A Geelong man has become a nurse after he was inspired by the care he received during surgeries for inflammatory bowel disease.
Matthew Batterham had an emergency colectomy in 2016 that led to his ulcerative colitis (an inflammatory bowel disease) diagnosis.
Mr Batterham also had three further operations at Epworth Geelong and said the surgeries had given him a new life.
“I was on medications, going to the toilet up to 40 times a day due to how inflamed my bowel was, my weight dropped to 45 kilograms, and I did not leave the house,” he said.
“Thanks to the surgery, I now have an ileostomy bag and it has significantly improved my quality of life.”
Mr Batterham said that he decided to pursue nursing following his time in hospital and intends to become a stomal (surgically created opening for body waste removal) nurse in the future.
“Coming into hospital you aren’t having the best time. It just takes one nurse to go that little bit further and it helps get you through one of the hardest periods of your life,” he said.
“They were awesome, and a huge reason why I decided to become a nurse… It felt great to join the nurses on the ward who looked after me years earlier.”
Mr Batterham moved to Epworth Geelong’s fast-paced surgical ward, where he was previously a patient, after he worked in cardiology and neurology for six months.
