I have had my colostomy for a year now and haven't had any major disasters with it until now. I have had a couple of leaks but never somewhere public. I was at work and all of a sudden I felt a gush and then a couple more gushes. I figured the heat from the record-breaking temperatures we have had all week may have loosened my stool and activated my stoma. I kept feeling more and more gushes of poo coming out. But then I felt the warm slimy stuff on my belly. Oh shit! I ran to the ladies' room to check. And what a mess! The bottom part of the flange wasn't attached to my skin. The adhesive must have unstuck and I had all this gooey poo all over the inside of my pants and some of it on my shirt. And to make matters worse, my pants were white. I had extra pouches with me but no extra clothes. I prayed that no one would walk into the ladies' room as I ran out of the bathroom stall and grabbed a bunch of paper towels and wet them with some soap and water. I quickly ran back into the stall and cleaned my clothes the best I could. Luckily my shirt was long enough to cover the top portion of my pants that had brown spots. Thank goodness I only had an hour left of work before I could go home. But I was paranoid that someone would be able to smell poo when I walked by. So I watched the expressions on their faces as I walked by, and nobody seemed to be plugging their nose. Well, I learned my lesson. And from now on, I will bring extra clothes with me. And I think I will avoid wearing white!

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