Two Things Everyone With UC Needs in Their Bag or Purse…

Sephora perfume and cologne samples double as emergency air fresheners.

Don’t leave home without them!

I’m not going to claim this is ground-breaking, but these are handy tips – one, if you’re a Sephora addict like me, your bathroom or your bedroom (or both) are probably overflowing with unused fragrance samples. Though there was a dark time when I was known to carry a Bath & Body Works room spray or other legit air freshener whenever I left the house, these days I’m all about packing light. The fragrance samples I receive and don’t like become mini emergency air fresheners for if ever I’m out in public and Colitis attacks. I’d rather chase away everyone in the restroom with a cloud of Dolce & Gabbana than a smog of intestinal dragon rot. And while the other ladies are choking and breaking out in hives, I’m pulling out a lovely little pack of Scott Naturals moist wipes. They’re soothing – because let’s face it, once you have IBD you don’t merely shit, in the words of my G.I., you “pass barbed wire” – and they do the job better than that tissue-thin abrasive commercial sandpaper they call toilet paper. Bring these two life-savers with you everywhere you go and about fifteen-to-twenty minutes after you burst through the bathroom door, give or take, you’ll walk out feeling halfway human again.