I guess I don't expect much. I wake up every morning and there's the life I have and it's pretty cool. These days it's extra cool that I woke up! And I have life! And, better yet, I can still hop out of bed and fight for shower space with my family!
The day that I woke up in the hospital with a surprise stoma was definately 'out of routine.' I was foggy, but I think that within a few minutes I had made a decision. . .I could be really upset about this new development, or I could embrace it wholeheartedly as a new part of my self. I chose the latter. My stoma was new, different, delicate, and a new entity to force my attention.
As I woke up in the hospital bed and looked down at this fleshy red appendage with those feelings and subconcious decisions, my maternal instincts kicked in. I brought myself out of the shock by naming my stoma as I would a newborn child, which obviously signified and eased an acceptance, and furthered my mind's ability to do so. Poo duty again! Been there, done that, let's just go ahead and resign ourselves to more poo duty.
WAB, I think "ridiculous" is a strong and lowering term. Our misfortunes have many names, but I don't think stomas are crippling, it's just a different kind of way that we work with our bodies. I have never heard of anyone naming their arthritis lumps, or hair loss genes, but most people name their stomas. You might not have had an urge to name yours, but LOADS of the rest if us DO name ours. And we will NOT be ridiculed for it, we will work with our instincts to ease the shock of transitioning into a whole new regimen of daily life. With a lot more humor and pleasure because our stomas have fun 'personalities'.
C'mon, WAB, you've gotta have ONE funny story about your stoma, yeah?