| I had various problems with bowel incontinence that became increasingly worse as time went on. I found that I just could not empty my bowel for days on end, sometimes 15 days would go by and nothing. This made me very ill as I was obviously carrying around all the waste that my body should have disposed of way before the 13 to 15 day emptying that was becoming a regular feature of my life. |
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| The Earth Mother's Guide to coping with a Colostomy... |
| 'Ostomate to Ostomate' |
| I also had IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), so if I had an upset of a biggish nature, or worries that caused my tummy to wobble, you know the sort of thing, I would then have bowel incontinence problems. This happened on the bus, at church, while out shopping and so on. Obviously this began to cause me real problems. I was also feeling so tired all the time, and had one headache after another. My skin was starting to become affected, as it was getting very spotty and had an unhealthy colour (not a thing I had noticed until after my colostomy, my hairdresser said that even my skin had changed colour, I looked and thought yeah! wow! I actually look healthy!). |
| After a few years of trying to manage, my doctor sent me to see a lovely surgeon, who said that I needed to have a lot of tests done to find out what my problem was. It transpired that I had damaged muscles in my rectum caused by by childbirth. Never mind, I was just unlucky, some women can have lots of children and seem not to suffer, but I wasn't one of them. I am just so glad that I could have four healthy children, whom (depsite the dreaded teen years), I would not be without and love very much. All have been, and continue to be, a blessing to me. It was well worth it all (including the teen years! Ha ha). |
| I hope this site will reassure new ostomates, and will perhaps give existing ostomates another perspective. Please feel free to contact me and share any hints or tips you think I should include, or anything you have found that you would like to share. |
| My Operation Problems Along The Way How to Have Fun Finding the Answers My Personal Tips for Survival Please Don't Give Up!! Other Useful Links My Other Sites |
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