I don’t hide who I am, and today we should help share with the world, that ostomies are quite amazing really!
Read more about world ostomy day here
The first time I saw one in “real life” was when a lovely friend of mine took me out for a pre op dinner and chat (OK maybe some fizz and lemoncello shots too) and took me to her hotel room to show me a stoma bag change.
This was such a personal thing for her to share, and to let me watch did two things…
1. Make me so appreciative of her support and openness, to make sure the topic wasn’t taboo and show how little fuss she made. Making me realise it will become second nature
2. Made my knees buckle at thought of what was about to happen to me and made the impending surgery feel very real
I don’t know how many days it took me to really look at my stoma. Mainly as I was off my face in ICU for 4days and the nurses took care of it for me as I was off with the fairies a lot.
The first time I remember really looking was when I was transferred to the ward and my stoma nurse came to see me with my new “kit bag” and long chat and a slow gentle lesson in how to care for myself.
Mr J was there for this too. He saw everything from the start and it’s NEVER been taboo between us.
It is really quite an odd thing to see — looking down and there’s a red throbbing bit of intestine sticking out your tum. Over that is a stoma bag… I didn’t want it, but there it is… Forever. They let me (and many others) function relatively normally in day to day life. Bits of our insides outside and you’d never know if we didn’t tell you!
Fast forward 23 months…
Q. Was I happy to get a stoma and have my butt sewn up?
No
Q. Was I petrified at the thought of a shit bag attached to me forever?
Yes
Q. Have I accepted it and the changes to my life that have had to take place?
Yes. It is what it is. Shit happens (most of the time in my case 😉)
I am still me. A little tireder and cautious version of me, but still me.
I see lots of ostomates struggle to accept their stomas or having ongoing issues, and to them I send a little love.
Today though, let us celebrate all ostomates and all the shit we have to put up with!
Did you say you had your butt sewn up?
Photos courtesy of Lions, Tigers and Bears 😍
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