Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford | Patient Advocacy

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

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Author: Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

29th Nov 202227th Mar 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Grieving for my pre-IBD life

24th Nov 202217th Oct 2024 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Products to support ostomates during day-to-day life

16th Nov 202227th Mar 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Changing seasons, chronic fatigue, and mental health

5th Nov 202227th Mar 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

An open letter to Matthew Perry regarding his stoma experience

26th Oct 202227th Mar 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Attending the pain management programme – part 2

25th Oct 202227th Mar 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Attending the pain management programme – part 1

20th Oct 202227th Mar 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

My relationship with IBD and sleep

18th Oct 202211th Mar 2025 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Dealing with intestinal blockages

17th Oct 202227th Mar 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Physio update: Body and mind, misaligned

15th Oct 202229th Jun 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

My bladder issues following colorectal surgery

30th Sep 202228th Jan 2026 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Common struggles after stoma surgery

8th Sep 202227th Mar 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Sleeping with an ostomy bag

16th Aug 202227th Mar 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Advice on new IBD medications

5th Aug 202227th Mar 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Break-ups and fallouts post stoma surgery

1st Jul 202227th Mar 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Intimacy after stoma surgery

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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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