Hometown Holiday Helpers: Woman uses faith, God to persevere through health troubles

ROANOKE COUNTY, Va. (WDBJ) - After years of testing and more questions than answers, a woman with Crohn’s Disease is finding her strength after a series of surgeries.

Brittany Stoots is a mother of two and makes sure the holidays are a time of fun for her family.

“I love handmade stuff. And as you can tell on the tree. It is a lot of handmade stuff whether it is from school or grandparents making them things,” says Stoots.

The Christmas decorations bring a lot of holiday cheer, but the last several years haven’t always been this merry.

“My doctors are stunned that how kind of rare my case is, just because of the inflammation. It doesn’t only affect my colon, it’s spreading through my body and affecting kind of my whole body,” Stoots said.

Stoots has been battling ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s Disease since her initial diagnosis in 2007. Over the years her loved ones have been rallying to get her the help she needs and supporting her as she made life-changing decisions.

“We made the decision to go through with the surgery and ended up having the surgery, September 26 of this year, a full colectomy. I had the colon, rectum and anus removed,” she said.

Stoots needs to wear an ileostomy bag and is still struggling to find the right balance in her medication to prevent allergic reactions and keep inflammation down.

“Financially, it’s been a burden for my family. It’s multiple doctor visits, multiple procedures, testing surgeries now. And so yeah, it’s taken a huge toll financially on us,” Stoots said.

But despite all the challenges, Stoots is staying strong.

She credits her positivity to her relationship with God. She says she carves out time each day to connect with Him and trusts that her faith will guide her through.

“It’s simple for me, because, you know, God is my number one, I put my full faith and trust into him. I know that he’s gonna get me through anything that, you know, I go through and He has,” she said.

She has been sharing her journey through her social media page Kick Crohns with Brittany. Highlighting the highs and the lows.

There’s a confidence in her fight and it’s a mantra she keeps close to her heart. During our interview she wore a necklace inscribed with the saying “It came. I fought. I won.”

As the Hometown Holiday Helpers winner Stoots was awarded $700 and said that money will help with the expenses of the holiday season.

Copyright 2022 WDBJ. All rights reserved.