Sear “Where do I start… I’m 49-years-old and have an end colostomy, which was formed in 2019 due to slow transit, gastrointestinal dismobility and bowel incontinence. Before my colostomy I had always suffered with incontinence and severe constipation, so I thought this was the norm, my norm. It came to the point where I couldn’t open my bowels and if I did it was because of laxatives, enemas or irrigation systems that would make my incontinence that much worse. So, after many tests, I decided that a colostomy was the right route to go down. The journey from the beginning was very long and hard, both physically and mentally, to go through. I’m diagnosed with hypermobile Ehlers Danlos syndrome (EDS), which affects my connective tissue, so healing after colostomy surgery was challenging. I ended up having surgery again two weeks later to close the wound and refashion my stoma. It was very frightening and worrying as at this stage my stoma was compromised. Thankfully, with the daily support of my Stoma Care Nurses and the help from Tiffany at SecuriCare arranging different supplies for me to try, everything came together. I still sometimes panic if my skin is sore or I leak, but I have to tell myself that I am far better off the way I am now; I could never go back to how I was before my surgery. Part of my routine has been to find the right products for me and my stoma, which don’t break down my skin. I have a few tips:
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Karen’s story
Issue 29
HandinHand
