There was a time when I liked to go to the movies. Long before COVID-19 cancelled theatre visits, I had begun limiting non-TV film watching to special occasions for one reason and one reason only: I’m an unapologetic cheapskate. It costs a small fortune these days to attend a movie house, what with the cost of popcorn and a drink added to the price of admission. But in the fall of 2014, celebrating my birthday, we went to see the flick Equalizer with Denzel Washington as a retired gov’t black ops pro who can’t stomach bad guys. Halfway into the movie, having already demolished a large popcorn and most of a large fruit punch, I realized that my ostomy was as excited by the action on screen as I was. It had filled up to the point of discomfort. But there wasn’t a dull moment in this action-packed adventure, and I wasn’t about to miss anything by leaving for the men’s room. Denzel, I feared, would dispatch another dozen creeps while I was away. Since we were in the first showing of the day, which began at noon, there weren’t a lot of people in the place, and none close to us. Plus, everyone was focused on the screen and there was the usual loud soundtrack. I drank off the rest of my punch, removed the top and straw, quietly and surreptitiously opened my pants, and used the large drink container for a porta-potty. My spouse provided the tissues. In just a minute, I was done. No one in the place was on to me, and Denzel took out four heavily-accented dirtbags while I was tending to things. Having an ostomy, on occasion, can be a good thing.

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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.