Starting a new life..

My ulcerative colitis started back in 2002. I had many flare-ups, tried medications that didn't work, and even moved to Florida to get away from stress, but that didn't work either. I quit smoking, and I'm pretty sure that quitting smoking opened up Pandora's box. Well, I moved back to Massachusetts to my sister's place, where flare-ups occurred almost every other day; some were okay, others required hospitalization. Then my sister told me I needed to move out because I was bleeding and not cleaning up after flare-ups, which wasn't true. So, I moved out and went to Maine. My brother let me stay with him, and I got medical treatments really fast. I have a great primary care doctor, and right away, we got a gastroenterologist who performed my first colonoscopy. He found many ulcers in my colon. We discussed that the meds weren't doing any good, so I decided to have the operation in 2005. I had to go into the hospital two weeks prior so they could build up my vitamins due to a low blood count, etc. I was only supposed to be there for one week, but ended up staying six weeks. I wasn't discharging from my stoma, so the doctor decided to send me home, hoping it might start up. A week later, I was in the emergency room; my stomach was swollen as if I had drunk 10 cases of beer. Back in the hospital for another week, it worked. I got used to emptying my bag, but my rectum was still bleeding, and I got a hernia at my stoma. Back to the hospital in 2006 to close up the right side, put on the left, close up the rectum, and fix the belly button hernia while I was there. Now it's 2015, and I'm doing much better. It's hard to keep fluids, I have type 2 diabetes, and many other medical issues which I deal with on my own. My family thinks I do this to get attention, but that's not true. I wear a one and a quarter pound pouch system; Cymed makes awesome pouches. Well, that's me. I'm single and just looking for friends, nothing more. Thanks for reading.

Hello slippery5442. Thanks for sharing your story. I do find it interesting to read other people's accounts of how they ended up with a stoma. It's a strange phenomenon when people think that something like this is done to get attention. I find that this is sometimes a reaction from those who have not had a lot of experience of their own with regard to illnesses so in a sense it is a form of 'ignorance'. Of course there are others who simply have no capacity for empathy and so cannot envisage their own lives where everything is not hunky dory. Anyway there are plenty of people on this site who are looking for the same things that you are and have had similar experiences so hopefully you will continue to communicate. Best wishes Bill

Thank you for the kind words. My dad nicknamed me Slippery 40 years ago; it stuck.