Lad Shares What It's Like Living With Chronic Bowel Disease

This LAD has decided to give some insight into what it's like living with a chronic bowel disease, in a bid to educate and support people:

Mesha Moinirad, an ambassador for Crohns and Colitis UK, is using his voice to help others by uploading videos to his social media channels.

He hosts live Q&As on Facebook, shows people exactly how he changes his stoma bags and shares tips on how to manage a chronic bowel disease - such as offering dietary advice to people in similar positions to himself.

In 2013 the personal trainer was diagnosed with IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) after suffering with a burst appendix. Mesha suffers primarily with ulcerative colitis and was fitted with a stoma after having his large colon removed.

Stoma surgery creates a small opening on the surface of the abdomen which, in turn, diverts faeces or urine (poo and wee, let's get over it) from the bowel or the bladder. The waste is instead collected in a stoma bag at the person's stomach.

In sharing videos of himself removing and replacing his bag, as well as many other useful bits of content, Mesha hopes he can normalise the need to have a stoma.

In one of his videos, he admits that living with a chronic illness is hard - it's something that has changed his life forever. But he also recognises that it's made him the person he is today.

Mesha is happy to answer honest and curious questions that people put to him, such as 'what does the stoma feel like?' His answer - the inside of your cheek.

People have been quick to share their appreciation of Mesha documenting his reality. One person wrote: "Love this lad for highlighting this debilitating condition. Its great to see he is living life to the full."

Another added: "I'm quite surprised at how much the intestine protrudes. I would have thought it was much smaller. So I've been educated! Thank you for this, you absolute legend."

A third commented: "As someone with Crohn's, I'm used to misinformation, ignorance and judgment. Well done to Mesha for this video, spreading awareness and giving confidence to younger people with IBD. Well done to the majority of people on here with open minds, willing to learn about these conditions."

Topics: Community, UK

Rebecca Shepherd

I'm Becky - a journalist at LADbible. I graduated with a First Class BA in Journalism before going on to cover criminal court cases, medical tribunals and breaking news for the national media - which inevitably and eventually became as glum as it sounds. Can often be found rocking a bag for life - which I made a 'thing' way before Rihanna. You can contact me at [email protected]

@RJShepherd94