Sylvia is our second crohnnie from Sydney, Australia. She is a new ‘dog mum’ to Gracie May, so dealing with Crohn’s and a puppy can be a challenging task. Over the last 20 years in battling Crohn’s, she has been through 4 different surgeries. Currently, her drugs of choice are Imuran and Stilara.
Sylvia is currently “recovering from a recent resection surgery and adapting once more to a temporary ileostomy. Am experiencing post surgical pain currently. It’s also hard as life has been totally put on hold, and I had some awesome projects have had to cancel/put on hold until am well again.” Crohn’s will make you put things on hold a lot in life because you just physically can’t do it due to fatigue and your body working overtime trying to battle the disease.
Fear is a real thing for crohnnies. There are a lot of times when you can have previous post surgical complications due to the body being so sick from Crohn’s. There is a lot of pain involved and we all have that fear of experiencing it again. Sometimes, we all have to walk on eggshells not knowing what is going to happen next.
The one thing that Sylvia wants people to know about Crohn’s is “Crohn’s is a very real chronic disease that is in need of a cure. It isn’t a food related/food allergy thing – it is bowel disease that can be potentially fatal if not monitored. I want the public to take this very seriously – as it is affecting millions of people world wide. People living with Crohn’s are challenged to live a normal life, and sometimes their lives are totally put on hold due to the severity and impact this painful disease can have. Please everyone share awareness, and let’s find a cure.”
There are a lot of things that Crohn’s has held her back from doing. “My recent surgery was on June 4th, 2018. That week was meant to work on a TV show. This week coming was meant to perform in a play. And next month head to Edinburgh to perform in another play. All cancelled now due to a massive Crohn’s flare up and emergency resection surgery. I find it so frustrating. But, the way I have to look at it is like a bump in the road. And when am recovered and on this new treatment – will be back doing what I love hopefully soon enough.”
You can keep up with Sylvia’s journey with Crohn’s here.
Sylvia is one of many the reasons I run.
Want to help find a cure? Please help me get to my new goal of $5,000 and support me and my ‘crohnnies’ help find a cure and run this marathon together.
Running and Chasing Medals with Crohn's Disease 