Hey Ostomates!
I am an aspiring writer and am currently working on a book about the fear you might have felt before or after the surgery, the insecurity of being different, and stories of hope to live by. If any Ostomate is interested in sharing their stories, that would be great! Please include whether you are male or female, your age, and a false name.
Thanks! I hope to hear from you guys soon!
Hello Shadowchick.
I do hope you get lots of replies to your post and I wish you well with your writing. I documented my thoughts and feelings on the subject of stoma-life over several years through rhyming verses and most of these can be found in my profile. You are welcome to use the information in your own literary work and if you want to discuss anything further, please feel free to do so either by private messages or on this open forum. I prefer the latter because it affords others the opportunity of reading what we are discussing without necessarily actively participating in the dicussion themselves.
Best wishes
Bill
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I am male, age 67, named xnine. I did not have any fear as I knew a few people that were ostomates and they were living life. Insecurity, I do not know. I went on with my life and did what I could within my limits. Hope of being different, not sure what you mean. Yes we are different. To being able to live, I was sick, not being well, getting run down, losing weight, feeling poorly. Many ostomates were in pretty bad shape before surgery and the procedure was life saving. That is the short of it. I could try and give you more if you have any questions.
Thank you so much for replying!
What I meant by fear was being unsure if having the surgery would be worth it, hoping for things to get better, and insecurities about scars and how others would react.
No fear of surgery, I had more fear of not having it. Scars and scars more and more people have them, they are the least of my worries.
Hi Shadowchick,
Fear of surgery was never an issue. I certainly did not want surgery but because my Ostomy is because of a high grade cancer, I had little choice. Fear of not living enters the picture! The next fear after surgery is from the appliances available for Ostomates! Resources for most of us are horrible. Ostomy Care nurses only repeat what they hear but have no real experience of “being” an Ostomate. They recommend substandard products because the companies supply them with free pouches. When you become so afraid to leave your house because of a leak, you learn to experiment with product and that fear finally lessens once you find a product that works for you. The fear of a mishap is always there and will probably never go away as we all have those.So fear is a wide scope of topics as an Ostomate and future surgeries are usually in our future due to hernias or blockages. Fear becomes a part of our life but how we treat that fear is always the issue. An Ostomy will not rule my life nor will fear! Is it easy, no way!
Hope your book goes well! A great subject
Puppyluv
