Kicking My Colon To The Curb

Hi all! My name is Hillary and my colon has been trying to kill me for the past 10 years & this weekend it decided to take it up a notch. For those of you that don’t know me I am a Mom to one AMAZING daughter who is kicking her butt in her Senior year of high school, I am an Independent Mental Health Therapist, I love being active, sewing, spending time with friends/family, and helping within my community where I can.

I was diagnosed with Left-Sided Ulcerative Colitis in the fall of 2017, but have had the disease since we believe the summer of 2011. If you don’t know what Ulcerative Colitis is let me give you a fun overview: it falls in the Irritable Bowel Disease family, mine is localized to the Colon and Rectum; so imagine all the fun things from food poisoning, but 1,000 times worse. Everyday. All day. Over the last four years by disease has gotten steadily worse. For the last 3 1/2 weeks I could not eat, was in the restroom over 20 times a day, losing a LOT of blood, and feeling like a 1,000 knives were inside me.

I was admitted to the hospital on Friday August 20th. My Dr. performed a scope and the imaging showed that my disease is at a dangerous level of becoming toxic to the rest of my body. I have never responded to any of the medications over the years and have steadily gotten worse while in the hospital. My hemoglobin continues to drop to where I may need a blood transfusion, my pain has increased, and I still cannot eat. So what now?

Now we take my colon out and throw it away for good. It is a three step process (if I qualify for a J-pouch) or a two step process if my rectum has to be removed as well. Each surgery is a minimum week stay in the hospital, minimal activity for 6 weeks between surgeries, and having the ileostomy bag comes with supply needs. So we are looking at 6-8 months of surgeries and recovery time. I will not be leaving the hospital without an timeline in place for these surgeries to occur, with the first one being a possibility while I am already here.

As an Independent Mental Health Therapist my income comes from having physical sessions with my Clients, but the recovery process will limit what I am available to truly work during the 6-8 month process. This also means I don’t have built in sick time or paid time off. That is where your help comes in. The funds raise will help to cover rent, bills, food, medical supplies, insurance deductibles, etc. due to lost income. At a minimum I will already miss two whole weeks of seeing Clients for over 30 hours each week.

I have never been good at asking for help, because I have always been the one to help everyone around me. The truth is, as difficult as it is to admit, I need help. I need these surgeries to regain a positive quality of life, a healthy body, and the ability to continue being present to help those around me.

I appreciate any assistance, no matter how small.

All of my love.

Hillary