New year, new blog (about time!)
Hey everyone,
Thanks for checking out my blog! I'm Ellie, a 23yo Medical Student currently living it up in London. I love cats, good food and wine, and a bit of folk music.
I'm also just beginning my third year of J-pouch-life, most of which has unfortunately been a battle with chronic, antibiotic-resistant pouchitis.
A couple of years ago, I set up my first blog, 'This Girl's Got Guts' (www.thisgirlsgotguts.blogspot.com). It was a great project and, at its peak, got quite a wide following - 34, 461 views at the time this post was published. It was always my intention to document my journey through my three surgeries - the good, bad and the ugly - to give my readers an idea of what it was like. I didn't want to butter up the bad stuff, but also tried to be positive in the things that I said - with a good bit of humour in there, too!
Unfortunately, when I developed pouchitis that slowly failed numerous treatments and was eventually diagnosed as 'chronic', I lost all heart to blog anymore. When I first had my surgeries, I guess I saw it as a 'cure' for Ulcerative Colitis. It took quite a while to come to terms with the fact that I STILL had IBD, and still had to tackle a serious condition after everything I'd already gone through. Chronic pouchitis is, no apologies made, a total bitch of a surgical complication. I had no inspiration to write good things anymore, and my rare posts became more and more negative. Eventually, I decided to wrap it up altogether. Blogging just wasn't for me anymore.
The past year has been full of ups and downs. On the up, I got into Medical School, something I intend to talk about in my blog and a career choice definitely inspired by my own health struggles. I graduated from my first degree (yep, studied English Literature first), and travelled to loads of new places in what was probably the most action-packed summer of my life! (I was determined to make the most of it before Med School began)
On the downside, I failed a clinical trial for pouchitis, along with 4 different types of antibiotics. I developed extra-intestinal complications: skin and eye troubles to name a few. I struggled with episodes of poor mental health. In so many ways, 2017 was a great blessing, but also full of new problems to deal with. It took a lot of strength to pull myself together and come out stronger the other side.
Now, I have a few treatment options left for my pouch before I would have to go back to a permanent ileostomy. If this becomes the reality, then I've decided I'm okay with that. I'm thankful for the time I've had with a pouch, but if an ileostomy would make me well again, then I'd take it. I'm much more confident now than I was when I first had my stoma at 19.
With my newfound confidence, I decided to take up blogging again. I know that last time, my blog helped others, and it helped me with my onward journey. I decided that it was time for a fresh start - This Girl's Got Guts was great, but life's quite different now, and I needed a clean slate to write down my thoughts.
So, with that, welcome to The Grouch Pouch! I'll be sharing funny anecdotes, helpful tips, personal stories and general positivity, hopefully showing that life can still be great with chronic pouchitis, a stoma or whatever else.
Watch this space! I'll be back very soon :)
Ellie x
Thanks for checking out my blog! I'm Ellie, a 23yo Medical Student currently living it up in London. I love cats, good food and wine, and a bit of folk music.
I'm also just beginning my third year of J-pouch-life, most of which has unfortunately been a battle with chronic, antibiotic-resistant pouchitis.
A couple of years ago, I set up my first blog, 'This Girl's Got Guts' (www.thisgirlsgotguts.blogspot.com). It was a great project and, at its peak, got quite a wide following - 34, 461 views at the time this post was published. It was always my intention to document my journey through my three surgeries - the good, bad and the ugly - to give my readers an idea of what it was like. I didn't want to butter up the bad stuff, but also tried to be positive in the things that I said - with a good bit of humour in there, too!
Unfortunately, when I developed pouchitis that slowly failed numerous treatments and was eventually diagnosed as 'chronic', I lost all heart to blog anymore. When I first had my surgeries, I guess I saw it as a 'cure' for Ulcerative Colitis. It took quite a while to come to terms with the fact that I STILL had IBD, and still had to tackle a serious condition after everything I'd already gone through. Chronic pouchitis is, no apologies made, a total bitch of a surgical complication. I had no inspiration to write good things anymore, and my rare posts became more and more negative. Eventually, I decided to wrap it up altogether. Blogging just wasn't for me anymore.
The past year has been full of ups and downs. On the up, I got into Medical School, something I intend to talk about in my blog and a career choice definitely inspired by my own health struggles. I graduated from my first degree (yep, studied English Literature first), and travelled to loads of new places in what was probably the most action-packed summer of my life! (I was determined to make the most of it before Med School began)
On the downside, I failed a clinical trial for pouchitis, along with 4 different types of antibiotics. I developed extra-intestinal complications: skin and eye troubles to name a few. I struggled with episodes of poor mental health. In so many ways, 2017 was a great blessing, but also full of new problems to deal with. It took a lot of strength to pull myself together and come out stronger the other side.
Now, I have a few treatment options left for my pouch before I would have to go back to a permanent ileostomy. If this becomes the reality, then I've decided I'm okay with that. I'm thankful for the time I've had with a pouch, but if an ileostomy would make me well again, then I'd take it. I'm much more confident now than I was when I first had my stoma at 19.
With my newfound confidence, I decided to take up blogging again. I know that last time, my blog helped others, and it helped me with my onward journey. I decided that it was time for a fresh start - This Girl's Got Guts was great, but life's quite different now, and I needed a clean slate to write down my thoughts.
So, with that, welcome to The Grouch Pouch! I'll be sharing funny anecdotes, helpful tips, personal stories and general positivity, hopefully showing that life can still be great with chronic pouchitis, a stoma or whatever else.
Watch this space! I'll be back very soon :)
Ellie x
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