I REMEMBER COMING in from school when I was about 11. I was in fifth class, and my lips were double the size they were when I left that morning. My gums were red and inflamed.

My mom was shocked, wondering what had happened. I went to the dentist, and he said it was probably a gum infection and gave me medication.

When that didn’t work, I was sent to the Cork University Hospital dental department to figure things out, before being ultimately referred to a gastroenterologist for a colonoscopy.

I was so confused about all of this and what it even meant. It was the time of the pandemic and social distancing, which made it all the harder.

I remember struggling to take the prep for the colonoscopy and getting sick. When Crohn’s disease was confirmed, I was too young to understand what it was, but it was no shock to my mom, as it ran in her side of the family.

Things would escalate. I lost a lot of weight, and the gum pain got worse.

I was referred to CHI Crumlin, and I remember the doctor saying to me that it was one of the worst cases he’d seen. Me and my mom didn’t realise it was that bad.

I was started on treatment, but the following year, during the week of my Confirmation, I started to develop rashes and lose some hair.

Psoriasis was confirmed, and it spread all over my body. I was also starting to develop terrible pain in my hips and knees, which turned out to be arthritis. I was........

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