You know your body better than anyone else
When I was 16, I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis, but my story started years before that. Ever since I was little, I was always unwell. My stomach was constantly bloated, I was always going to the toilet, and deep down I knew something was not right. From the ages of 8 to 15, my family and I went to so many specialists trying to get answers, but no one seemed to take me seriously. I was told I was overreacting, that there was nothing wrong with me, and that it was probably just IBS. I was put on all sorts of insane diets and kept getting brushed off, even though my symptoms were affecting my life more and more each year.
Then, when I was 15, everything got significantly worse. I became extremely unwell and got to the point where I could not go to the toilet for nearly two weeks. At the time I was down south, about two hours away from Perth, so I went to the local hospital for help. I was told there was nothing wrong with me and to just drink Movicol. On the drive back to Perth, I started crying in pain, so we stopped in to the nearest hospital, hoping someone would finally listen. Instead, we sat in ED for six hours only to be told the exact same thing. I was sent home with four litres of Movicol and still no real answers.
Over the next two weeks, my condition completely spiralled. I lost 20 kilograms because I was going to the toilet every hour, sometimes even twice an hour, for two weeks straight. My body was exhausted, I was in pain, and my family and I knew this was far more serious than anyone had been telling us. We rushed to Hospital, desperate for help, only to be told once again that there was nothing wrong with me and that I was still just constipated. At that point, my parents and I felt completely helpless. We did not know what else to do, but eventually we managed to get in with a specialist who agreed to do a colonoscopy a month after all of this had happened.
That procedure changed everything. I went in for the colonoscopy and was woken up shortly after because they had to rush me across the road to the hospital’s ED. The doctors could not insert the camera more than 2 centimetres because my bowel was so severely inflamed it was on the verge of perforation. That was the moment I was finally told I had Ulcerative Colitis. After years of not being believed, I finally had an answer, but it came at one of the worst points of my life.
I was pumped with such high doses of steroids that I went into medical psychosis, and I ended up spending a very long time in hospital. At one stage, the doctors believed I may need an ileostomy then and there. It was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life, and to make it harder, I was treated poorly by some of the nurses and doctors during that time. Feeling unheard and unsupported when I was at my most vulnerable is something I will never forget.
Eventually, I made the decision to change specialists and move my care to St John of God Mt Lawley. I was treated there from the ages of 16 to 19, and the difference in care was life changing. The doctors and nurses there were amazing. They were kind, supportive, and they treated me like a person, not just a condition. The care I received there had such a huge impact on me that it became one of the main reasons I decided to study nursing myself.
Unfortunately, even with better support, my condition was still very active. Over those three years, I tried five different medications, remained in active flare, and came close to needing surgery to remove my bowel on two separate occasions. Eventually I had to transfer to Royal Perth Hospital to go onto a medical trial, which saved me from getting an ileostomy.
Now, at 22 years old, for the first time since I was 16, I am finally in remission. That is something I never take for granted. Today, I get to live my life like any normal 22 year old, just with a few extra hiccups along the way. I am able to work, play NPLW soccer as a goalkeeper, go to the gym, compete in HYROX competitions, and do so many of the things I love because I refused to let my condition define me.
Ulcerative Colitis has absolutely shaped me, but it has never been all that I am. I have also become an advocate for young children living with UC, and I love sharing my story in the hope that it empowers others who may be struggling. Autoimmune diseases like Ulcerative Colitis are not a death sentence, they are a life sentence, but you get to choose how you live with them and how much power you give them over your life. I could have let my illness stop me from living, but I did not. Your illness is not your identity, and it should never define who you are.
After everything I have been through, I am proud to say that I have made it through my nursing degree and I am now in my final year, hoping to graduate this year. As someone who wants to go into paediatrics, my goal is to be the kind of nurse I needed when I was younger someone who listens, believes their patients, and advocates for them when they know something is wrong. No one knows your body better than you do, and I want every child and family I care for to feel heard in a way that I was not.
If my journey through Ulcerative Colitis has taught me anything, it is that even in the worst moments, strength can grow, purpose can come from pain, and your story can become the very thing that helps someone else keep going.