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Like all new things, most of us don't like change that much. When it comes to having a stoma through lots of things can seem really scary at first. I mean let's face it you are probably in some way happy that there is an answer to your problem and that an ostomy is an answer. But the after-effects are really hard to accept in the beginning. I was not the easiest person to deal with after I found out and it really shut me down. I wish I was a bit stronger, but the thought of having a stoma and really carrying my own ostomy bag all day long just hit a nerve on the inside and I couldn't shake it. But these were all the thoughts and feelings that were going on in my own head and all of the fears that come along with it were mostly not founded in fact or reality.
The first thing that I really was afraid of was the thought of not being able to be an active human again. I mean all the photos I saw in the past of people with an ostomy bag were really nerdy, don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with being nerdy or overweight, but the poster child of ostomy bags were sad-looking people. This was my fear and the thought of being stuck inside or living on a couch just crushed me. You can't judge me but if that is all you know then your mind just wonders. But luckily I was completely wrong. My biggest fear was complacency and doing nothing, but the truth was that I had the whole world ahead of me.
What I saw right off the bat after talking to my ostomy nurse was that there are so many cool products and things to learn so that I can get out and be an active person again. She educated me on playing sports or going hiking with a stoma and how to take care of myself when I am not around a normal bathroom. She let me know the difficulties ahead and also the awesome ostomy products available that can keep you active and not worrying about being in pain or in fear of something going wrong. So with some research, I ended up feeling incredible about the thought of still having a fun and active life.
My research led me into finding people like Jack Holst. Jack was a normal athlete who got a colostomy when he was 19. Instead of getting down on life he took life by the rains and decided to run marathons and even an Iron Man competition. That blew my mind and he did it all with fairly regular ostomy gear. Something that I could go and get and instead of maybe running a marathon, swimming two miles, and biking 100 in a day I could go hiking. It was just incredible to see. It was stories like this and seeing someone do an activity that was way beyond what I could even do on a great day was just awesome.
So if you are new to having a stoma be calm. There is so much hope and know that your life may change a little, but you are still 100% more capable of doing just about everything you were able to before.
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