well with tablets until 2016, when I started experiencing worsening symptoms. I started biologic treatment which is administered through IV infusions. I tried two biologics – Infliximab and Vedolizumab – but these failed to make a difference. In January 2019 I had a laparoscopic sub-total colectomy with end ileostomy. This is where I had surgery to remove all of my colon (leaving the rectum) and the end of my small bowel was brought out through the abdominal wall, so that my output is now collected in a bag. Trust me, you get used to it really quickly! As someone who has lived with UC for nearly half my life, it’s a much better system than I’ve been living with for years! I am new to the stoma life, but already I know it is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

I started this blog because when I was researching surgery, I found similar blogs written by people who had suffered with IBD like myself, and they really gave me the confidence to go through with the life-changing operation. Hopefully this blog can do the same for someone else out there! Please know that you are not alone, and that life on the other side is better than the dark, lonely place you may be experiencing now. I hope to share all my experiences, the big and the small victories, to show that life with an ileostomy is just that – a life!