Taking time to appreciate how far I have come

The photo on the right was taken just before my one year stomaversary (anniversary of having a stoma) and the one on the left was taken by a friend about a year before.

I know how long it can take for the side effects of steroids to wear off and I have a full on 'moon-face' in the left photo as I was still taking lots of steroids and had been on them for a long time. Although horrified at first when the photo on the left popped up on a Facebook timeline from a 'year ago today' I was actually pleased to see it as I felt in comparison to recent photos, I am looking a lot better/healthier. I feel that my hair is a lot thicker, healthier and is able to grow and I just generally feel better in myself.

It's great to have photographic evidence to show me how much the steroids had affected me and to see how far I have come in a year as I think sometimes it's easy to forget just how poorly we have been/how much we can go through with Crohns or Ulcerative Colitis. A real benefit of having a stoma is that I am currently off all medication including harmful steroids.

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