My journey with UC
At first, I did not know what was happening
The first signs were subtle, then examinations and a diagnosis gave a name to what I was experiencing. Understanding the disease was the first step towards no longer facing it alone.
The diagnosis itself wasn't straightforward: during one hospital stay, doctors went back and forth for a long time between ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, as the inflammation didn't follow a textbook pattern. That's part of why I talk about both here: the line between the two forms of IBD can be thinner than people think.
Over time
I learned to work with it
There were treatments, difficult periods, doubts and changes of habit. I have not been cured of ulcerative colitis: I have learned to recognise my signals and adapt the way I live.
It was not a straight line. I stopped medication without the supervision I would recommend to anyone else today, I tried radical methods that led nowhere, and I relapsed several times before understanding that consistency is what pays off, not intensity.
Why share this story
The disease is part of my life, but it does not define it
This website and my book share a journey with its difficulties, experiments and moments of freedom. It is a personal testimony meant to open a conversation, never a medical method.
If one person recognises themselves in this account and feels less alone with their illness, the time spent writing it was worth something.
The full story
All of it is told in the book
The diagnosis, the hospital stays, boxing, cold, breathing, fasting and the wrong turns: UC: Living Without Medication tells this story from the beginning to today.
Discover the bookImportant: this account does not replace the advice of a healthcare professional. No treatment should be changed without medical supervision.