Reflecting on Over Seven Months Living without a Colon and With an Ostomy

Some Days are Better than Others...

In addition to all things ukulele, I plan to write about other topics that are personal to me on this platform as well. I have eight self-published books on various non-fiction topics…. A potpourri of all my ideas that I just grab and run with (sometimes, a little too fast). I will be covering topics from each of my books over the next several weeks.

Today, I want to share with you an update on life with an ostomy, over seven months from surgery to take out my colon. It’s true, some days are better than others. Overall, I’m grateful that I can eat many different foods now and run errands. It’s nice to be able to leave my home and not be chained to the bathroom!

I wrote about my experience living with ulcerative colitis and surgery to take out my colon in my book, Capturing Colitis: Poems and Illustrations on My Life with Ulcerative Colitis. It’s full of insightful stories and hilarious poems. The key to dealing with everything has been to rely on humor and art.

I have had some complications since my surgery and will likely be needing a second surgery this August. I have to wait a full year before my surgeon can operate again because the area needs to heal. The thought of another surgery, more scars, more pain, and an even longer recovery is overwhelming at times. I’ve been staying very busy with getting all my books in order and working on my music and songwriting. I need to be busy so I don’t dwell on the pain or the future and all the unknowns.

Some days it’s tough to even look at my scars. I’ve had several abdominal surgeries now. I never planned to have a bikini body again anyways, but I didn’t necessarily want so many ugly scars either. But I’m dealing with it. I even started writing a song about my scars. Getting the words on paper is so therapeutic in dealing with these tough emotions…. Here is one of the verses:

Some scars are faded, some are still raw,

Some I wish I never even saw.

This is the painful journey I’ve taken,

A strength my scars have awakened.

I do feel stronger. But it’s been a painful process. I’ve learned a lot about stomas and ostomies, and all sorts of ostomy products. I’ve learned how difficult it can be to work with suppliers and insurance. I’ve learned that spandex is my friend….forever. And to always carry my own “good” toilet paper with me at all times, along with products, change of clothes, etc. It can be tough sometimes to go anywhere knowing that at any moment my ostomy products could fail!

If you are going through something similar, I suggest you check out my book which is packed full of humor and illustrations that will lighten the mood and lift your spirits. You can find Capturing Colitis: Poems and Illustrations on My Life with Ulcerative Colitis on Amazon here.

If you would like to hear more on this topic or have any questions, please leave a comment below. I would love to hear from you. If you have any suggestions of other topics you would like me to write about, you can drop them below as well.

Take care!