^{On May 17th 2010 at 9am I was wheeled down to surgery.}

^{"Now we’re going to put this mask on Stephanie and you’re going to fall asleep. Don’t worry you’ll be fine, count back from 10"}

^{I think I got to 8 before I passed out.}

^{I was having a subtotal colectomy; which means I had to have the majority of my lower intestine taken out and have a stoma bag so that I could go to the toilet. A stoma is where the small intestine is brought to the surface; I have an 8 inch scar that runs through my belly button down to my pubic bone and my stoma sits just right of this scar.}

^{At the age of 19 I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis, an Inflammatory Bowel Disease that causes inflammation and sores in the lining of the rectum and colon. I unfortunately had UC all the way through my colon. At my worst I’d go to the toilet at least 15-20 times a day, bleed quite heavily, be exhausted and have intense stomach cramps so bad it felt like someone was taking my guts with red hot hands and twisting them into knots.}

^{UC can be controlled through medication, the aim being to get it into remission where the effected person can lead a perfectly normal life. In the beginning I was on a crazy concoction of about 24 pills a day. My condition seemed to flare up roughly every 4-5 months.}

^{Steroids controlled the UC but the side effects were horrendous. My hair started falling out, I’d turn into a crazed angry monster with a face that puffed out like a hyperactive chipmunk, a side effect called "Moon Face".}

^{At the time, I was studying at university and I never told my teachers the extent of my illness. I managed to make most classes but there were days I just couldn’t pull myself out of bed. I was studying acting and though I never missed a performance I couldn’t keep up with written work because I didn’t have the energy.}

^{After graduating in 2009, I managed to stay in remission for 10 months with the help of a different drug called Azathioprin. However in May 2010 I passed out at work. After two weeks of being heavily medicated nothing was working and I remember the surgeon coming in and looking so sad when he told me he’d have to operate.}

^{I couldn’t take it in, I burst into tears. I couldn’t believe I was going to have a stoma bag. I was only 21. The operation went well, the surgeon said he was glad that he went in when he did; apparently it wasn’t looking so great after all the medication I had been taking for three years. The next month was the hardest. I had to learn to do everything again, because I was opened up through my abdominal wall, I was extremely weak and couldn’t even walk.}

^{Having a stoma means I have no control of going to the toilet, when I eat my digestive system starts to work and I will start to fill the bag. The best diet for me consists of white bread and pasta, potatoes, rice, basically anything that’s quite stodgy. It took me a while to figure out what is good for me and what isn’t.}

^{I indulge when I am in the comfort of my home but it is a pain when I’m out in a restaurant and I eat something that doesn’t agree with my stoma. In fact it’s quite embarrassing having to excuse yourself constantly because your bag is filling up every 10 minutes. Then there’s the problem of emptying your bag in public toilets, people can smell it but I have no choice, it’s either that or leak everywhere.}

^{There are quite a few issues that come with having a stoma, I generally have to wake up once a night to empty my bag, which can get quite exhausting. It’s an absolute blessing when I sleep through the night.}

^{I’m extremely lucky that boyfriend is supportive and doesn’t have any issues with the stoma but being intimate with him can be hard sometimes. I burst into tears several times because I didn’t feel feminine or like I was a whole person anymore; in arguments I would shout that he should find someone who had all their parts and wasn’t a freak. He made me realise that I am still the same person I was before the surgery, it’s just that my plumbing is a little different!}

^{There were days where I felt so self conscious having a bag. I’d cry because I was convinced people could see the bag under my clothes. My moods were all over the place but my family were amazing and helped me through it. I had to learn how to change my bags and clean the stoma which I affectionately named 'Tin Tin' so I can talk about him in conversation without people knowing.}

^{Now that I’ve got used to the stoma, my life hasn’t changed too drastically. I can do most things that people do but I have had to adapt. I have to wake up earlier so that I can change my bag, I usually change it every day so that I don’t run the risk of leaking. I work in a bar and am used to running about, but now if I get too hot the skin under the bag gets itchy but there’s no way that I can scratch it! I use the toilet more than your average person and I will avoid rush hour tube like the plague. The thought of being pressed up next to a stranger is one of my worst nightmares. That and going to a toilet, emptying my bag and then realising there is no toilet paper. The thought brings me out in cold sweats!}

^{I keep a blog but I’ve realised that having the operation wasn't the worst thing to have happened. Some days I wished I never had the surgery, especially recently as I had another operation in January so that one day I don’t have to have a bag. I wonder why I’m putting myself through all this pain but ultimately it’s because I want a better quality of life.}

^{I never thought I’d be so comfortable with my stoma. It is what it is, I can’t change it, it’s happened and I’m not going to let it rule my life. I used to be really embarrassed about having a stoma and would worry about what people would think if they saw it. I really honestly couldn’t care less now, if I need to adjust it in public I do so and if people are shocked by it that’s fine by me. Not enough people know that this can happen to young people so the more people that see it, the better. Once the last operation is done there’s no telling what there is for me in the future. Having these operations were worth it because it now means I know nothing can hold me back and anything is possible.}

^{To find out more about Colitis and Crohn's diesease visit http://www.nacc.org.uk}

^{You can follow Stephanie’s Journey on her blog ‘The Adventures Of Super Steph’}