Footballer Paul shines light on painful illness
TODAY, FEELING MUCH BETTER, HE WANTS TO RAISE CASH TO HELP OTHERS AFFECTED BY BOWEL DISEASE
A BURTON footballer has told how the excruciating pain of chronic bowel disease left him dependent on steroids and wrecked his social life.
Former Gresley Rovers player Paul Grosse, who lives in Stretton, was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis (UC), a chronic inflammatory bowel disease that affects the large intestine (bowel) and rectum in 2002.
He was put on medication and diets, but continued to be plagued by horrific abdominal pain and was often in a bad way, needing to sleep all day.
Paul said, at his lowest ebb, he was dependent on steroids and fear of needing the toilet suddenly stopped him playing the game he loved and seeing his friends.
Now the Rolls-royce fitter and tester - dad to Harper, six - said, thanks to the support of his family, friends and doctors, he is in much better shape.
But he has opened up about the effects of UC in a bid to raise awareness and money to help those still suffering.
He said: “I was diagnosed with this horrible disease in 2002 and over the next two years I fought UC with everything the doctors could prescribe.
“Diets and drugs just didn’t work and it was affecting my life completely.
“I couldn’t do the things I loved, including playing football or socialising with my friends, for fear of needing to go to the toilet.
“The drugs were making me extremely tired, bloated and some days I just felt like sleeping all day and doing nothing.
“It came to the point where I needed to take so much medication I lost count and I’d become dependent on steroids. Enough was enough - my intestines were so badly damaged I needed surgery urgently.”
Paul went through three spells of surgery between 2002 and 2004. He said: “My first operation was to remove my large intestine, rectum and all the horrible disease and give me an ileostomy bag (to divert the small intestine).
“At 24, you might think this should have been a horrible thought, but considering how poorly I was I’d have done anything to feel better again. The surgery lasted around eight hours and was successful.
“For six long months, my amazing family and friends supported me and helped me to get back playing football for Gresley Rovers and I was able to hit the gym most days.
“Then it was time for my second operation, the reversal surgery, which was to remove the small intestine sticking out of my tummy and make a rugby ball-shaped bowel, which would then be stitched together and sent back out of my stomach into another stoma bag.
“After six hours in surgery, I was back on the ward and after another week in hospital I was able to go home.
“This time things took a little longer, including the healing process - going from being so poorly to feeling well, then back to feeling not so good again was hard to accept.
“Five months later and after a lot of hard work it was time for the final operation to reconstruct my internal system. The surgery went well and my little stoma bag had gone.
“Even now, I have to take more than 60 tablets a day as I have no large bowel.
“Anything I digest goes through my small bowel and, to slow the process down I have to take the medication.”
Paul turned 40 last year and, to mark the occasion, he wanted to raise funds for Crohn’s & Colitis UK, a charity that offers information, support and research to people affected by Crohn’s and Colitis.
He planned to do the “lakesman triathlon”, which involves a 1.2-mile swim, 55-mile bike ride and a halfmarathon run in and around Keswick, Cumbria.
However, due to the pandemic, Paul had to put his plans on hold.
Now, with restrictions continuing to ease, he is hoping to attempt the challenge on June 20.
He said: “I’m looking forward to the challenge, especially as I had to put it on hold last year. I’m in preparation and, hopefully, come June 20, I’ll be ready to go.
“The purpose of the challenge is to help others and all I ask is for people to donate as much as they can to this worthy cause, so, hopefully, through research, one day we can beat this disease forever.”
To donate to the cause, visit the online version of this story.
I couldn’t do the things I loved, including playing football or socialising with my friends.
Paul Grosse