Living with a Chronic Disease- Ulcerative Colitis

Hank Green is one of the "Vlogbrothers" from youtube. Here he shares his experiences and how he deals with living with ulcerative colitis.

In terms of my brothers illness, William (although diagnosed very young) did not have ulcerative colitis for relatively long, meaning he has not had to encounter some of the experiences that Hank talks about. This was also due to the fact that William's case was so severe he barely left the house in the whole time he was ill.

My Brother William

In the Summer of 2009, my younger brother was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis, aged 11. In the next 18 months, William tried drug after drug, going through many procedures and many different medicines. After none managed to control his symptoms, in December 2011 he had a colectomy (removal of the colon) at Great Ormand Street Hospital (GOSH). He now lives with an ileostomy bag but has suffered from chronic pain for the last 9 months, for reasons Doctors are still yet to find. This blog will document Will's progress medically, as well as talking about what it is like to live with ulcerative colitis, and an ileostomy bag.