#11 Author Vicky Ball Discusses Life With IBD - Plus Her Famous Viral Moment!

Author Vicky Ball has lived with mild inflammatory bowel disease since 2021. 

She has published two teen fiction books, with a third adult fiction book in the works.

In this episode of Wrestling the Octopus: The IBD Patient Podcast, Vicky talks to us about how she manages her career as a writer while living with IBD. She also tells us about her now-famous viral moment with her book sales.

We hope Vicky's story spurs on many aspiring writers with IBD to achieve their publishing dreams!

You can follow Vicky on X at @vickyball3

Follow Rachel at @bottomlineibd

Follow Nigel at @crohnoid

Transcript

Nigel: 0:00

Please note this podcast is not meant to constitute medical advice. If you have any medical issues, then please discuss them with your own healthcare professionals.

Rachel: 0:14

Hello and welcome to today's episode of Wrestling the Octopus, the IBD Patient Podcast. We are delighted to welcome Vicki Ball to chat with us. Vicki is an author of a book called Powerless, published in 2021. Another one called Abandoned, published in 2023, and Vicki's going to talk to us about being diagnosed with indeterminate colitis in midlife, and also she'll give us an insight into her work as an author.

Nigel: 0:45

Vicky, can you tell us what made you go and see medical professionals in the first place?

Vicky: 0:51

It was end of 2021 and I got COVID. I got it pretty bad, I wasn't in hospital. But I did feel pretty awful, like really bad flu symptoms, headaches, every day and stuff, and exhausted with it. Then it was Christmas, so I kind of recovering just after I began to get these other symptoms like bleeding, which was the main symptom I was having at the time. I didn't think about it too much'cause of Christmas and there was always stuff going on and I was so exhausted. And then January came and I thought I should probably go to the doctor at this'cause it's still happening. And so I thought, okay. I'll go to the doctor's.

Nigel: 1:24

Okay. And what was your doctor's reaction? Did they take you seriously? I would've thought they would. With your symptoms?

Vicky: 1:31

Yeah. Yeah, I think they pretty much did.'cause I mean, I was 45 at the time and I feel like my age probably did have something to do with it. She asked me how long I had it, and I, at the time, I said a month, it might not even been that long. But I think because it was months, she was like, oh yeah, we need to check it out and stuff. And at the time she said, oh, it's probably like internal hemorrhoids or something like that. And I was like, okay. And then in my head I was thinking, just got to get over COVID, get through this, and then get the hemorrhoids fixed and then I'll be fine. And then everything went back to normal again. And that was how I was thinking it was gonna be. And then she sent me home with a stool test pot. She'd referred me on a normal pathway. But then I think it was about a week later when I'd finally managed to do all the stool test thing and I sent it back to them, and then I think it was a day later, they phoned me, which is never good news. Is it when the doctor phones you as a result? I. And they said your fit test results positive. They said, we're gonna have to make it urgent because it could be bowel cancer and this, and I'd never even thought that it could be bowel cancer. So this is obviously me freaking out. Oh my goodness. Okay. I could actually have cancer. I mean, and then afterwards it was very quick.'cause literally the next day someone rang me from the hospital, and then the day after, nurse was like. It's only mildly positive. It's probably fine. It'd be okay, but we obviously do need to get it checked out. And then they gave me a choice. So they said you can either have a colonoscopy or you can have this pill cam thing, which you swallow. And I thought who would wanna have a colonoscopy? So I thought pill cam, that sounds easier. But no, I regretted that decision actually.

Nigel: 3:08

Why, why did you regret the decision? I mean, I've had I think three now and yeah they've been fine. What happened?

Vicky: 3:15

I just felt hideous on it. I think it was like that all day. And obviously I, I didn't go to work that day. But I didn't know what to do with myself. I couldn't go anywhere.'cause I thought, you know, you've gotta be near a toilet. And by about evening time I was starting to panic thinking, oh, it hasn't come out yet. Is it supposed to come out? And then I rang them and they said, don't worry, you'll probably been sure it'll be fine. Then it just popped out in the loop they said they'd let me know if it was cancer by the weekend. So when I didn't hear by the weekend, I was like, okay, it sounds like it's probably gonna be okay. And then I got a letter through the post the week later, which didn't make much sense at all. But what I did understand was that you haven't got cancer, but you've gotta have a colonoscopy. And I was like, what? Why did I go for all that? I could have just had a colonoscopy in the first place. And then, and then it was quite close soon after that. So my body was not happy.

Rachel: 4:00

I dunno if I should be admitting this on the podcast, but I am the token weirdo who actually doesn't mind having a colonoscopy. And the only reason I say that is because, it's unpleasant. Nobody wants to go through it, but at least when you've done it, the camera never lies as they say. You've then got the result, and it's done. So you had your pill cam and then you had to go back for colonoscopy. At what point were you diagnosed with IBD?

Vicky: 4:24

So I got the letter from the pill cam, which said a range of medical words, which I had no idea about any of them. So I'd look'em all up. I think proctitis was one, which I know what it is now, but at the time I was. It didn't make any sense. And I think colitis and lots of things like that. And then when I heard colonoscopy on the results, it said indeterminate colitis. And, I obviously knew that inflammatory bowel disease was either Crohn's or ulcerative colitis. And I was thinking, well, what does this mean? And then it was only when I went to collect the medication'cause they, at the time they recommended on the, colony results. Get your doctor to prescribe you mesalazine. And it was only when I collective in pharmacy, she was saying about having blood tests in a few months. And I thought, wait, I'm on this long term. I didn't understand that. But then I didn't have any biopsy results for ages. I was kind ringing around different departments, trying to find out who the best person to give me the results was. In the end I just thought, well, I'm gonna email the IBD team. I mean, they've been brilliant, but no one gave me the email address or anything and it was something that I had to find out for myself. And even then the nurse was like, well, when you have your consultant's appointment she'll decide which one it is. Colitis or Crohn's. And then when I finally had the consultants appoint, which wasn't for about another five months, she was like, you've got end

Rachel: 5:39

colitis. That is your diagnosis. About 10 to 15% of people with IBD have indeterminate colitis. I think from what my surgeon told me a long time ago, is it usually does ultimately present as one or the other. So having got your indeterminate colitis diagnosis,

Vicky: 5:57

how have you been since? Well, once I started taking the mesalazine, actually, that got rid of the bleeding within about five days, I think. So that was pretty quick, pretty good. But, but then afterwards I was still getting pain, which the time I thought was probably down to the IBD, so I was getting, um, like kind of abdominal pain and stuff like that. And then I had a whole sort of saga with that really.'cause then when I had the appointment with the consultant, she said, oh, well let's do an MRI to see if it's like the stuff in your small bowel. So I had that. But then obviously, you know, everything takes so long with the waiting list and stuff, and then you're waiting for results and the appointment to talk about the results. And so I think I had that in the October and then I had to wait till the April next year. I was still in pain and for the results for the employment. At that point, I was convinced. It was to do with IBD. And it was only when I mentioned the consultant, what it is worse when I'm on my period. And she was like, oh, I think you, we should refer you to gynecology as well. And I was like, oh, I feel like you're just palming me off, you know? But I, so I was, I was a bit like okay. But then I had lots of tests quite a lot of tests with gynecology and that took about another year and a half or something. And oh, you know what, with everything. And then got diagnosis ad mosis, which kind of, which I, because I was, convinced that the whole pain was down to IBD. But yeah, so that was kind of a bit mind blowing'cause I was like, I can't possibly have two things wrong with me, what's going on? But I mean, part from the colitis has been more or less stable, but I do get a lot of constipation and stuff, so I manage that with laxatives. But then, mm-hmm. But then I take amitriptyline for the pain, so that probably doesn't help.

Nigel: 7:38

Nikki, you were a teacher for a long time, I believe. And then you changed career. Was that affected by your IBD or had you already changed career when the diagnosis happened?

Vicky: 7:50

No, so I was still teaching when I got the diagnosis. I probably got COVID from the school really, because there was lots of it about, and. I had been teaching for about 15 years at the time, so I mean, partly I left because of health reasons, but I think it was always, a stressful job and it was always something in the back of my mind that I was gonna leave at some point. But I think the problem is you teach and you get to a stage and you think, I dunno what else to do. And you know, you've done it for so long and you think I can't possibly do something else. So it definitely was a factor. But then when I got diagnosed with IBDI thought,, these years of stress probably haven't done me any good. Mm-hmm. And that was the final straw really. And I thought I need to get out before I get even more ill or stressed. But yeah, so I, I then I carried on teaching and I even started the next academic year thinking, you know, maybe I can. Do this and, but it was hurting, standing up'cause of the pain and,

Nigel: 8:43

and

Vicky: 8:43

obviously, you know, you don't have access to toilets all the time and, and it was very stressful. What subject were you teaching at the time? I was teaching English, but I started off teaching re actually, so.

Nigel: 8:54

And then you changed to become an administrator at the university?

Vicky: 8:58

Yes. My, my, one of my friends actually, she works at the university. She was an ex teacher as well, and she kept saying, you gonna come to university?'cause there's loads of jobs here, it's really good and there's loads of ex teachers in, so all given up'cause they fed up and and so yeah, I started applying for lots of jobs at the university.'cause at the time they had lots. And then, just fortunately managed to get one, which was good.

Nigel: 9:20

At what point did you start writing or had you always been writing and then suddenly something kicked in and said, I'm going to really do this seriously?

Vicky: 9:31

Well, yeah. I suppose I've always loved writing and then. I suppose when I was in my twenties, I did a, uh, adult education class, like on, creative writing. I was getting a little bit more serious, but then obviously when you're teaching, you've got small kids, you don't always have the time. But then I think I started writing a novel in 2016 ish, and then I finished it during lockdown, having a bit more time at weekends so yeah, my first, got published and then my first book came out in 2021, actually just before I got COVID. So I think it was. Probably, or the excitement of kind of that. And then getting COVID probably was too much for my immune system, obviously, but, so yeah, the first book came out in 2021, then I had another one in 2023,

Rachel: 10:12

That's great. And it's nice to hear that you've had that passion and you've made good on it and you've done it in spite of living with a chronic disease. I think that's really important for people listening in. Who do have passions and aspirations to know that actually you can achieve them and reach your goal. So, that's a really positive story. Thank you. Can I just ask you, you talked about stress and I'm a great believer that stress precipitates IBD flares and possibly. Onset of IBD, although obviously it's a perfect store for many things, but was there any IBD in your family or any early clues that, that you might, develop it?

Vicky: 10:52

No, nothing in my family. I've never even heard of IBD. I'd heard of Crohn's because I think that is generally the one that everyone heard of, isn't it? And not colitis though. But yeah, no, I'd been perfectly healthy until I was 45. So it was a massive shock being diagnosed because I was in my head when, even when I went to doctors, I thought, with something short term, I, I'll get it sorted out and then I'll be fine and back to normal. And then suddenly they're telling me I've got a long term condition and I think, maybe have mild constipation, but that was. That was really, there was nothing that I would've gone to the doctor about and then to be told I've got another one, another disease about a year later was just crazy. Got this

Rachel: 11:26

theory actually that hormones have a lot to answer for particularly female productive hormones when it comes to chronic, not just IBD, but the onset management of chronic disease. But that's just my opinion. So you've published your books, which is fantastic, and many people listening in may know that you had a viral moment with your books. Tell us how that happened and what's happened to you since.

Vicky: 11:54

Yeah, so I've been to a few sort of book events with local authors where we rock up with our pile of books and we try and sell. With varying success. You know, I've done somewhere, I've sold none at all. In fact, mostly I haven't sold that many at the actual book event. And I did one last December at one nearby, I was actually really happy to sell two books so I posted on X and I was lit. I was genuinely happy. I was like, I've sold two books and there was a picture of me in my books and that was me just generally being really happy. And then it was about two days later when I woke up and thought, oh, I've got a few more notifications I normally get on X. And then it all just started going a bit crazy. And so I think in the morning it was about 12 million views or something. By the end of the day it was 25 million views. And I just thought, right, what on earth is going on? This is crazy. And, and I was getting all these lovely comments and people were saying people genuinely wanted help going, oh, well I'll buy a copy then and people posting receipts saying I've bought it online. Then I started getting messages from journalists. And so I think that night I got contacted by someone from the B, b, C look east And I thought I was just gonna be something online, but they were like, oh no, it's gonna be on the show. Then as they left, they said, oh, don't be surprised if you hear from other journalists. But yeah, it just went crazy after that. Someone from the Guardian contacted me and then it was in the Independent the Times. And then by the Monday I was thinking, oh, it's calming down a bit now. But then I got a message from someone at Sky News And so yeah. But the amazing thing was that I was able to pitch my books live on tv, which was pretty crazy really. And then by the end of the week ITV came round and put me on the national news, which was mind blowing.

Nigel: 13:34

Well, I suppose the next thing is get Richard Osmond involved in getting the screenplay. That would be amazing. It would, it would be amazing. I mean, really, a story like this if you read it, you probably wouldn't believe it. Are you using any of the, or will you use any of the experiences you've been through with getting diagnosed with these conditions? Do you think they will ever make way into one of your books?

Vicky: 13:57

Well, I mean, I wrote, I've written a third book, which I'm still sort of editing at the moment. One of the characters has IBD, um, so I dunno what, whether that book can ever get out there. But yeah, I, it would be good to do it in some form I think.'cause I think it is important to raise awareness.'cause I think a lot of people. Have never heard of it or lots of my friends or family that I told about it, So I always eat like IBS and I'm like, no, it's not like IBS or do you have to change a diet? And that's all they think about it really. Mm-hmm. So I think it is really important to make people aware, like what is, how it affects people.

Rachel: 14:28

Yeah. Viral moment with, with the book, with IBD. Awesome. In terms of your, when you are in creative flow, has your IBD or having symptoms or any aspect of it really. Has that impacted on your ability to be creative? Does it interrupt your flow?

Vicky: 14:44

No, I suppose my IBD has been okay. So that's been okay. But, well, I suppose the tiredness does, but then, I do have a lot going on in my life as well. I mean, the tiredness does affect me a lot because I, and working full-time, I can't, when I'm actually working on campus in the university, I just don't have the energy to do it when I get back. But when I'm working at home. I normally try and do some writing after work instead of traveling home, and I do have a lot more energy then.

Nigel: 15:10

So what would your advice be to a aspiring authors?

Vicky: 15:14

I found actually going along to writing like courses and things I've done. I've done quite a few of creative writing or short story writing courses at the local education center and that's always really good to meet other people and get feedback from others and you I dunno, you get in this sort of creative buzzes like when you are with other people. It's teen fiction, isn't it? That you write? My first few books were teen, yeah. But actually the one I've started writing is actually an adult thriller. So I'm I don't know, maybe swinging that direction. I'm not sure. Yeah.

Rachel: 15:44

Yeah. Well, I really look forward to seeing that coming out. So let's know, as that all develops nicely. Well I think that wraps it up for this episode. Thank you so much, Vicki. It's lovely to have you on. Really Nice. Always too. Well it's nice to speak to everybody, but I love speaking to patients. I have to say I really do. So thank you so much. We wish you every success with your ongoing publishing career. Hope your IBD stays mild and thanks very much.

Vicky: 16:11

Oh, no, thank you for having me. It's been lovely to, talk to you

Nigel: 16:14

so thanks Vicki for telling us your story. If you'd like to purchase her books, they're available on Amazon, and if you'd like to follow her on social media, then just look for Vicki Ball three. Can I just remind all our listeners that all our previous episodes are available on Spotify or Apple Podcasts or wherever you normally get your podcast from? It's goodbye from me

Rachel: 16:38

and it's goodbye from me. Goodbye.