The Spoonie Mummy

This is something I wrote yesterday on my Facebook page after seeing this post and the responses.

I’m not sure whether this post was written in a celebratory manner or not but there were lots of derogatory comments about Sam Faiers and ‘how ill’ she is.

Now I don’t agree with all she has said publicly about Crohns. She is lucky to be in remission and doing well. But as someone in the media and public eye she needs to be more aware of every aspect of the disease before she starts claiming she is ‘cured’ for a start.

However, this is not a competition. It annoys me that not everyone is supportive of others who are doing well, or try and claim they are worse than someone else who is struggling.

I see people in ileostomy groups leave because they have had a reversal. Their experiences and knowledge could be so useful to someone looking at whether to have one, but as they no longer have an ostomy they receive negative comments about still being in groups and therefore don’t feel as if they belong.

I see people claiming they want it ‘all chopped out’ as having a bag would be easier. I don’t want to dismiss the feeling as I can understand when you are so poorly why some feel this way. But when they choose to go about this by putting down the experiences of people with a bag – who sometimes do go into remission but some don’t and some who do don’t stay in it long – it’s just wrong. There’s also the interrupted sleep, bag changes, sore skin and bag leaks to contend with.

Our illnesses aren’t a competition. We all understand what we each go through and are the best kind of support for those in the same situation.

Here is a picture of me on Wednesday. I’ve had 4 bag leaks this week but still went ahead with wearing this as it’s what I planned and wanted to wear. Don’t let this disease take over your life with worry. You can wear what you want, be who you want to and you can live your life the way you want!

💜

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