JUNE 11 2012 is a date I will probably never forget.
Not because I was waking up in a camper-van in some part of Poland, hungover after losing to Croatia in the first round of the Euros with the rest of Ireland around me after cleverly making “Angela Merkel think we were all working” flags.
No, it lives in the memory because this was the day the pain started, a pain I would be forced to get to know from that day on.
That was a Monday; it took until Thursday to go to the doctor despite having nothing to eat or drink in three whole days. I remember waking up, my stomach was bloated, the pain even worse than before, like a hand moving in and around my stomach, clenching at organs and slowly releasing.
Crying in pain I reach for my phone and search rapidly for ‘Doctor’.
“Hello Churchtown Medical Centre how may I help you” said the calm voice.
Tears rolling down my face, one hand holding the phone the other holding my stomach for dear life: “My name is Doug Leddin, I’m a patient of Michael (The Late Dr. Michael Mehigan to whom I owe an awful lot to, but sadly was never able to thank him).
“Tell Michael I’m on the way in to see him, it’s an emergency I’m in agony and I’ll be there in ten minutes”
Not giving her a chance to respond, I just hung up the phone and drove as fast as I could.
“Appendix, it’s got to be your appendix,” said Michael. “My cousin is a consultant in Vincent’s, I’ll call him and let him know you’re on your way”
I can only describe St. Vincent’s Hospital as amazing. They looked after me so well. My appendix was quickly ruled out as the cause. A CAT scan was followed by a bed and some amazing pain killers that left me in a world of my own. I was so relieved not to be feeling that unbearable pain.
Then the moment that will stay in my mind forever, a new doctor appears with a clipboard, dressed in a grey suit and a red tie wearing glasses which he peered over while talking to me.
“Douglas Leddin your CAT scan has come back and unfortunately it’s IBD.” Like most people, my reaction was to stare at him confused and say: “Sorry?”.
Dr O’Donoghue provided me with reading material on Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and Google provided me with the rest.
As anyone who suffers from IBD or Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) knows, Google is filled with all sorts of information regarding the disease; some informative, some outright lies.
So I still didn’t fully understand what I had. But with the online support of Facebook groups and information provided by the Irish Society for Colitis and Crohn’s Disease (ISCC) I slowly began to understand it more.
Each person is impacted in different ways and with different levels of pain.
For me it means no alcohol, which, to be honest, I found so tough and still do. No pasta/bread/rice/potatoes. Excessive sugar intake is torture and one of the worst things for me is lasagna.
I don’t know why but it is unbearable on my stomach and for IBD sufferers your stomach rules your life. How your day is going to go, how a holiday will be, what your dinner will consist of and how much energy you will have. It’s a constant pain that I have to try keep at bay every day.
Each person’s symptoms are different and each person’s struggles vary.
Mentally, I find it very hard to cope with certain things. I don’t enjoy not being able to go out and relax in a pub. I get upset taking numerous tablets every single day of my life. I’m twenty five and I’m on my second pill box as my first one wasn’t large enough.
I suffer from lack of energy some days, excessive energy on others, poor sleep, excessive pain from standing too long, bloated from eating too fast – and when I say bloated I mean bloated - irregular toilet movements from time to time, constant monitoring of food and so many other things; the list just goes on and on.
It’s a condition that rules my day-to-day life and how I face it will decide whose life I’m going to live, mine or my stomach’s.
I chose mine but how? By doing what most can’t and that’s exercise. Most can’t because the pain doesn’t allow them to or because their energy levels are too low.
In August 2013, after living with IBD for a good year and having been involved in a car crash that left me mentally fatigued, I decided enough was enough and I was going to help myself.
30 minutes of exercise is described as taking a mild anti-depressant, so I decided there was no harm in trying and I took up running. It helps me focus my mind and to reach my goals, it helps me keep my weight down, which definitely helped after a heavy dose of steroids and a car crash left me with few to stone to lose.
A year on and I have completed two half-marathons, numerous 10km runs and the Dublin City Marathon.
I’m now training for the Las Vegas Half Marathon, which I am proudly doing for the ISCC in November, in order to raise much needed funds for them but also to raise as much awareness as possible for both IBD and IBS.
Running and general exercise, along with a change in eating habits, has left me in a much better place physically and a more mentally stable position as well. But, most importantly, it has helped me to reduce my flare ups and pains and allowed me to live as much of a normal life as I can ask for.
For anyone suffering with this disease, as hard as it is, try not allow it consume your day-to-day life and your mind.
Try conquering it and talking about it and most importantly seek information from the ISCC.
All of this has helped me and I hope it can help you too. Its not easy but it can be done and I’m by no means fine but I’m better than I was yesterday and I’ll be even more so tomorrow.
My donation site for my run is here.