I have never been one to tell people I know about my ileostomy. Not out of shame or anything like that. I wouldn't be alive without it. I guess I just figured that I didn't want it to define me. Or maybe I didn't want to have to explain it to the uninformed. Feces is not your typical water cooler conversation. (I'd almost prefer it to the constant chatter about Dancing with the Stars, Survivor, etc.) In fact, until four or five years ago, none of my coworkers knew. There is nothing like publishing an ostomy novel to out you as someone who has one. But it wasn't a big deal. Not surprisingly, it didn't make any difference in how they saw me. And it made it easier to be able to say things like I edited a newsletter for the local ostomy chapter rather than the more ambiguous term "non-profit group." And then when my daughter also needed ostomy surgery, I didn't have to launch into any explanations of what kind of surgery - I just told them it was the same as I had, so the book did me a favor really.
So I am still not quick to tell new people about the ostomy, and that's okay, too. It still doesn't define who I am; it is just one part of me. Well, perhaps I am just a little quicker to tell people, thanks to that darn book.
