多年来，我从来没有真正认识任何被诊断出患有溃疡性结肠炎的人。那时我真的很孤单。寻找社区是惊人的。我开始在第一次造口术手术时开始在社交媒体上分享自己的旅程，因为那是我真的很孤单的时候。多年来，我从来没有真正认识任何被诊断出患有溃疡性结肠炎的人。最重要的是，要成为一个黑人妇女患有溃疡性结肠炎，我的家人没有人，没有朋友，我没有人可以特别关联。因此，有些事情告诉我要分享我的旅程。我发现了一些新面孔，黑色和棕色的人患有这种疾病。然后，当我开始分享自己的旅程时，有很多人患有溃疡性结肠炎。我感到自己不必再感到羞耻了。 I don’t have to be embarrassed anymore because I’m not the only one with this. Living with IBD, I notice, and we notice, that there are some inequities when it comes to IBD. When I had my ostomy surgery, I would receive pamphlets in the mail and the pamphlets where I had to order my supplies the only pictures that I would see was of Caucasian men or women, and everyone was over the age of 60. There’s IBD commercials out there, but you really never really see people of color. It brings us back to the fact that, you know, representation does matter and that, you know, IBD - Crohn’s - colitis, it does not see one particular color, one particular race, like, it affects everyone. It’s been a true blessing to be able to share my journey along with helping others because I truly feel like this is my purpose. For years I struggled, but all of that wasn’t in vain because I now know that it has never really been about me. My purpose now is just to share, help others that are going through this and share my experiences.
