Hey everybody, Nadia and I are beginning a new project called Video Glossary. This project will explain common terms in the IBD/ostomy community through simple, easy to understand videos. Each video will focus on one medical term, and we’ll try to keep them short and to the point (which will be a challenge for us, so we always have so much to say!)
Now, many of you IBD and ostomy veterans probably know a lot of these terms already. This project is intended more for people who are newly diagnosed with IBD or who are approaching surgery. We remember back to the days when we were first diagnosed with IBD, and then when we were first told we needed surgery. There were a lot of medical terms thrown at us, from medicines to procedures to complications to lifestyle changes, and we remember that being a very overwhelming time. When you’ve never heard of IBD before, or an ostomy, or a J-pouch, there’s a lot of learning that needs to be done!
So, for our viewers who are new to this community, we hope that this glossary serves as a starting point for your education about IBD. Again, Nadia and I are not doctors and have no formal training in medicine, so always check with your doctor before making any medical decisions. However, we do research IBD heavily and have experienced much between the two of us, so our videos will give you some idea of what these medical terms mean. This project will take awhile to film and upload every video, several months at least, so rest assured we will cover everything very thoroughly as we are prone to do on this site.
And if anybody has anything to add to any of our videos, please leave comments on the videos or this page!
Another milestone has been passed, people. Collectively the UCVlog.com videos–Nadia’s videos, my videos, our duo videos, and our translated videos–have been watched over 300,000 times!
If you’ve watched a video, then you’ve helped make this possible!
And this most recent 100,000 addition took us only 98 days–a new record as well! Thanks so much for all of your support, especially you loyal viewers who have claimed to watch every one of our videos! We wouldn’t keep this site running if it weren’t so popular!
This summer Nadia and I have lots of plans for this site, so don’t think we’ve burned out yet! More great videos are on their way, as well as other projects, so stay tuned!
If you have any comments or suggestions for future video topics, please let us know! Send us emails to: Nadia@UCVlog.com | Dennis@UCVlog.com
We have a new logo, so we can officially called ourselves the United Colon Vlog! Thanks to everybody who switched over to the new Facebook fan page. If you haven’t done that yet, please switch soon as the old page will be deleted very soon.
And a special thanks to Brian for all his work getting the new logo created!
Here at UCVlog.com we’ll still be offering you the same high quality videos you expect and love. The fan page is still a great place for discussion with other people who have inflammatory bowel disease and colon issues.
Once again, we felt a more inclusive name was more appropriate since this site is about more than ulcerative colitis, and always has been.
If you have any comments on the new name change sendus your thoughts!
Hey everybody, if you visited the Facebook fan page this weekend you may have noticed some big changes going on here at UCVlog.com. In 7 days, we will no longer be known as “The Ulcerative Colitis Vlog.” This website has really been misnamed since the beginning, as we don’t talk exclusively about UC, but also Crohn’s disease, ostomies, J-Pouches, and other colon-related issues.
So to better reflect the focus of the website, and to remind people that this website is about more than just Nadia and I–but all of us in the IBD community standing together–we’re renaming the site, The United Colon Vlog.
Everything about the website will still be the same, even though Nadia and I are constantly thinking about new ways to keep everybody interested and informed. If you are a Facebook user, please join the new United Colon Vlog fan page today! The old page will be deleted in one week! You won’t be disappointed!
Hey Everyone! I am joining Dennis as we both found that our mission is so similar, that seperately we are doing fine, but together we can do great things. In the IBD community it is important to raise awareness as we all fight each day. So, this collaboration is such a positive force to accomplishing that goal. Some of the information in this introduction video is repeat from some of my past videos but for those of you who do not know me, it gives you a brief glimpse into the life of Nadia and my struggle. When I first became ill, I struggled a lot, not only physically, but emotionally as well, but over the course of the last three years, I have shed a lot of my embarrassment and have opened myself up to being comfortable with myself and my disease. So many hospitalizations, not only because of my Crohn’s colitis, but the complications CC caused, took over my life. I never lose faith and I will get well. Thank you for this wonderful opportunity, Dennis and the UC community!! An interesting fact I found out the other day was that an elephant eliminates up to 300 pounds of waste a day (the most of any living creature).. Some days I feel like I run a close second place to the elephant.. Just sayin’ Anyways, Take care.
Everybody, I would like to announce that my good friend Nadia is now an official contributor to UCVlog.com!
I met Nadia over a year ago, I think, as we were both starting to make videos about our experiences. She has Crohn’s colitis, I have ulcerative colitis, but we both went through surgery to remove our colons at roughly the same time.
What struck me as refreshing about Nadia’s videos were always how informative, inspirational, and professional they were. I’ve seen a lot of videos about IBD this past year and a half, and Nadia’s videos are hands down at the very top.
I’ll let her tell you more about herself, but she has gone through so much since getting diagnosed with Crohn’s about three years ago. And through it all, her attitude remains positive and she always has a smile on her face.
Nadia has more medical knowledge than me, is more inspiring and optimistic than me, and has a greater perspective on life than me. She’s really great, and hopefully in the coming days and weeks and months you’ll get to know her better. She will provide great perspectives from both the women’s side and the Crohn’s side.
She’ll be posting videos like me and anything else she finds interesting. When you get a chance, email her at Nadia@UCVlog.com and introduce yourself!
Hey everybody, excuse me while I brag a little. This week the total video views for all of the UCVlog videos and translated videos broke the 200,000 mark! For this, I have to thank all of your loyal fans, especially those of you who’ve claimed to have watched all my videos. I really appreciate the support you show for this site.
What’s really amazing is that it took 10 months to break the 100,000 mark, but only 5 months to break the 200,000 mark! Do you think we can make 350,000 before the site’s two year anniversary? I think we can.
Here’s another interesting statistic: if all 200,000 of those videos had been fully watched (I can only hope for that but I know some people get bored and don’t finish a video), it would take over 857 days to watch every video back to back!
If you have any video ideas for me about topics you’d like to see covered in the future, as always, send me an email or reply to this post.
Keep fighting,
~Dennis
P.S. Big announcement Monday, February 1 regarding this site.
After a year of that dreary gray background it’s time to spice things up a little around here. As you can tell, minor visual changes have been made to the site. Don’t fret! Your monitor is not broken! Everything will be fine.
Christmas is nearly here, so I hope you all are preparing appropriately. I will return next week Monday with new posts. Usually around the holidays I suggest not watching any videos and instead spending time with your family. But, some people are sick regardless of what holiday it is. So if you have to watch a video these next couple days, watch it with somebody else, be it a spouse or friend or family member. Use it as a conversation starter about what you are experiencing with IBD. Those conversations aren’t always the most fun to have, but perhaps these videos can serve as icebreakers.
For all my American viewers, today is the day to be thankful for all that we have. I know many of your are going through intense physical struggles. I still have my bad days and bad nights as well. But there is still much to be thankful for in the midst of pain.
Two years ago I spent Thanksgiving in the hospital on bowel rest, eating nothing but TPN through a PICC line. But even in that situation there was still much to be thankful for.
So spend some time with your family and friends today. Don’t watch any videos.
Many of us have ostomies only temporarily. And many people around the world are in need of supplies. So if you have any extra unused, new, and clean supplies, send them our way!
We are collecting supplies to send to Haiti with a medical team!
Current progress:
1114 bags and flanges
2108 medical supplies
