Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford | Patient Advocacy

Inflammatory bowel disease, ostomy, chronic pain, PTSD, and mental wellbeing.

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Author: Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

18th Jul 202318th Jul 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Taking pills doesn’t make me weak

15th Jun 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

What’s a RADAR key and where to get one

14th Jun 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Research opportunity | Mind-Body IBD Study

1st Jun 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

The tightrope of hope

14th Apr 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Using support groups correctly

4th Apr 202328th Jan 2026 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

What topics should stoma nurses be prompting conversations about?

30th Mar 202330th Mar 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Research opportunity | Sex after permanent stoma surgery (survey)

27th Mar 202327th Mar 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Extraintestinal manifestations of IBD

17th Mar 202327th Mar 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

How to get copies of your medical records (UK)

3rd Mar 202328th Jan 2026 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

What I can eat with a stoma: my experience post-surgery and beyond

14th Feb 202318th Mar 2024 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Preparing to present at A&E

13th Feb 20233rd Feb 2026 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Research opportunity | Well-being, Gut Health & Science: Patient-reported outcomes in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

26th Jan 202327th Mar 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

What to put in an emergency ostomy bag change kit

20th Jan 202328th Jan 2026 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Finding MY healthy lifestyle with IBD and an ostomy

19th Dec 202227th Mar 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Explaining IBD to family and friends

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My #ADHD diagnosis was one week today, and while I’ve spent that time processing, a few things are starting to click into place. It’s a big piece of the puzzle. For a long time, #ChronicPain and #PTSD have been viewed as two VERY separate battles, but some recent research confirms a deep link. My latest blog post, The PTSD and pain link: What the research says, explores how medical trauma from emergency surgeries, hospital stays, or not being believed actually changes our nervous system - link in bio. Since finishing my #reiki training last month, I’ve been following my morning yoga practice with a "strengthening my light" meditation and some mini self-reiki. It’s been a lovely addition to the routine, but it turns out I was much more tired than I realised this morning. 😂 Yikes! 🙈 Spring must be on its way because I was out of the house today, without a hat! ☀️ The increase in people diagnosed with #ADHD in recent years made it impossible not to learn about it, just "in passing". Plus, some people around me have a keen interest in neurodivergence, too. It's not a rabbit hole I went down, but the more second-hand thing's I've learnt, the more I began to wonder whether it could be me. Then I wondered whether everyone thinks that about themselves? If you've ever looked at a restaurant menu and felt like you were staring at a list of potential landmines, you aren't being "difficult". I'm sharing how new research validates the food fear so many of us in the #IBD community live with for #EatingDisordersAwarenessWeek. SOME surgeries can impact fertility, but finding the facts and figures for your specific surgery can be difficult 🤯 It took me seven years after my #UlcerativeColitis diagnosis to finally talk about the emergency surgery, the sepsis, and the complications that followed. When I started sharing in 2014, I was doing it from a place of anger because I was tired of being misjudged. At the time, I didn't have the language for the grief I was carrying, and even the word "feelings" made me cringe. Not much of a roasting 😂😂 I'd love that! 🌿 Grief is a word we usually associate with losing someone, but when you are diagnosed with a lifelong #ChronicIllness, you are grieving too. You are grieving the loss of your healthy self, the person you were in your best memories, and the future you thought you would have. Don't worry, I haven't gone to the "dark side" 🙈
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Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford | Patient Advocacy
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