Brittany Living with Ulcerative Colitis

Hello everyone, welcome! I would like to introduce myself. My name is Brogan Granger. I would like to take the time to share my sister’s story. This is a hard story for me to share because I watched my sister struggle from a very young age and she is currently going through with one of the hardest decisions a human being has to make at such a young age that will affect the rest of her life. For 14 years she has had to put her body through an immense amount of stress which has pushed her body past its normal limitations affecting her physical and mental health. Shes had to try different medications, went through different trials, multiple hospital visits and stays while all this time not working or being able to hold a job due to the severity of the disease. She has taken all the steps personally to try and fix this through exercise, diet, nutrition, and researching and trying alternative measures.

Myself and my family are trying to help my sister as much as possible. Due to our own personal limitations in life we would love to and greatly appreciate some outside help to get her through this challenging season of life. Having to deal with the financial portion is already enough compared to the mental effects it will have on her. I would like my sister to know what it feels like to be normal. Cancer free and colitis free.

Due to privacy and respect for everyone I won’t get into the details of how intricate the surgery and the disease itself is. But please feel free to look up a proctocolectomy which is the surgery she is going to get. Essentially she will be living with a permanent ileostomy bag.

Any donations are greatly appreciated to assist her through her recovery. It will help with so many aspects of her life. Here is a list of what they are,

These are a few of the things she will need. As this is so new to her and unexpected, there are many uncertainties that can arise.

Finally, I would like everyone to understand that her quality of life after the surgery will be greatly improved in the ways of being cancer free, colitis free, and not having to take biologic drugs anymore. However, she will have to live with the ostomy bag and mental health issues that can arise, different appearance, etc. I appreciate you all taking the time to read this. Anything in regards to personal help, support/company, and any type of donation would mean the world to her. Brittany also goes into more detail about her life story of living with this disease. You can read her story below.

I thought this would be a great idea to share her story as there is only so much we can truly do. Please feel free to share this as we want to create awareness for people living with ulcerative colitis, primary sclerosing cholangitis, and ileostomy bags.

If you would like to make a donation not through go fund me, you can contact me.

Brittany’s Story

I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis, more specifically pancolitis in December 2010. From the time I was diagnosed I was unresponsive to regular treatment and as a result lived in pain and agony with an active severe disease for over a decade. I spent everyday living on the toilet and was unable to physically leave the house without the fear and anxiety of having an accident. Living in this condition left me extremely malnourished, anemic to the point of having weekly iron infusions. I developed bouts of rheumatoid arthritis from the chronic internal inflammation where at times I couldn’t walk. I was living in survival mode. I felt like I was dying a slow death because the gut wrenching pain and bleeding would never stop. I fell into numerous depressions and had suicidal thoughts at times. On a daily basis I would average 20-30 times per day or more with bloody diarrhea, pus, mucus, nauseousness, feeling like I was shitting my organs out. Most nights I would have no choice but to sleep on the toilet as I could not make it to the bathroom on time without having accidents in bed. A lot of the time I chose to starve myself or would be forced to eat while sitting on the toilet as any food would go right through me. In 2015, my body exploded due to my active disease producing a deep vein thrombosis and 2 pulmonary embolisms in my right lung. I remember being in the hospital getting the sacrament of the sick from a priest and doctors telling me I had blood work of a dead person. I almost lost my life. It was a miracle I survived.

Over the years, I had been really confused as to why I was unresponsive to medications. Everytime I asked my GI doctors at the time if there was a possibility of having something else in addition to my UC they told me it was just my colitis. Most medications sent me to the hospital making all my UC symptoms worse. I was part of a fecal transplant study that proved to be unsuccessful after using 3 different donors and many colonoscopies later. Biologics like Remicade and Entyvio did nothing for me even after multiple attempts. In 2017 biopsies showed very early possible cancer signs. After getting an amazing GI doctor early 2020, he was able to get me for the first time in remission putting me on an experimental study drug. I thought for the first time I was going to be able to live a “normal” life. Late 2022, after going for my yearly colonoscopy my doctor found a large 5 cm polyp hiding under scar tissue in the lining of my large intestine. The results came back as malignancy in my colon. He sent me for further testing and later found out my colitis had shrunk my spleen to the point where it couldn’t function anymore. I was also diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis which causes inflammation and scarring within my bile ducts. The scars make the ducts hard and narrow and gradually cause liver failure. Having primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) in combination with UC, puts me at a high risk of developing bile duct cancer and as well developing full blown colon cancer. Currently there is no treatment for PSC. The only way to ensure my PSC doesn’t develop further is by taking out my rectum. The only way to ensure the malignancy in my colon doesn't’ metastasis is by taking out my whole large intestine and living with a permanent ostomy bag.

Over my teaching career, I was never able to obtain a full time job teaching because the majority of my days were spent at home in the washroom. When I did take on a subbing job for the day 90% of the time I had to turn around because I would have 3 accidents in my vehicle not even making it to the school. I was not able to work for over a decade because of the severity of the disease. If I did take on a temporary job the slightest bit of stress exacerbated my colitis and in 2019 I had to leave my job early because I experienced another severe flare up. Because of my condition I have been struggling financially since being diagnosed.

On June 21st, I will be getting a proctocolectomy where they remove my colon and rectum. My Ulcerative Colitis has eaten up all my 20s and part of my 30s. I am going to be welcoming this very scary/exciting change and new lifestyle with faith, grace, and gratitude and living with the peace that God is trying to help me be free finally.