Today starts a new year, and I enter this year with hope as I did all the years before this. I hope that with a new year comes a new understanding within myself. I am a loner, and at times it is very hard to be alone. Being alone brings loneliness, and I still long for the companionship of a good friend. As for myself, I have known true love. She was with me for what seemed like only seconds, and then she was gone. She was the love of my life in body, heart, mind, and soul. Although in the end, I drove her away, I know that I have felt what most never get the chance to feel in their life, and for me, that is enough. So living with an ostomy is easy because I endured living with a broken heart. Over the last couple of years, I have slowly learned she is never coming back, and understanding that healed me. And although I will never stop loving her, I now know we could never be again. So now I seek to understand and find acceptance, and that has to start inside myself. I am the person who, in a former life, I would have never accepted for a partner or maybe even a friend. So becoming an ostomate has taught me many things that I would have never learned before. There is a beautiful lady on here who is unashamed of her ostomy. She wears a bikini at a crowded pool with no thoughts of if others will accept her. I am nowhere near that strong but hope to be someday. Until then, I will continue to be a loner, but she will be my hope, my inspiration of a new year to come.
MeetAnOstoMate is a remarkable community of 41,439 members.
“Every morning with my coffee, I read here and feel wrapped in warmth - I hardly post, but it still feels like family.”
“Our oncologist literally wrote down the link; they said more patients need this website.”
“This place pulled me out of the dark. I went from lurking to living again.”
“At 3am, someone’s awake somewhere in the world. I’m never alone here.”
If I was a relative newbie with an ostomy, I have no doubt that this site would be very helpful to me. The members are quick to respond to questions and issues and they are filled with experience. When I joined, I already had a lifetime with an ostomy, so I just regard it as a place to meet and communicate with other folks similarly situated. Either way, it is a good site.
Oh, I see the date now. 8 years later, hoping Roland is doing much better.
It gets easier because we have no choice. Time takes care of a lot of it. Best to you, Roland. Thanks Reb1862, you are an interesting person.
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Thank you, thesurething. I've been blessed. I would love to correspond with you if I may.
Staying Hydrated with an Ostomy with LeeAnne Hayden | Hollister
Be well,
Robert