Hi, I'm Laura Cox, Shield HealthCare's Ostomy Lifestyle Specialist, and today
we're going to be talking about six things I wish someone would have told me
before ostomy surgery.
The first thing that I wish someone would have told me is that you're making
the right decision. Making the decision to have ostomy surgery is really scary
because there are so many unknowns, and, in my case, I was given the choice to
have ostomy surgery now or to wait a couple months, and it would potentially
be emergency surgery. So I made the decision to have ostomy surgery when I
was still relatively healthy. There was a lot of fear that went into that. When I
think about that decision and I think about where I am now, six years post-op, I
absolutely feel like it was the right decision. My quality of life has
dramatically improved. The second thing I wish someone would have told me is that
you'll feel better after surgery, but it's not a cure for inflammatory bowel
disease. I think that I went into surgery hoping that I would feel 100% better
after surgery, but I still have the extra intestinal manifestations of my
autoimmune disease. For me, that usually is just a little bit of arthritic pain,
some canker sores, sometimes a random fever, but that being said, I feel so much
better. I just want to make sure that people don't go into the surgery
expecting a total cure for inflammatory bowel disease. In some instances, it can
cure colon cancer or bladder cancer, but for something like inflammatory bowel
disease, it's more of a treatment. The third thing I wish someone had told me
is that life with an ostomy is different, but it's not devastating. So living with
an ostomy is very different. You are now going to the bathroom a different way.
You're missing a part of your gastrointestinal tract or your urinary
tract, depending on what type of ostomy you have. But you're still able to do the
things you like to do with an ostomy and life is totally manageable and beautiful
with an ostomy. The next thing I wish someone would have told me is that it's
okay to be scared and sad, but you didn't lose. I think that when I went through
ostomy surgery, I felt like I should be brave and I shouldn't be scared but
going through any surgical procedure can be scary. And I think it's okay to
acknowledge those emotions and even to receive support around them.
Another thing I want to make sure that people know is that you didn't lose to
your disease or your illness. I think for a long time I thought that my ulcerative
colitis won because it was taking my colon from me, but truly you aren't
trying to preserve your colon or your bladder. You're trying to preserve your
way of life, and having ostomy surgery is a way to succeed at that, to have a
beautiful life, and to really preserve that way of life. The next thing that I
wish someone would have told me is that you will be able to do all of the things
that you used to be able to do and probably some new things, too. So, for me
that means hiking and being in a beautiful place like Vasquez Rocks, rock
climbing, swimming, jogging, all sorts of things. It really has enabled me to go to
places like this and not worry where the restroom is and to not worry about my
physical health and just enjoy life. And it's also inspired me to try new things:
advocating, making videos, traveling and you're able to do all of that with an ostomy.
The last thing that I wish someone would have told me is that
you'll be able to find meaning out of all of the experiences that ostomy
surgery has brought to your life: pain surgery, chronic illness and living with
an ostomy has taught me so much. It has made me really flexible, it's allowed me
to be empathic to other people's pain and it has allowed me to have an immense
amount of gratitude in my life that I don't think I would have had before
ostomy surgery. I feel incredibly grateful just to be sitting here, not
worrying about where the next restroom is, not being in pain and being able to
truly enjoy the moment without the anxieties the illness or a cancer or
whatever gave you your ostomy. I've been able to enjoy my life so much more after
ostomy surgery.