Stefan Thomas shares his ulcerative colitis journey

My guest today is someone I’ve got to know well over the last few years, Stefan Thomas, professional speaker and author of Business Networking for Dummies.

Thirty years ago, Stefan was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, and for most of his life this hasn’t caused a problem – until recently. Last year he began to feel very ill and after several months of visiting doctors and hospital appointments, he ended up as an emergency admission to hospital.

He explains what ulcerative colitis, or inflammation of the bowel is and how it affects his life. Stefan also talks about how ‘talking about toilet stuff’ has always been a bit of a taboo, and generally men haven’t been encouraged to talk about such problems. Yet in the UK alone, 500,000 people have got Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s.

Stefan is a writer and a speaker and he likes to talk about things, so he shared what was happening to him on his Facebook page. To his surprise he has had positive feedback from people, many happy to recognise that they’re not alone in their suffering. Also, he shares that at 54 he is an influencer on Facebook!

He also talks about how being self-employed and having to regularly take time out of his business and cancel and postpone meetings and even speaking engagements due to being ill, he worried about the damage it would do to his reputation. With his incredibly positive attitude, he has created other ways to bring in income.

Although Ulcerative Colitis isn’t a dietary condition but a genetic condition, Stefan also talks about how he has ended up having to make some changes to his diet. 

Stefan talks about a subject that can be embarrassing for many people with great humour and insight, demonstrating how with the right attitude we can cope with health changes.

To contact Stefan:
Website: https://www.stefanthomas.biz/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stefanthomasdotbiz