Here are some tips on helping deal with stress. Mostly intended to assist in dealing with stress when you have inflammatory bowel disease, but these are good tips for anyone. Although this is a serious subject, it became difficult to film this video at times. Many times I use bullet points on topics I want to cover, but it is difficult to think ahead of all the points I want to make. I show my frustration in the end of this video with a couple of bloopers!
“Give your stress wings and let it fly away.” ~Terri Guillemets
When you’re tested in life by chronic illness, life altering surgery, or a number of challenges we face, we tend to grow up a little faster than some, and although I don’t have tons of knowledge because I still have life to live, one thing I have learned is that life is WAY too short, and as often as I can, I want to live my life to the fullest.
This video talks about just that. Trying to take even the smallest moments as moments of victory in our lives. Walking a dog, going ice skating, spending the day at the beach, or eating good food, to some it might be simple, to others, they are simply pleasurable.
I share here a little secret of mine, I keep a bucket list, and slowly, I will scratch some of the things off of it, and maybe add a few additions.
To all our loyal viewers, to everybody suffering with inflammatory bowel disease, to everybody suffering with colon cancer, to everybody suffering with all the other bowel diseases as well, and to everybody whose health is finally under control…Happy Thanksgiving! Take a few minutes today to pause and reflect on all the blessings in your life. We know it can be hard to see the positive side of living with an illness sometimes, but chances are you do have much to be thankful for, including the important people in your life.
Take a moment to respond to this post with one or two things you are most thankful for this Thanksgiving.
Attitude is a big part of healing. Getting through some of the tougher times you face when dealing with a chronic illness requires an enormous amount of positive thinking. There is little we can control with illness. Our bodies betray us. No matter how much we try to fix what’s happening to us, there are certain things we cannot stop nor have power to change. Sometimes you have to step back, make an effort to realize that although you cannot control your illness, what you can control is your attitude and your decisions on how to handle your feelings about what you’re dealing with. It’s a state of mind to choose whether or not you want to make the best out of the hand you are dealt. You can choose to have a better quality of life, or you can wallow in self pity; having very little enjoyment because of a choice you have made to think that way.
Don’t get me wrong, we’re going to have moments of weakness. I will be the first to say that I throw myself a pretty good pity party once in a while. However, I don’t get stuck there. I pick myself up. I brush myself off, and I decide to keep moving forward. I think of all the things in life that I cherish, people that I love, things-despite limitations-I enjoy doing, and even though I might think whatever is happening to me is the worst possible thing, sadly there are so many people out there who have it indescribably worse-in so many different ways. I shouldn’t even complain. It’s time to bring out the best inside us. Attitude is everything.
“Everyone has his burden. What counts is how you carry it.” ~Merle Miller
~Nadia
QUESTION: Question of the Day: On a scale from 1-10, 1 being the worst, 10 being the best. How do you rate your attitude when dealing with your IBD? Share your thoughts on attitude with us!
With my Crohn’s disease, I have become very immuno-compromised. I often am battling infections because I have such a low resistance. I am very careful in trying to prevent myself from getting infection. I make a strong effort to stay very clean and avoid coming in contact with germs. I practice a lot of ways to keep myself healthy. These are tips on ways to keep yourself healthy by not transferring bacteria through personal hygiene practices. If you have any tips that you would like to share, Please leave a comment or Email me at: Nadia@UCVlog.com “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” ~Jim Ryun ~Nadia
Hey everybody, new video describing my determination to fight for my health after surgery. You’ve seen me sign off all my posts as “Keep fighting” before. And there’s a reason. You can’t just passively accept your disease and hope that things will get better in the future. You must take responsibility for your health and do whatever you can to get your health back on track. Hopefully there are others in your life helping you through this struggle, but you are the one who ultimately lives with your disease.
When you’re struggling with Ulcerative Colitis, Crohn’s, or IBD, there are many stages where you feel alone and that nobody understands how difficult this struggle is. But there is an entire community here where we all understand each other. We all have our own story, our own struggle, but we can communicate with others and share that struggle so none of us have to feel so alone. Connecting with others going through a similar experience is a great source of support. We do understand each other. Our specific details may be different, but overall, everybody hits those rough patches and our battle continues to fight this disease together is the same. If you want to share a time you felt alone, please comment or send me an email at Nadia@UCVlog.com with your story.
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” ~Helen Keller
Living with colitis is a major health issue. It’s not like one-time health problems where you go into the hospital, get fixed up, leave, and never return, like having a broken arm or getting a flu shot. No, colitis is something you live with your entire life and the conditions of your colitis can fluctuate greatly from remission to flare up and back again.
Because you are the one that has to live with your colitis, you are the one who has to take care of yourself. The doctors and nurses will help you, but only when you ask for help. Ultimately, you are the one who makes the decisions about your treatment. Nobody else can manage your colitis for you.
In the short time since I’ve started this vlog, I’ve been in contact with so many people who have ulcerative colitis. People who have had surgery years ago, people who recently had surgery, and people who’ve had the disease for years. And most people’s stories, it seems, follow a similar tale. The person is diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. They have a few problems and muddle through it for a few years. Then the disease gets worse and medicine begins to fail them. They suffer with the disease in a near constant flare up for several years, finding relief nowhere. This video is for them.
Keep fighting,
~Dennis
Question: How much suffering will you put up with before having surgery? What is your breaking point? Please leave a comment!
