Me & My Crohns

We did it. We walked the 7 miles and made NACC a lot of money.

Before we actually did the walk we thought a 7 mile walk would be lovely, maybe a nice stroll. I knew I would struggle if I was feeling ill but even then, it’s just a stroll around a pretty reservoir. Oh how wrong was I? The weather was awful for a start. The weekend before had been glorious, even to the extent that my wife go a tiny bit sun burnt sitting on the balcony. But on the day of the walk there was a spatter of rain in the morning during the drive there and it was over cast with the wind picking up.

We got there at around 9am so we could help set up the NACC stand. My job was to sign people in and get their contact numbers just in case they didn’t return for some horrible reason. So I took my place behind the desk with my wife who helped to organise the filled in paper work into an alphabetical order. It was all working well, except for the fact that we had dressed thinking it would be a warm day. I nearly didn’t take a jacket but thought I would and just leave it in the car.

After an hour and a bit of signing people in we got cracking on our walking challenge. We grabbed our directions from the designated direction giver person and headed on our way. We were told to go through the gates and swing a left. After 15 minutes of walking between houses and churches with no sign of a reservoir, we ran out of pavement. This did not seem right, so we gave the team a call and we worked out that we had gone the completely wrong way. Woops.

We finally found the correct path after walking an extra mile and started our journey. The first mile (technically our 2nd due to our miss-direction) was fine and kind of enjoyable. Then we reached the dam which was very exposed to the elements. This is where we had to be determined else we would just given up and cried until search and rescue found us. The wind was so strong the birds were going backwards and my wife’s hair was permanently strewn across her face, a bit like cousin It from the Addams Family. We zipped up our jackets and hugged closely to share body heat. For me it wasn’t too bad as I’m generally pretty warm and can block out the cold but my wife was in agony. Everything was a struggle but she battled through, even though she hated every second of it. She could just about focus on the fact that it was all for a good cause.

3.5 miles in we were half way and time to turn around and come back. At the halfway check point there was the NACC Leics & Rutland treasurer handing out drinks and chocolate to help give people a boost. Half way was a good point to visit the loo. I had been suffering slight pains and discomfort all the way round, but this is pretty much daily life at the minute. The need for the loo had to be dealt with, so we hunted for the nearest public toilet. Ewwww, metal toilets with no seats. How are we expected to use these? Using the loo is a difficult thing anyway, without having to sit on a freezing cold, horrible metal bowl. So I pulled out my RADAR key and used the disabled toilet. The RADAR key opens most public disabled toilets and is available if you have IBD. I donated £1.85 to my local NACC group to get mine. That one time certainly helped made up for the cost. The disabled toilet was cleaner and had a plastic seat. This small level of comfort really helps make this awful experience a bit more bearable. I definitely advise getting hold of one of these magic keys. I haven’t needed to use it when at the pub yet, but will be sure to use it as pub toilets are the worst (see my previous blog on pub toilets if you don’t believe me). The RADAR key is a massive old style key. It looks more like it should be opening the castle door rather than a public loo!

So after a 10 minute break we headed back the way we came. I was trying my best to make my wife feel a bit happier. I was pointing out animals and trying to make her think she was warm. Nothing was working though. She still seemed to be hating it. She definitely earned the money she raised and I think I deserved the money I raised for putting up with her (I’m only joking of course or am I?).

It took about 2 hours to complete the walk and we got a certificate for doing so. At the time of writing my wife and I raised over £400 between us. This is a phenomenal amount and will certainly help NACC. If you forgot to donate or didn’t get around to it, then the donations site is still open: www.justgiving.co.uk/ben-rutter. Pop along and give a few quid, it’s all for a good cause and if you’re reading this then IBD must be close to you. NACC helps people who suffer from IBD as well as those around the sufferer, as they need help too; such as mums and dads.

As a local NACC group we raised over £5000. This is nearly £1500 more than was raised last year. This shows people are more aware about IBD and NACC and want to help us more. (For more NACC Leics & Rutland visit their website by clicking here)

Finally I just wanted to mention the surgery i am going to have, I received the date they want to do it. I will go in to hospital at the beginning of June and should be out within the week, all being well. I am still a little scared of it but I am swaying more to the positives: the scarring currently in my bowel will be removed so it should be smooth and “normal” again, allowing easier passage of food, which in turn is less pain and discomfort for me.
If anyone has had a bowel resection, whether keyhole or not, I would be very interested in hearing about your experience and recovery times etc.

See you soon
Ben
Oh by the way I am now a qualified Hospital Radio DJ for Radio Fox. So if you are in the Leicester Royal Infirmary or the Leicester Glenfield Hospital on a Saturday morning, you will hear me doing my breakfast show between 8am and 10am. So why not call in and have a chat with me?