Hi I’m Jordon Cox and I’m 26 years old.

Throughout my teenage years, I complained a lot about stomach pains, which at the time we didn’t think too much of.

But when I was around 17, I ended up getting food poisoning from a fast food burger and from that point on I was never the same again.

Throughout my Crohn’s journey, the main symptoms for me have been fatigue and stomach pain. On a bad day, it would mean me walking around sort of hunched over and getting out of breath very easily. At my worst, even walking up the stairs or going from the bedroom to the bathroom would be like climbing a mountain. Some days, the pain would be so excruciating, I’d just be curled up in a ball feeling like my insides were going to explode.

My mother and I decided to go to the doctors to find out what was wrong. At first it was written off as IBS and I was even asked if I was bulimic. But after a few hospital trips and scans -and a lot of pushing for a diagnosis – I was told I had Crohn’s Disease.

When I first found out, I was basically bed-bound. My mother went straight to the hospital and picked up some steroids for me to take to bring down the inflammation. It was a massive shift in my life. I did really struggle to get to grips with it as a scared 17 year old boy, but as a whole, I just wanted my life back.

Luckily, the steroids (and later Azathioprine) helped me to get on an even keel and it meant I could actually get out of bed and live a more normal life for the next few years.

But when I got to around age 20, the medication didn’t seem to have much of an effect any more, and I slowly started going downhill again.

Suddenly, near enough everything I ate would cause intense pain. I couldn’t walk more than five metres without being so out of breath, and I was back to being bed-bound. I was skin and bone.

I eventually was admitted back into hospital and they would not let me eat food, as my bowel was so inflamed, it could perforate at any time. I desperately needed surgery to remove the bowel and have a ileostomy bag inserted to give my bowel a rest, but I was so underweight that the chance of me surviving the surgery was low. So I went on something called TPN (total parental nutrition), and was fed intravenously to build myself back up.

I was in hospital for over three months being fed intravenously, and building me up to a healthier weight.
While I was in hospital, I wanted to do something productive, so I ended up starting up my own blog on money saving- and even wrote my first book from hospital. It became a best-seller!

After months of being on TPN, it was time for my ileostomy surgery. Doctors removed 30cm of bowel, and although it took some time to adjust to it, I had a whole new lease of life, being able to eat whatever I wanted with no pain and my energy levels back to normal.

After around a year of great health, the ileostomy bag was reversed, and I have been four years post-op, living a mostly healthy life. The symptoms are at bay for now, and I’m currently in remission.

Having Crohn’s has definitely taken away a lot of time from my life. There were months where I couldn’t work or go out with friends in my teenage years.

I suppose one way of looking at it is that although it’s hindered my career, it’s also helped it in some ways. I might not have written a book or become as resilient a person otherwise.

Although a lot of the stuff that I’ve said sounds horrible, there is light at the end of the tunnel. I’m now living such a healthy life, have my own business and present on TV.

The care and treatments for Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis are fantastic, so if you have been diagnosed, there will be a way to get you better.

There’s also such a big community of people who are in the same position as you, so please remember: you’re not alone.