This Sunday the United Ostomy Associations of America is celebrating the first ever Ostomy Awareness Day. Everybody involved in the online ostomy community is excited, since it’s through the internet that many people first hear about ostomies.
Keep fighting,
~Dennis
Last week some friends and I went to Winnipeg, Manitoba, and it was definitely a great vacation to take in the middle of the summer! Several of us worked over Independence Day, so unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to partake of holiday activities. I work at a television station doing some technical work to keep the station on the air, and television always needs to be on, so that’s where I was.
Keep fighting,
~Dennis
Recently I finished an extended regimen of medicines and supplements, and am medicine-free for the first time in over three years since being diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease. It’s great to finally be finished with medicine, and it’s amazing how quickly I’ve forgotten what that routine was like. Taking medicine in the morning, swallowing big pills, and taking medicine again at night. Hopefully it will be a long while before I take any kind of medicine again.
I empathize, though, which those who are still taking medicine. I know many people have lived with IBD longer than I ever did, 6 or 8 years or even a decade or more. And many of them have been taking medicine off and on the entire time (more on than off).
Keep fighting,
~Dennis
Today marks the last day of a two week summer school class. While I’ve been very busy these last two weeks trying to juggle school, a heavy load of reading and assignments every night, plus a full time job, I think the pay off will be worth it come fall semester when I can get away with taking one less class.
The topic of this course was technology and new media, and its effects on our culture. Everybody has an opinion on technology, from the internet to television to cell phones, so the class was very accessible.
Keep fighting,
~Dennis
In the past two weeks, I’ve had the pleasure of attending two weddings of close friends from college. It’s always fun to see relationships culminate in marriages. However, weddings, and special occasions in general, sometimes pose problems for my J-pouch.
I don’t mean anything serious. Certainly nothing like a flare-up from my days with ulcerative colitis. But changes to my routine do disrupt the workings of my J-pouch slightly.
Keep fighting,
~Dennis
As I reflect on the Take Steps walk from last week, I think about all the money that is raised every year that goes toward research into inflammatory bowel disease. Professionals have been researching IBD for decades now, and the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America has invested millions of dollars into research over the years. Where does all this money go? And does it really make a difference?
Keep fighting,
~Dennis
This last weekend Team UCVlog.com participated in the Minneapolis Take Steps fundraiser, and I was reminded once again how strong the inflammatory bowel disease community is.
Shortly after Nadia joined UCVlog earlier this year she told me about the Take Steps walk she participated in last year in Green Bay. Right away we knew we had to do a walk together. We picked a walk that was roughly equidistant to both our cities, and started raising funds almost immediately.
Keep fighting,
~Dennis
Yesterday was the first ever World Inflammatory Bowel Disease Day, and I celebrated by telling others that I had IBD and wasn’t ashamed of it. Plus I ended up going to the bathroom more than usual, but these things happen.
Recently, I’ve been telling lots of people about my days with ulcerative colitis, my ileostomy, and now my J-pouch. Both classes of my students knew about my missing colon. I’m sure that every cohort in my graduate school program, plus all my professors, knows about it. After all, I focus nearly every project or paper on IBD and how we communicate about it. Read more
Keep fighting,
~Dennis
This week marks the end of my second semester of graduate school! As people usually say at the end of a long period of life, the time went by very quickly. But, this year’s been a lot of fun and very fulfilling.
When I started graduate school I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. But I quickly found I fit in well with the school and my cohorts. It’s so refreshing to interact with people who all care about school and have big dreams after they are finished with school. Read more
Keep fighting,
~Dennis
Last week I was reading an ostomy blog written by a woman who was just diagnosed with stage 1 colon cancer. Within two weeks, she had major surgery and now lives with an ostomy. Her beginning entries expressed much pain and confusion as her life was turned upside down. She’d never heard of a colostomy before, and now the doctors expected her to live with one?
At one point she wrote something along the lines of, “I can’t wait to get rid of this thing so I can live like a normal person again!” Read more
Keep fighting,
~Dennis
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