At one point, Joanna was stuck in bed in Madagascar with a makeshift IV
A mum diagnosed with a condition she had never heard of has refused to let it stop her. Joanna O’Donoghue has travelled to 70 countries, exploring some of the world’s most remote landscapes and brutal challenges. It’s a big feat in itself – made even more impressive because she battles the chronic inflammatory bowel condition Crohn’s Disease which can affect her at any moment.
The former teacher admitted she’s had “many” scary moments and her adventure across the world hasn’t always been easy. She’s occasionally had to go to bed hungry when her dietary restrictions are misunderstood but one instance in Madagascar was far more extreme.
Joanna, who raises funds for charities like ForCrohns on her travels, told the Mirror: “I became very ill with Crohn’s and we were miles from anywhere with no hospital. A doctor was called who took a while to get to where I was but he brought a bag full of medication and erected a drip by using a coat hanger at the top of the bed. This did mean that I was stuck to the bed.”
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This and other stories are documented in her new book Gutsy Travels, which she hopes will inspire people and spread awareness of the chronic inflammatory bowel disease. She said: “In recent years I decided to travel the world despite cautionary tales. I have visited Australia, South-East Asia, North, Central and South America and South Africa, to name but a few.
“I have been in the jungle, the rain forest, up mountains and on remote islands. I have been zip wiring, white water rafting and hang gliding. My fingers are always firmly crossed because if I am not near a hospital I could be in serious trouble, not to mention severe pain. People often ask me how I do it and aren’t I just a little bit scared? Of course I am but that doesn’t stop me.”
One of her top tips for fellow Crohn’s travellers is having a doctor’s letter translated into the local language of the country you are visiting that can explain your condition, requirements and what to do if you need to be hospitalised. Medications, toilet rolls and hand sanitiser are also must-haves in her travel bags.
She added: “People don’t always ‘get it’, particularly the immediacy of the situation when you need the loo, but they are usually sympathetic and helpful. I am also not afraid to share information with fellow travellers so that they are aware if I have to stop a bus to go to the toilet behind a bush!”
While the book is due to be published on May 28, Joanna’s travels haven’t stopped yet as she’s still keen on journeying through India, Japan and New Zealand. Looking back on her journey so far, there’s one area that she highly recommends.
She said: “The Galapagos Islands were special as there are animals and birds here that you can see nowhere else on earth. Each country has a different memory and has been special in some way.”
In 1983, Joanna was a full-time teacher in her 20s living in a mobile home as a single parent to her two-year-old daughter when she started becoming ill. After countless appointments and failing treatments, she collapsed in a doctor’s office and was taken for emergency surgery.
When she woke up, she was told she had Crohn’s Disease. “I had never heard of it,” she sadi. There didn’t seem to be much awareness generally and I always had to explain to people what it was.”
She went in for major surgery and later returned to the operating room to get an ileostomy, a surgical opening made in the abdomen that leaves the last part of the small intestine exposed to allow waste to pass through into an ileostomy bag, which was ultimately avoided thanks to a skilful surgeon.
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More than 40 years later, Joanna has roughly learned what will trigger a flare up of her condition. But she admits it can still sometimes appear out of nowhere and leave her needing morphine in hospital to deal with the pain.
She explained: “Imagine your worst bout of food poisoning: gripping pains in your stomach; no control over your bowels; nausea accompanying this; that shaky feeling and then dehydration.
“Imagine that happening to you over and over again: when you’re out and about; in the car on a motorway; driving through a city with nowhere to stop; trying on clothes in a changing room; on a long walk; on a first date; on a bus; on a small boat with no toilet; riding a horse on your own; on an aeroplane with a long queue for the toilet or delivering training to two hundred people at a conference where you are the main speaker. All of these have happened to me and more.”
Joanna developed the travel bug years before her diagnosis. During her childhood, her Midlands-based family never went much further than Devon and she got on her first flight in her second year of teacher training. She spent six months as part of an exchange programme at Eastern Michigan University in the US and her adventures across North America sparked a love of travel and adventure.
She has also managed to pair her love of travelling with her desire to spread awareness and hope for Crohn’s Disease patients. Joanna has trekked across the mountains of Albania, Transylvania and even up Machu Picchu as a fundraising effort for ForCrohns.
She added: “I have lived with Crohn’s for over forty years and in many ways, it has defined me, specifically in terms of the way I look at life. I wish I didn’t have it but there are many things worse than this.”