I was too embarrassed to seek help after finding blood in my stool

WHEN 15-year-old Molly O’Donoghue noticed blood in her stool, she was too embarrassed to tell anyone.

The shy teenager thought her classmates might be laughing at her and that she probably had nothing to worry about.

But weeks passed and her life slowly began to spiral out of control.

She was losing weight rapidly and becoming so tired that she could barely walk up the stairs.

Molly eventually confided in her mother, but she also agreed that her daughter was probably just straining too much on the toilet.

It wasn’t until Molly’s principal called home to ask if everything was okay that they realized something more serious might be going on.

Molly, from Southport, Merseyside, said: “I was really too embarrassed to say anything, especially at that age, so I kept it to myself for quite a while.

“But then I started feeling tired and couldn’t do my usual activities.

“I was a great tennis player and runner, but it got to the point where I couldn’t even climb stairs.

“The blood just kept getting worse and worse and the weight loss was increasing. And it was all just unraveling.”

The student slowly became more withdrawn.

She stopped seeing her friends and avoided going out in public for fear of having to rush to the bathroom.

“I had the anxiety of meeting people in public and not knowing where the toilet was because I had this urgency symptom,” she said.

“When I had to go, I had to go, so I avoided socializing at all costs.”

A few months after her first symptoms, people started asking Molly if she had an eating disorder.

Her school then contacted her parents to express their concerns.

Now worried, the family visited their GP and after several tests at Liverpool’s Alder Hey Children’s Hospital over the following weeks, Molly learned she had ulcerative colitis – an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

“I’ve never heard of it,” said Molly, who was studying for her GCSEs.

“It’s been a big learning curve for my whole family.”

When I had to go, I had to go, so I avoided social contact at all costs.

Molly

Molly tried eight different medications before finally finding one that worked for her.

For months, she couldn’t live like her friends, which seriously affected her mental health.

But after trying a home treatment that she administers herself every two weeks, she finally got most of her symptoms under control.

Molly said: “I was very sporty and had a big group of friends around sport, so obviously when the fatigue hit I couldn’t do that anymore.

“It actually made me sad to go watch and not be able to play, so it definitely sent me down a spiral of anxiety and depression.

“It really affected my studies as well. I missed a lot of my final year of GCSEs so it was all very rushed.

“After I got out of hospital, I was slowly able to get back to my old life, but there was always that worry of ‘am I going to have to go to the bathroom?’

“However, now I am basically who I was before the diagnosis.

“I still have a lot of fatigue, which is such a big symptom, but other than that I’m in complete remission.”

“MY LIFE IS UNTANGLING”

Molly, who is now studying English literature and language at the University of Edinburgh, is returning to tennis and hopes to spend 12 months studying in Melbourne, Australia, next year.

“I could never have done this before,” she added.

“If you had told me five years ago that this was even an option, I probably would have laughed.

“For a while even the thought of going to university was so far away for me when I was first ill, so to actually be able to live away from home and with friends is just life changing.”

But she wants to remind people that having an invisible illness isn’t easy and there are still good days and bad days.

“I always have fatigue and low energy levels and I kind of work through them every day,” she said.

“There’s also an aspect of saying no to certain things, but I’ve learned that’s OK.

“I know I’m sick and I don’t want to push myself too far.”

She also wants to urge others to seek help if they notice worrying symptoms such as blood in their stool.

“Don’t be afraid to seek help – for the illness and mentally,” added Molly.

“I really struggled with the anxiety and sadness that came with mourning an old life that I had lost to the diagnosis.

“I think it’s starting to be understood that yes, there is a stigma around the disease, but you can break it down and overcome it.

“And if you reach out for help, someone will always be there.”

Molly shared her story on World IBD Day, in partnership with Celltrion Healthcare and the European Federation of Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis Associations.

Together they launched a campaign, Where is CCto shed light on how Crohn’s disease and colitis can be difficult to detect.