Before working with my dietitian, I had been recently diagnosed with moderate-severe ulcerative colitis and my life had been completely turned upside down. I was having several bowel movements a day, accompanied with bloating, abdominal pain and severe anxiety.

Processing my diagnosis sent me into a paralyzed state of anxiety and I felt afraid of what my future life would be like - feeling like I had been robbed of my future. I had a hard time focusing on being in the present and often jumped to worst case scenarios and "what ifs".

My only hesitation working with Romanwell was cost related, as I had recently had to spend a lot on medical and hospital bills. I took the plunge after doing thorough research and seeing that their dietitians looked to be the best IBD-related dieticians in the business and knew their stuff. I also knew that this would be an investment that would pay dividends and help set me on a good foundation moving forward in life.

I seriously do not even want to think about where I would be if I never started working with my dietitian! My stress would be very far from managed, exacerbating my symptoms, and my eating patterns would be much more restrictive.

If I hadn't worked with my dietitian, I would have zero clue what I could eat, the nature of my UC, and what I can do to best take care of my body. I would most likely still be feeling extremely overwhelmed, lost and not giving my body what it needs, engaging in restrictive eating practices like low fiber diets.

The past three months have been huge in terms of progress. My diet has become much healthier and fiber-filled, and I am much more aware of intuitive and inclusive eating practices. While I might have symptoms after a meal on occasion, I now feel prepared to handle the symptoms and have strategies in place so that I don't spiral with worry.

On that note, most importantly, my stress resilience has grown immensely since working with my dietitian! I would say stress management was the biggest factor I needed to work on when starting working with her, and she has taught me so many methods for stress resilience, in a way that is easy to understand and linked directly back to how stress and UC are related.

The program was incredibly organized, with every step thoughtfully and considerately planned. I loved how we were able to establish a relationship, and keep up in a week-to-week cadence. This, along with the 24/7 chat access with my dietitian, made me feel like I was never alone in overcoming all of the hurdles in my new diagnosis.

I really loved the Vault videos to supplement our weekly chats, so that it was focused on both arming me with education I could take with me and on my day-to-day questions as they arose.

She was incredibly thoughtful, empathetic and patient. She always makes time and listens with intention to every question or comment I had, no matter how "silly" I might have thought it was at the time. She truly cares about the patients she works with, and is a perfect balance between a supportive and considerate ally who can relate with lived-experience, and an extremely informed dietician who knows her stuff!

I feel like I struck gold by finding Romanwell and they have set me up to navigate UC as educated and stress-free as possible. I love the way that my dietitian used a holistic approach. As someone who is often hard on myself, I think that being able to focus more on mindfulness and stress management and how they relate to flare was incredibly useful and something that many dietitians would not have even discussed!

Without help from Romanwell, I would still be wandering around with symptoms, confused about food choices with stress levels out the wazoo! I cannot emphasize enough how worth the cost it is- my dietitian's support was invaluable and I will carry it with me forever!

Thank you sooo much! You have changed my life and I will be forever grateful!