Welcome to UCVlog.com! Here you will find TONS of information about living with inflammatory bowel disease, an ostomy, a J-pouch, and other bowel diseases. Take it from two young people who have been through it all and aren’t afraid to share their stories.
How to use cortifoam
May 15, 2013I’m in the process of changing long-term medicines to manage my chronic pouchitis, so in the meantime, I’ve been using cortifoam, a steroid, to keep my symptoms under control. It’s a pain to use and not the most convenient, but it does seem to be keeping my symptoms at bay.
In this video, I describe how this medicine is used in case you’ve never had the privilege of using “topical” medicines before.
Keep fighting,
~Dennis
Question: Have you used topical medicines like Cortifoam or others before? How well did the medicine work? Was it worth the hassle of application?
“You’re out, you must be feeling better!”
May 8, 2013Kelly has a great video here in response to a comment she gets often, “You’re out, you must be feeling better!” I’m sure many of you have gotten similar comments in the past. Chronic illness is often invisible, and it’s hard for people to understand what you are feeling inside. Just because you are out and about, going to work, school, church, the store, doesn’t mean you’ve gotten over your illness.
Keep fighting,
~Dennis
Question: Have you gotten similar comments like this in the past? How do you respond when people say this? Share your story with us!
C3Life Blog: Sometimes you have to simplify your life
May 6, 2013One of the hardest symptoms to manage with chronic illness is fatigue. For people with IBD, fatigue can be caused by many things: side effects of medicine, poor nutrition from going to the bathroom so much, restless nights caused by going to the bathroom, anemia, and recovering from flare-ups. Fatigue is one of those symptoms that seems to be taken care of last: even if all other symptoms are under control, fatigue can remain. As such, those of us with chronic illness have to learn to cope with fatigue, and sometimes that means simplifying your life.
Keep fighting,
~Dennis
Another obstruction, another ER visit
May 3, 2013A few weeks ago I had my first obstruction in five years! It was pretty painful, and I did go to the ER, but fortunately it passed after about 16 hours. This video details that experience.
Keep fighting,
~Dennis
Question: Have you had a blockage recently? Tell us about your experience and how you handled it.
Man explains first week of living with J-pouch
May 1, 2013A young man explains what it’s like living with his J-pouch one-week post-takedown surgery. The video is very long, so if you don’t make it all the way through, basically, he’s doing very well! For those who are facing surgery and would like another perspective on living with a J-pouch, he certainly provides one here. At the 16:30 mark or so, he discusses his scars in case you are interested in that part of the surgery.
Keep fighting,
~Dennis
10-year-old Sam’s Gutsy story
April 9, 2013A shout out to our Canadian friends with this great video featuring 10-year-old Sam telling us his story with Crohn’s disease. It breaks my heart the most when kids have IBD. At the same time, kids are often the strongest fighters and the most encouraging people I know. Some of them are a lot more resilient than us adults.
Sam’s advertising the Gutsy Walk for the CCFC: basically, the Take Steps of Canada. I visited Canada a lot as a kid and the people and country are amazing.
Keep fighting,
~Dennis
Question: Any Canadian viewers wanna share their story today? Tell us what things are like in your neck of the woods!
Marissa’s Crohn’s story
March 29, 2013Marissa, who was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease after a lengthy amount of time, tells her story of Crohn’s and how the first few years have progressed. She’s doing fine now, but many of you can probably relate to all the uncertainty and frustration that often happens at the beginning of this journey.
Keep fighting,
~Dennis
