I have suffered from Crohn's disease my whole life, and although I have spent many days/years in and out of hospitals, I have never given up hope that someday there would be a cure for this dreadful and painful disease. Sadly, a little more than two years ago, I had to succumb to major surgery, and now I have an ileostomy (I donated my colon for research, although I think my colon was pretty far gone by that point, or maybe too many holes in it, ha, ha!) There have definitely been some challenges in adapting to wearing a "bag" socially and mentally, along with leakage problems, but I am coping somehow. The main thing is my positive attitude and undying love of life, which I hope everyone that reads this blog will also come to realize, and that it's the little things in life that can make you happy, like listening to a bird chirping in the morning or watching a beautiful sunset. I find myself dating again at middle age, and even though I have been rejected by men recently because of my ostomy and for their complete lack of understanding of my disease and of my surgery, I can honestly say it has not been an easy road to recovery emotionally on any level. However, I still maintain a positive attitude ultimately, and in the end, I don't look at it as a handicap anymore, but as a war trophy because, as we all know, we have all been through hell and back. I have now found the most incredible man that I adore and who adores me for who I am, and my ostomy bag is a non-issue, so if that can happen to me, it can happen to anyone. I know dating is hard enough without having physical ailments, but let this be a testament to all my ostomates out there to just keep believing.
Some embarrassing ostomy moments, hmm, let's see... cute guy checking me out, but ostomy bag was full and it looked like I had a penis with a hard on, ugh!
Keep feeling my bag to make sure it's not too full, almost like adjusting myself, but I'm a girl, ugh again!
Met really cute guy and was flirting, but realized my bag was leaking, had to stuff a napkin down my pants and leave the restaurant.
Try to crack jokes with my colorectal surgeon, but I keep forgetting he has no sense of humor! LOL!
Why Join MeetAnOstoMate?
First off, this is a pretty cool site with 33,678 members. Get inside and you will see.
It's not all about ostomy. Everything is being discussed.
Many come here for advice or to give advice 🗣, others have found good friends 🤗, and there are also those who have found love 💓. Most of all, people are honest and truly care.
Privacy is very important - the website has many features that are only visible to members.
Create an account and you will be amazed.
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Hollister
We sat down with two influential people in the ostomy community, to find out how they cope during challenging times.
Read what they had to say.
Read what they had to say.
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Hollister
We conducted a survey to better understand the impact that living with an ostomy has on sleep.
Learn the results of our ostomy sleep survey.
Learn the results of our ostomy sleep survey.