World IBD Day is one of my favorite days of the year and it if fast approaching! So, today I compiled a list of 5 ways to raise awareness for IBD! No matter if you are an IBD Warrior yourself, or you are supporting a friend or family member, you can raise awareness for IBD with any of these tips.

RAISE AWARENESS

1. Share Your Story

The biggest part of raising awareness is to share your story and your journey with IBD. This helps to educate others and help other IBD Warriors feel less alone in their journey! If you don’t feel comfortable sharing your own journey online, then find someone elses to share in support of World IBD Day. If you want to read up on my journey, you can find it here.

2. Show off Your Scars or Ostomy

Show of your battle scars or Ostomy bag by sharing a post on social media. This will help to bring awareness that “normal looking” people are battling with invisible illnesses everyday.

View this post on Instagram

#TransformationThursday . . Today I want to talk a bit about my body transformation since surgery and how my scar has healed. I had my bowel resection open surgery July 10th 2018, so it has been exactly 6 months today since I had my surgery. This surgery left me feeling 1000x better and I dont regret it for a minute. Unfortunately, with the surgery came some scars. . . At first I had a hard time excepting the scars, mainly because they were causing me pain. It took me quite a few months for me to live without pain in my scar. But, I can happily say that for about the last two months I have had no more pain in and around my scar. . . The main things I did to help with my recovery was exercise (after 6 weeks post-op), mainly focusing on doing yoga, and core. At first core, was so hard, I couldn't even do 5 sit ups. But slowly with time I got stronger. It wasnt always easy but I stuck with it and listened to my body along the way. As well as exercise, I made sure to use bio oil twice a day since 6 weeks post-op. This really helped to keep the scar moisturized. I also recently started massaging the scar by pinching lightly up and down the scar. My doctor told me this helps to stimulate cell regrowth. . . Overall, I am super happy with how my scar is looking, and I am so proud to show off my battle scars. The first picture here was taken on my trip to Florida a week ago. The rest are as followed: 📷July 16th, 2018, day 6 post-op. 📷July 20th, 2018, after staple removal. 📷August 20th, 2018. 📷October 18th, 2018. . 📷January 10th, 2018. . . . #crohns #colitis #ibd #ibdlife #crohnswarrior #chronicillness #invisibleillness #autoimmunedisease #inspiration #blog #love #hope #photooftheday #instagood #positivity #happiness #blogger #selflove #selfcare #mindfulness #wellness #yqg #windsor #surgery #scars #beautiful #progress

A post shared by Nathalie | Wellness Blog (@gutsyfeeling) on Jan 10, 2019 at 1:36pm PST

3. Answer Questions & Educate Others

If you have IBD let people know in your life or through social media that you are open to questions. It is so important to educate people about the ins and outs of IBD. This builds awareness and it also makes people educated about the conditions.

4. Share an Infograph

Use an infograph to share some basic information about IBD. This will help your friends and family to become aware of the hurdles you have overcome while living with IBD. I made an infograph that I would love for you all to use on World IBD Day this year!

5. Find an Event

Find your local Crohns and Colitis group and get involved. In Canada there is the Gutsy Walk every June. This is a great way to raise some money and walk for a great cause. Gather up your friends and attend a fundraising even this year!

If you liked the post make sure to share it with a friend and s ubscribed to my blog to get email updates every time I post. Also be sure to follow me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to get more updates from me on my day to day life.

Your trusty, gutsy gal,

Nathalie xx

Processing…

Success! You're on the list.

Whoops! There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Please reload the page and try again.

View this post on Instagram

Post-Op Day 10: Today I finally get my 21 staples out. I am super excited to get them out because they have been getting annoying and starting to hurt due to my muscles strengthening again. I would be lying if I said I'm not a bit worried about the appearance of the scaring after. But I know that the minor scaring is only a small price to pay for the significant reduction in pain💜. . . I plan on using Bio Oil for my scars once the doctor says that's okay to use. Does anyone have any tips on what products they used to reduce scaring? . . Rock today, its the only today you'll ever get. . . #crohns #colitis #crohnsdisease #ibd #ibdlife #surgery #postoperation #scars #crohnswarrior #invisibleillness #invisibleillnessawareness

A post shared by Nathalie | Wellness Blog (@gutsyfeeling) on Jul 20, 2018 at 7:59am PDT