‘I’ve Had Crohn’s Disease for 40 Years – I Never Know When It Will Strike’

At One Point, Joanna Was Stack in Bed in Madagascar With A Makeshift IV

A mum diagnosed with a condition she has never heard of has refused to let it stop her. Joanna O’Donoghue has traveled to 70 Countries, Exploring some of the World’s Most Remote Landscapes and Brutal Challenges. IT’S A BIG FEAT IN ITISLF – MADE MORE MORE IMPRESSIVES BATTLE The Chronic Inflammatory Bowel CONDITION CROHN’S DISEASE WHICH CAN AFFECT HER ANY MOMENT.

The Form Teacher Admitted She’s Had “Mary” Scary Moments and Her Adventure Across the World Hasn’t Always Been Easy. She’s occisionally HAD to go to bed hungry wohen dietary restrictions are misunderstood but one instance in Madagascar was far more extreme.

Joannawho raises funds for charities like strengthrohns on her travels, Told the Mirror: “I Became Very Ill With Crohn’s and We Were Miles From Anywhere with No Hospital. DRIP by using a coat hanger at the top of the bed.

This and Other Stories Are Documented in Her New Book Gutsy Travelswhich she hopes will inspire People and Spread Awareness of the Chronic Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Said: “In recent years i decide to travel the world despit cautery tales. I have visited Australia, South-East Asia, North, Central and South America and South Africa, to name but a few.

“I have been in the jungle, the rain forest, up Mountains and on remote islands. I have been zip wiring, White water rafting and hanging Gliding. offten as the how I do it and anen’t i just a little bit scared?

One of the Top Tip for Fellow Crohn’s Travelers is Havinging A Doctor’s Letter Translated Into The Local Language of the Country You Are Visitting that Can Explain Your Condition, Requirements and What to Do Need to Be Hospitalized. Medications, Toilet Rolls and Hand Sanitier Are Also Must-Haves in Her Travel Bags.

She added: “People don’t always ‘get it’, participate in the immediacy of the situation and you need the loo, but they are usablely sympathetic and helpful. bend a bush! ”

While the book is due to be published on May 28, Joanna’s Travels Haven’t Stopped Yet As She’s Still Keen on Journeying Through India, Japan and New Zealand. Looking back on her journey so far, there’s one area that she highly recommends.

Said: “The galapagos islands were special as there are animals and birds here that you can see ever Else on Earth.

In 1983, joanna was a full-time teacher in her 20s living in a mobile home as a single parent to her two -ear-op daughter when she shade beComing ill. AFTER COUNTless Appointments and Failing Treatments, she collapsed in a doctor’s Office and Was Taken for Emergency Surgery.

When she woke up, she was to told she had had Crohn’s Disease. “I HAD Never Heard of it,” She Sadi. There didn’t seem to be much awareness generaly and i always hads to explain to people what it was. ”

She was in for Major Surgery and Later Returned to the Operating Room to Get An Ileostomy, a surgical opening made in the abdomen that leaves the last part of the small intestine exposed to allow was to pass through an ileostomy bag, whicch was ultimately avoided toes a skilful Surgeon.

More than 40 years late, joanna has roughly learned what will will trigger a flare up of her condition. But she admits it can Still Sometimes appeaar Out of Nowhere and Leave Her Needing Morphine in Hospital to Deal with the Pain.

She explained: “Imagine your work of food poisoning: gripping pains in your stomach;

“Imagine that happy to you over and over again: when you’re out and about; in the car on a motorway; driving through with the nowhere to stop; trying on cloths in a Changom; on a Long Walk; on a bus; Your Own;

Joanna Developed The Travel Bug Years before Diagnosis. During Her Childhood, Her Midlands-Based Family Never Went Much Further than Devon and She Got on Her First Flight in Her Second Year of Teacher Training. She Spent Six Months As Part of an Exchange Program at Eastern Michigan University in the US and Her Adventures Across North America Sparked A Love of Travel and Adventure.

She has also managed to pair her love of traveling with her desire to spread awareness and hope for Crohn’s Disease Patients. Joanna has trekked acroks the Mountains of Albania, Transylvania and Eve Up Machu Picchu as a fundraising effhority for forrohns.

She added: “I have lived with Crohn’s for Over Forty Years and in Many Ways, it has defined with, specifically in terms of the way I look at life.