In June 2005, when
weighing only 80lbs after years of pain and distress with her digestive system,
24-year old Ashleigh’s small bowel perforated, plunging her to the verge of
death from sepsis. The surgical removal of the worst of her diseased bowel
pulled her back from the brink.
Ashleigh could not believe how low she had sunk, but she had
always known something was wrong. To the outside world, Ashleigh had seemed
like any other teenager. Outgoing, achieving good grades at school, a talented
flute player and beginning to think about what life would hold for her.
Inside, Ashleigh was different. For as long as she could
remember, she had endured frequent stomach aches and an embarrassing number of
trips to the washroom. Concern turned to alarm with unexplained weight loss and
extreme abdominal pain. Ashleigh had no answers why and felt like there wasn’t
anyone she could talk to. Ashleigh’s fears for her future grew. What kind of
life could she possibly have? What hope of following her desired career as a police
officer? Why could she not be diagnosed?
Hope seemed to be at hand. During major flare-ups of her
symptoms, Ashleigh’s doctors had confidently pronounced her as suffering from severe
acid indigestion and then possible appendicitis only to be further misdiagnosed
with a bladder infection. But, each time, they were wrong and Ashleigh’s physical
and spiritual health continued to worsen.
Finally, Ashleigh was diagnosed at the age of 21 with
Crohn’s disease. Crohn’s disease is inflammation of the digestive tract,
causing ulceration and damage to both the lining and the wall of the intestine.
Symptoms can include abdominal pain, weight loss, diarrhoea and extreme
tiredness, all of which Ashleigh had suffered for years. There is no cure at present, making it a
lifelong condition.
Although Ashleigh was one of 50,000 newly diagnosed Crohn’s
patients each year, her feelings only worsened, “When I finally got diagnosed,
no one sat me down and explained what Crohn's was and what to expect. I scared
myself with information overload from the internet and pamphlets. I felt so
alone.”
Ashleigh had discovered in her searching that approximately
75% of Crohn's disease patients have major surgery in the first 10 years after
diagnosis, and 50% will require further surgery. That it may be difficult to
maintain a normal life, leading to the social isolation that makes Crohn’s a
hidden disease. That certain jobs may no longer be possible, or that she may
not be able to work at all, leading to financial hardship, loss of self-esteem,
frustration and despair. Ashleigh’s earlier hopes and dreams for her life
seemed to have vanished, believing that she faced a future life of only pain,
distress and despair.
It would have been so easy for Ashleigh to give up, but she
was determined that her Crohn’s would not take away her ability to shape her
own destiny, “I worked everyday up until the day before my surgery. I was
supposed to be off work for 8 weeks and I only took 4 weeks off.”
Six healthy years
followed her life-saving surgery until the symptoms Ashleigh had prayed would
be gone from her life once again returned. A colonoscopy – her 6th – confirmed
the news that inflammation was present and she was given the devastating news
that her Crohn’s was once again active, “I wanted to bawl my eyes out right
there in the doctor's office.” Drug treatments are available and were tried but
did not work for Ashleigh, “I have arthritis in most of my joints and I have never done well with medication.”
The emotional burden
on Ashleigh has been immense, “I had no idea what to expect. I cried everyday
and everyone kept saying ‘hope you feel better’ and I felt like screaming that
I am never going to feel better! Sometimes
it's just not possible to put a smile on your face for your family.” Ashleigh hated feeling so depressed.
A turning point came from a chance online encounter with fellow Crohn’s
sufferer and author, John Bradley. Ashleigh went to www.Foulbowel.com, and bought his book
based on his own 30-year struggle with Crohn’s, ‘The Foul Bowel’.
“The
information contained within The Foul Bowel would have been vital to help me
navigate through questions with my specialist. John’s tips make me feel better
armed and more prepared when talking to my doctors. I truly wish I knew 9 years
ago what I know now after reading this book.”
Ashleigh also recognised in John’s writing the same spirit that was within her but had been inhibited
by her seemingly never-ending problems and feelings of being alone in her
struggles, “John has opened his life up to all of us to let everyone
know what we as Crohnies have to deal with, but put a smile on our
faces to be strong for those around us. He tells us his story in an honest
manner with a great sense of humour; I found myself laughing out loud all the
time and unable to put the book down.”
Today, Ashleigh still faces an uncertain future, but with a new level of
hope, “People with Crohn’s can find comfort in the fact that they are not
alone, no matter what walk of life they are from. No one knows better what we
go through and what’s to come than someone else with Crohn’s. I found that in
The Foul Bowel.”
