Ulcerative Colitis
In New Zealand at least 80% of the population have been diagnosed with one or more chronic health condition. Some people manage to hide their illness so well even their close friends or family members are unaware of it. This essay discusses my interviewee’s experiences living with long term illness regarding the impact of the disease on his everyday life and self-management strategies.
At the beginning of the interview I introduced Jozef to the topic and I explained why this project is important for my nursing practice. I told him that the gained information stays confidential and only my tutor going to know his real identity. To further protect his identity I used a fake name in this essay. I educated him about his rights especially his right …show more content…
to withdraw from this interview and if he felt disrespected he can contact my tutor anytime for support. Jozef allowed me to use my voice recorder throughout the interview, but he asked me to delete all the content when I finished writing up my project. I made sure he understood all the given information and I asked him to sign the informed consent.
Jozef is 45 year old male originally from Slovakia, but he describes himself as Hungarian. He immigrated to New Zealand in the beginning of 2001. He is living in his own home with his wife and four year old daughter. Currently works full time as an IT consultant for a small Auckland based company.
Jozef was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis sixteen years ago. As vocalized by Josef, since his late teenage years he experienced regular abdominal pain and every two months he had frequent episodes of diarrhea for few days. His mother had similar problems at the time and Josef assumed he just inherited his mother’s “bad” genes. It never crossed his mind that maybe something is wrong with him. In the middle of year 2000 Jozef’s life changed, he found excessive amount of blood in his stool. He knew he couldn’t hide his symptoms anymore and contacted his doctor straight away. An urgent colonoscopy was performed which showed mild to moderate inflammation on the entire colon and small tears or so called ulcers were detected on the internal lining which caused the bleeding. He was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, a chronic disease he never heard about in his life.
Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory bowel disease.
It is characterized by the inflammation of the inner ling of the colon and can cause ulceration at the same area. The location and the severity of the disease could vary from person to person. It could affect only a particular part of the colon, like descending sigmoid or the entire colon and can range to mild to severe. Typical signs and symptoms of UC include diarrhea, rectal bleeding, excess mucus surrounding the fecal material and abdominal pain. The exact cause is unknown, but some genetic factors could play an important role of the development. It is not uncommon to have two people with UC in the same family. Treatment of this disease is still challenging and no cure is available, because of the uncertainty around the real cause of the …show more content…
disease.
Since his diagnosis, Jozef manages his illness incredibly well. He never been hospitalized, however from time to time he has mild to moderate abdominal pain and problems to go to the toilet. One of Jozef’s self-management strategies is monitoring his diet. His NZ doctor suggested he should keep a food diary each day and observe his body’s reaction for the particular food he consumed each day. With the help of this diary Jozef was able to identify the specific food types which he can eat anytime without problem and which he can consume only in small amount. He have to be cautious about his fruit, vegetable and high fiber intake. These food types can increase the severity of the symptoms and he needs least 2 weeks to recover.
Sometimes Jozef feels socially isolated. When his friends ask him to go for a Friday afternoon beer he have to decline their offer. He can’t consume any alcohol without serious negative effect on his condition. Most of his friends are not aware of his condition and he feel embarrassed to talk about his bowel habits with them. He is worried if he refuses to drink alcohol his friends will tease him or desperately want to know what is going on with him.
In the development of IBD environmental factors could play an important role, especially our nutrition and diet.
Studies suggest that approximately 90% of people after their diagnosis changed their diet dramatically which helped them to control their disease. The connection between food and UC is still not well understood, but has a huge impact on severity of the disease. No research study have been able to identify the specific type of diet which could be useful in managing UC or Crohn disease. Most of the time people with Inflammatory bowel disease have to found out by themselves what they body can tolerate and what upsets their GI system. Some people benefit from low fiber diet other have to restrict their lactose intake.
Josef also takes his medications regularly and attend on regular checkups. He is taking Pentasa twice daily with good effect. In the past with the support of his doctor Jozef tried to gradually decrease the medication dose and stop taking it. Unfortunately Jozef’s colon become inflamed after the first decrease in the medication dose. The reason why Josef wanted to stop his medication, because of the “nasty” side effects Josef least once in every six months suffers from intense headaches, which has a negative impact on his normal
functioning.
Giving medications is a first line treatment for UC, due to their anti-inflammatory effects. Taking medications regularly relieves the signs and symptoms of UC and can prevent flare ups. On the other side medications can cause serious side effects.
Jozef works long hours in the office and he describes his lifestyle as sedentary. In the past Jozef used to go to the gym least five times a week, but since the born of his daughter he exercises only on the weekends. As reported by Jozep since he exercises less than his body used to, he has more problems with indigestion, accumulated gas in the intestines and mild abdominal pain least once a month for two to five days. Josef is desperate to find more time to exercise. He is planning to regularly go for a walk in the morning before work and in his lunch time.
Some studies suggest that individuals who live sedentary lifestyle like Jozef could benefit from regular exercise. People can benefit from low intensity exercise like walking or yoga. High- intensity exercise programs are not recommended, because they can cause increase in the symptoms. Jumping, running for large distances is not recommended for people during the active phase of the disease.
Jozef generally manages his diet well, but he consumes excessive amount of food high in fat and evening snacking is not unusual for him. There is no specific guideline what the person with UC can or cannot eat, but dietitians recommend people with UC should avoid foods high in fat. As a nurse I would suggest he could try to reduce his high fat intake by eating less fried food and find healthier ways to prepare the same meal.
We were also talking about his moderate risk to develop colorectal cancer. The only time he attended on colonoscopy was at the time of his diagnosis. I gave him education about his risk to develop colorectal cancer and how he could prevent it. According the Ministry of health guidelines people living with UC could benefit from undergoing colonoscopy in every8 to 10 years. Ten years following the first diagnosis the individual’s chance to develop CRC increases. This intervention can provide better overview of his condition and assessment of the inner lining of the colon could determine his risk to develop CRC.
Simple trip to the supermarket or going for a holiday could be challenging for him. Poor access to the toilet facilities is one of his main worries. He has a card given by his specialist doctor. The card enables him to use restrooms which are not for the general public but he is way too ashamed to used it. I tried to comfort him that it is nothing to be ashamed of. I encouraged him to use his card mainly in emergency and when he is planning to go for a holiday he could visit the toilet map website. I suggested he should keep extra pants and underpants in his car in case an “accident” happens.
As a student nurse I was amazed how well Josef is able to cope with his condition. I thanked him kindly for the interview and I expressed my appreciation for all the shared information.
At the beginning of the interview I introduced Jozef to the topic and I explained why this project is important for my nursing practice. I told him that the gained information stays confidential and only my tutor going to know his real identity. To further protect his identity I used a fake name in this essay. I educated him about his rights especially his right …show more content…
to withdraw from this interview and if he felt disrespected he can contact my tutor anytime for support. Jozef allowed me to use my voice recorder throughout the interview, but he asked me to delete all the content when I finished writing up my project. I made sure he understood all the given information and I asked him to sign the informed consent.
Jozef is 45 year old male originally from Slovakia, but he describes himself as Hungarian. He immigrated to New Zealand in the beginning of 2001. He is living in his own home with his wife and four year old daughter. Currently works full time as an IT consultant for a small Auckland based company.
Jozef was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis sixteen years ago. As vocalized by Josef, since his late teenage years he experienced regular abdominal pain and every two months he had frequent episodes of diarrhea for few days. His mother had similar problems at the time and Josef assumed he just inherited his mother’s “bad” genes. It never crossed his mind that maybe something is wrong with him. In the middle of year 2000 Jozef’s life changed, he found excessive amount of blood in his stool. He knew he couldn’t hide his symptoms anymore and contacted his doctor straight away. An urgent colonoscopy was performed which showed mild to moderate inflammation on the entire colon and small tears or so called ulcers were detected on the internal lining which caused the bleeding. He was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, a chronic disease he never heard about in his life.
Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory bowel disease.
It is characterized by the inflammation of the inner ling of the colon and can cause ulceration at the same area. The location and the severity of the disease could vary from person to person. It could affect only a particular part of the colon, like descending sigmoid or the entire colon and can range to mild to severe. Typical signs and symptoms of UC include diarrhea, rectal bleeding, excess mucus surrounding the fecal material and abdominal pain. The exact cause is unknown, but some genetic factors could play an important role of the development. It is not uncommon to have two people with UC in the same family. Treatment of this disease is still challenging and no cure is available, because of the uncertainty around the real cause of the …show more content…
disease.
Since his diagnosis, Jozef manages his illness incredibly well. He never been hospitalized, however from time to time he has mild to moderate abdominal pain and problems to go to the toilet. One of Jozef’s self-management strategies is monitoring his diet. His NZ doctor suggested he should keep a food diary each day and observe his body’s reaction for the particular food he consumed each day. With the help of this diary Jozef was able to identify the specific food types which he can eat anytime without problem and which he can consume only in small amount. He have to be cautious about his fruit, vegetable and high fiber intake. These food types can increase the severity of the symptoms and he needs least 2 weeks to recover.
Sometimes Jozef feels socially isolated. When his friends ask him to go for a Friday afternoon beer he have to decline their offer. He can’t consume any alcohol without serious negative effect on his condition. Most of his friends are not aware of his condition and he feel embarrassed to talk about his bowel habits with them. He is worried if he refuses to drink alcohol his friends will tease him or desperately want to know what is going on with him.
In the development of IBD environmental factors could play an important role, especially our nutrition and diet.
Studies suggest that approximately 90% of people after their diagnosis changed their diet dramatically which helped them to control their disease. The connection between food and UC is still not well understood, but has a huge impact on severity of the disease. No research study have been able to identify the specific type of diet which could be useful in managing UC or Crohn disease. Most of the time people with Inflammatory bowel disease have to found out by themselves what they body can tolerate and what upsets their GI system. Some people benefit from low fiber diet other have to restrict their lactose intake.
Josef also takes his medications regularly and attend on regular checkups. He is taking Pentasa twice daily with good effect. In the past with the support of his doctor Jozef tried to gradually decrease the medication dose and stop taking it. Unfortunately Jozef’s colon become inflamed after the first decrease in the medication dose. The reason why Josef wanted to stop his medication, because of the “nasty” side effects Josef least once in every six months suffers from intense headaches, which has a negative impact on his normal
functioning.
Giving medications is a first line treatment for UC, due to their anti-inflammatory effects. Taking medications regularly relieves the signs and symptoms of UC and can prevent flare ups. On the other side medications can cause serious side effects.
Jozef works long hours in the office and he describes his lifestyle as sedentary. In the past Jozef used to go to the gym least five times a week, but since the born of his daughter he exercises only on the weekends. As reported by Jozep since he exercises less than his body used to, he has more problems with indigestion, accumulated gas in the intestines and mild abdominal pain least once a month for two to five days. Josef is desperate to find more time to exercise. He is planning to regularly go for a walk in the morning before work and in his lunch time.
Some studies suggest that individuals who live sedentary lifestyle like Jozef could benefit from regular exercise. People can benefit from low intensity exercise like walking or yoga. High- intensity exercise programs are not recommended, because they can cause increase in the symptoms. Jumping, running for large distances is not recommended for people during the active phase of the disease.
Jozef generally manages his diet well, but he consumes excessive amount of food high in fat and evening snacking is not unusual for him. There is no specific guideline what the person with UC can or cannot eat, but dietitians recommend people with UC should avoid foods high in fat. As a nurse I would suggest he could try to reduce his high fat intake by eating less fried food and find healthier ways to prepare the same meal.
We were also talking about his moderate risk to develop colorectal cancer. The only time he attended on colonoscopy was at the time of his diagnosis. I gave him education about his risk to develop colorectal cancer and how he could prevent it. According the Ministry of health guidelines people living with UC could benefit from undergoing colonoscopy in every8 to 10 years. Ten years following the first diagnosis the individual’s chance to develop CRC increases. This intervention can provide better overview of his condition and assessment of the inner lining of the colon could determine his risk to develop CRC.
Simple trip to the supermarket or going for a holiday could be challenging for him. Poor access to the toilet facilities is one of his main worries. He has a card given by his specialist doctor. The card enables him to use restrooms which are not for the general public but he is way too ashamed to used it. I tried to comfort him that it is nothing to be ashamed of. I encouraged him to use his card mainly in emergency and when he is planning to go for a holiday he could visit the toilet map website. I suggested he should keep extra pants and underpants in his car in case an “accident” happens.
As a student nurse I was amazed how well Josef is able to cope with his condition. I thanked him kindly for the interview and I expressed my appreciation for all the shared information.