The 7 Year Shit.

The 7 Year Shit

(Just to clarify, I haven't been holding in a massive shit for 7 years)

I wanted to write a blog post for my up and coming 7 year 'Bagiversary' which is either on January 14th or 16th-I can't quite remember as I was doped up to my eyeballs on morphine, so yeah we'll go with one of those.

I am prone to only writing posi posts about my bag which is mental cos I am a "glass half empty" kinda person. I say so often that it's not that bad having a bag, but fucking hell-there are some proper shite times with it too, especially in the beginning. This isn't a post to scare anyone who may have to have a stoma one day but I want to be REAL and give TMI, I don't care! We all shit, there's nothing I won't answer, yet people get too scared to ask, please don't be! I sure as hell appreciate the questions and I bet others with a stoma do too (and those without who are feeling nosey).

•  My recovery was awful, I was a miserable bitch because I felt like this wasn't something I could deal with. I had to learn to walk again which was the most exhausting thing EVER. I was crying constantly, my wound became infected so my dressings had to be changed daily. It was physically and mentally draining.

• There was a lack of awareness 7 years ago, well I certainly felt like there was anyway-the leaflets they gave me in hospital were focused mainly on old people, which is great for them, they have all this to hand but for a 21 year old woman, christ it was depressing. This is why social media is fucking fantastic-there are so many Facebook groups all willing to help and i am lucky enough to be buds with some beautiful bag ladies on the internet (Dan, Molly, Summer-hey gals! mwah) Instagram and the hashtags are a great way to reach out. Young people are becoming more open about their stomas, I love it!


• My body changed and I thought I was disgusting (Just to be clear, I never thought this about other ostomates, it was just a personal thing to adjust to) I lost 4 stone in weight and was skeletal, my body changed so much in such a short space of time, It was so much get to my head around. I lost all my curves and ended up with a saggy butt (lol) which I didn't realise at the time haha.

• The skin around my stoma is sore pretty much 98% of the time. This is due to the acid in my waste, so nice huh? It also gets sore where the collar of the bag sits on my skin and can sometimes rub at the bottom, this is worse in the summer as it can get sweaty, which isn't fun but then when is poo ever fun (don't answer if you have some weird fetish, thanks).


• The dreaded Night Time leaks. Thankfully this doesn’t happen on a nightly or weekly basis, but when it does it’s a pain in the arse! Having to clean up whilst half asleep and having poo literally run down your leg, create a puddle on the floor and have your boyfriend come in and witness this is not really how you wanna spend your night (not that he or I care but the puddle was fucking GRIM, EVEN I FELT SICK)!


• BLOCKAGES - I fucking hate them. They happen when I’ve been a moron and not chewed my food properly. I have a watery output and sickness, my legs start cramping as i’m loosing salt through my output and I feel like shit, I have to empty my bag around 5/6 times in an hour… and people assume I save on loo roll? No!

I don’t want to be too negi, but these are a few things I have dealt with and will continue to in the future. My bag IS 100% the best thing that has ever happened to me because without it I would be dead (that is a fact and not me being a misery) and you all wouldn’t be able to read my wonderful yet ridiculous Facebook status’ about poo and the all the comments that come with it, ha! It has made me appreciate my body just that little bit more, what it can go through and deal with, its crazy! However, I am only human so will probably still continue to complain about that extra bit of chub i’ve gained… soz.

Basically, this post was to show the bad/annoying/highly inconvenient as well as the good that I always bang on about-yeah, it is a fucking good thing, it’s a brilliant thing in all honesty - I LITERALLY SHIT INTO A BAG. A BAG. It's so odd if you really think about it. I have never really been about the norm anyway, it’s no biggie. I think that’s why I adjusted well to it quite quickly, it’s not the end of the world, it can give you a whole new lease of life, at least now I won’t be rushing to the loo in fear of shitting myself!

xo