Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford | Patient Advocacy

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

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2nd Jun 20187th Dec 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

What people with IBD should know

20th Jun 2018 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Top 5 Crohn's Blogs 2018

16th Jun 2018 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Stoma gallery

6th Jun 201827th Mar 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Time for a new bag? UK ostomy manufacturers!

2nd Jun 20187th Dec 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

What people with IBD should know

1st Jun 201813th Nov 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Self-management

19th May 201824th Mar 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Heather's fundraising is "On Fire"

18th May 20183rd Feb 2026 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Crohn's sufferer from Luton arranges local family fun day and football match to find a cure

14th May 20183rd Feb 2026 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Can you have Crohn's Disease AND Ulcerative Colitis in one patient? The facts

13th May 20183rd Feb 2026 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Self-care series | Learn about your disease and where to look for information

12th May 20183rd Feb 2026 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Ulcerative Colitis is NOT always continuous and NOT always only in the colon

10th May 201824th Mar 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

RELIABLE resources for Crohn's and Colitis research

2nd May 201824th Mar 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Self-care series | Looking after your mental health

1st May 201824th Mar 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Best IBD awareness hashtags to use!

26th Apr 201824th Mar 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

This is a VERY long road I'm travelling

24th Apr 201824th Mar 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Things people don't usually talk about – highs and lows of upcoming surgery

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A diagnosis changes so much more than just your medical records. It often shifts your entire identity, and it is completely valid to mourn the life you thought you would have. It's #EndometriosisAwarenessMonth, and I'm talking about the frustrating diagnostic loop that so many of us find ourselves stuck in. When you live with #ChronicPain in the pelvic or abdominal area, getting a clear diagnosis often feels like a game of ping-pong between specialists. A memory popped into my head yesterday, that made me feel really icky. 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.
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