"The IBD Team at the RAH & how they have affected my life"

I have been under the care of the RAH Gastro team since my diagnosis at 18 years old. To be told at that age that I would have a condition which would affect me daily for the rest of my life was quite scary. Fast forward 18 years and I have learnt to live with my Crohns and work around its highs and lows. During all these lows, one of the few things, if not sometimes the only thing that got me through, was knowing that I had a very special, empathetic, professional & knowledgeable team to turn to. Throughout every embarrassing low, every gross symptom, every new development, I knew I could pick up a phone and talk to them with complete honesty. I knew that they would squeeze me in to be seen if it was needed and I was always so grateful for that. To have that relationship with them that I could tell them things that I couldn't tell my partner or parents, was quite literally life-saving.

The biggest test of this relationship was when I unexpectedly found out that I was pregnant. After having health issues for so long, I never thought it could or would happen for me. And during my entire pregnancy, I had 2 extra people who kept me sane and safe and dealt with every single question or query I had. This service has been so integral in my journey with Crohns and I quite simply do not know where I would be without it or them. I know that they work very hard and are under immense pressures from financial restrictions, limited resources and general bureaucracy but the service they not only provide but the manner and way that they provide it is priceless. I now look at me life and thank them for helping me get to where I am with my beautiful and healthy daughter. They are not just professionals to me, they are my friends.