LOUISE Thompson has reflected on a life-changing year after a string of brutal health battles left her “feeling like death”.
The Made in Chelsea icon and influencer has openly spoken about her ongoing medical challenges, which last year included being rushed to hospital for emergency surgery.
The surgery came after she was fitted with a stoma bag in January 2024 after ongoing stomach issues.
That November, she started suffering excruciating pain in her abdomen, and went into septic shock after emergency surgery in yet another setback.
Thankfully, Louise was later released from hospital, and a year on she is marking the occasion by celebrating her body and her health.
In a photo of her having dinner with her long-term partner Ryan Libbey, Louise looked happy and healthy, noting she had not needed any more hospital dashes since last year.
READ MORE LOUISE THOMPSON
On the photo she wrote: “We’re celebrating one year with no emergency surgeries and no hospital admissions and what a DIFFERENCE a year can make.
“A note for anyone currently in the trenches, if you’re struggling this Winter, remember: the hardest seasons shape the strongest souls.”
A second photo shows Louise looking frail as she posed in her underwear in the bedroom mirror, adding: “One year ago I had to start my journey back to health AGAIN. For the 4th time. But I did it. Don’t mistake your current struggle for a permanent state. If I can do it you can too.”
Louise later extended the message in a lengthy caption, encouraging others to stay strong in the face of any hardship.
“What a difference a year can make, feeling proud x100. Wherever you are mentally, physically, emotionally – HOLD TIGHT!!!” she wrote, adding she was “celebrating health”.
“I shared one of my hopeful messages in the condensation on my bathroom window the other morning and so many of you jumped in to reply,” she added.
“So after A LOT of hesitation I felt like I should share this post (and a picture that might have me barred) because it might help someone on a cold or sad Sunday night.”
“First things first, I want you to know that if you’re struggling right now you’re not alone,” she wrote. “I know a lot of people that are.
“Breaks ups, grief, financial struggles, trauma, mental health disorders. This time of the year is tough for me on a personal level and apparently it is for lots of you too.
“Winter is hard. Many moons ago we would have been hiding/hibernating. Am I right?😵💫😵💫
“But now we are expected to push on. We are expected to live busy, fabulous, rub it in your face levels of success kinds of lives. ALL YEAR ROUND.”
“Well, I need you to know that societal pressures aside, the hardest seasons really do shape the strongest souls,” she continued.
“When you’ve been through something that cracks you open, it makes you discover capabilities you didn’t really know you had. I’ll go as far as to say it’s the ONLY time that this really happens.
“I’ve learnt everything I know in the last 4 years – endurance, courage, the ability to problem-solve, self-protection (+self preservation), knowledge, the ability to let go, and in droves.”
“It’s NOT pleasant. It’s hideous in fact, BUT it is definitely clarifying. I had this strange epiphany a few years ago where I sat bolt upright in bed in the middle of the night, I stared at the ceiling and I knew that I’d already lived my life and that my destiny was predetermined.
“I had this overwhelming feeling that I’d completed life, and that nothing really mattered, nothing was serious and that I could do no right or wrong. Because of course I couldn’t.
“I was sort of irrelevant. Life is a big puzzle, so is this, and there is a time limit, so stop messing and don’t let it play you. It was very liberating.”
“Anyway, I don’t imagine many of you will understand that because it’s weird but I never would have experienced such enlightenment had I not gone through what I had,” Louise continued in the lengthy post, encouraging others to “hang tight for better times and not mistake a current struggle for a permanent state”.
“You will have these beautiful moments too. Your best days haven’t even happened to you yet. sometimes all you can do is play make believe with your future self,” she wrote. “I did that for 24 months post traumatic birth with Leo.”
Adding she hopes people see “her messy life as a hopeful story”, she said: “If you look at this picture of me from a year ago you’ll see that life was VERY different for me back then. (I could and should write a whole post on why people need to stop aspiring to be so thin, but I’ll save that for another lengthy caption).
“That was only a year ago. I was cracked wide open. Well cut open actually 😵💫😂😵💫. I felt like death. I had to repair. Once again I’ve sought to repair better. I have big fat chinks, but I am much much smarter.”
Adding she now feels “flipping amazing”, she concluded by joking: “I’ll be throwing myself a little party in the bath to celebrate tonight.”
