Louise Thompson Shares Tearful Hospital Footage

breaks down in tears in unseen footage from hospital while battling the 'trauma' of incurable inflammatory bowel disease.

The former star, 36, was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis in 2018 and in April 2024, was fitted with a stoma after falling ill during the trip to Antigua ahead of having her colon removed.

On the holiday she lost significant amounts of blood, could not walk or hold her son, and had to book an early flight home.

Ulcerative colitis is a chronic bowel condition where the colon and rectum become inflamed and small ulcers develop on the colon's lining, which can bleed.

A stoma is a surgically-created opening made on the abdomen, which is made to divert the flow of body waste into a medical device, which the person can then empty. Louise has named her bag 'Winnie' in a nod to Winnie The Pooh.

On Tuesday she marked World IBD Day with a new Instagram post as she discussed how tough it has been to manage the illness.

Alongside she shared clips and pictures of herself in hospital and breaking down while struggling to cope with the pain. 

She penned: 'The night before I lost an organ, I was still posting photos of my outfit. That's the strange thing about Ulcerative Colitis. You can look completely fine while your body is quietly falling apart.

'I've lived with an IBD (Inflammatory bowel disease) for nine years now. Nine years of an incurable disease people still barely talk about unless it happens to someone they love.

'For me, it started as stomach pain. I thought it was food poisoning. Then blood. Then exhaustion. Then a colonoscopy that diagnosed me with UC. An incurable disease where your immune system attacks your own body.

'Fast forward a few years, and I found myself in a hotel bathroom in Antigua, losing an egg cup full of blood every twenty minutes while my two-year-old son sat outside the door. And still, I told myself it was 'just a flare'. 

'I thought the copious steroid tablets I was taking would help. I was told they would, and I trusted them. The truth is, I think they were battering my tummy. I had a thin white powder pouring out of my bum, but I was told it was mucous. It was NOT mucous. I couldn't hold anything in. I was leaking. 

'Then the prolapse. The problem is that when you live with chronic illness long enough, you become very good at normalising the unacceptable. It grinds you down.'

She continued: 'But one of the things that people might not realise about IBD is that it can become life-threatening, so when people snub it as IBS or a gluten intolerance it can feel hurtful. 

'When I returned home, I developed fulminant colitis. My albumin was on a sharp downward trajectory, and I stopped absorbing food which can be dangerous. As patients we know our bodies and we shouldn't have to fight so hard to be taken seriously.

'Despite ALL of my combined trauma, I have still been turned away from A&E while holding a measuring jug full of blood. 

'I nodded and prayed that she didn't get all up in my groin or she'd have had a right fright. Sometimes I wish you away...

'Especially this last month when you've been raking me up from my deepest sleep and sweetest dreams every single night. Good practice for another kid I guess...

'Sometimes it's ok to complain. I never do. I joke, but I don't complain. I'll complain about a chip on the sideboard or the dogs barking. But never about Winnie. Even when she leaks. It's good I've got a solid handle on 'perspective'...

'For the most part life is a breeze. This morning I'm allowing myself a moment of reflection… I'm sat here writing this and feeling grateful to the first person who ever performed a colectomy … can you believe this -

'The first recorded colectomy was a right hemicolectomy performed in 1732 by the French surgeon George Arnaud de Ronsil. The EARLY 1700s...

'I wouldn't wanna be the person on that operating table. Thanks to the team that did mine so tidily (I think) and so safely. And thanks to all the test subjects before me. I wonder what will be possible for ibd / colon cancer sufferers in the future? x x...

'If anyone has any questions please fire away as I know it's a little unusual.'