My Experience with Disabilities - Miles Singleton

My Experience with Disabilities
Miles Singleton, Disabilities Officer
Following my last GCSE exam, I suddenly felt unbearable pain in my
stomach which I had never experienced before. It felt like a cruel joke,
finally my exams were over but now I had this to worry about. I barely
made it home, as I had symptoms of diarrhoea.
I thought it may have been stress related or possibly a cause of a bad
diet, I was embarrassed about the whole thing. I was going to the
toilet 3,5,6, even12 times a day, but I was too scared to see a doctor. I
suffered through it until I found blood, a large amount, in my stool.
I contacted my GP for an emergency appointment who referred me to
hospital. I had never been an inpatient before, I didn’t even know
what that word meant. It was scary, and I had no idea what was
going on.
After two weeks in hospital, I was told it was most likely Ulcerative
Colitis, which meant that I had ulcers in my large bowel. I was given
some medication and a check-up appointment in seven months. It
got better then worse. This cycle repeated for two years.
Trying to manage my studies at college around my health was a
never-ending nightmare, I was too sick to attend most days. This
made it difficult to make friends as I was never there. I remember
struggling to finish coursework because I was too ill. Once, I collapsed
at my computer while working on coursework because I was so ill.
As time went on, my large bowel became inflamed and I was
diagnosed with severe pancolitis. I was told that I would need to have
a stoma bag to control it.
I had just finished by BTEC at College and was forced to delay my
entry to Uni by a year. There were complications during the surgery,
and I went through what I can only explain as the worst pain
imaginable. One month after leaving hospital, I had to return as scar
tissue had closed my small bowel. On the positive side I do have a
wicked cool scar on my stomach.
At Uni there is always that anxiety of meeting new people and having
to explain my stoma bag to them. My friends have been super
supportive and the one thing I have learnt about my time at Uni is
that no one cares. Not because it’s not important, but because it
does not affect your character and who you are.