by Lynda Richards

Created on: May 18, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

I expect many of you won't know what an ileostomy is, or why it was necessary:well, I had one because I had cancer of the ovaries and, following my hysterectomy, malignant cells were attacking, and blocking, my colon, that is my large bowel. I therefore had to have this operation, finally, when starvation etc had failed, to prevent food passing to the large bowel because food was accumulating and not being processed. I now have a stoma on my side, covered by a bag, where the food passes to after 'small bowel processing' and this requires emptying at least ten times a day. Not to mince words, it is messy, awkward, confidence reducing and scary at times, because, unless you empty it frequently, you can have a leak, when for instance you eat gas causing food (you'll quickly learn what this is, believe you me!) such as when I ate raw carrots as a salad food and awoke in the middle of the night with a major leak - as you can imagine, it's quite tiring getting up to 'empty' your stoma bag and I sometimes feel shattered during the day; last night was a rare treat when I slept from midnight to 6am, but my bag stuck out from my side like a miniature balloon!

I've lost 3 stone, almost over the period prior to my 'op' and only now gradually gained half a stone, being 8 and a half stone from my original 11 - I certainly wouldn't recommend it as a slimming aid though! You don't put on weight because the food is only partly processed by the small bowel - food passing from the body, you see, is much more liquid than that, to put it bluntly, in a 'normal' bowel movement and you quickly learn the foods such as fats, spices, including curry, chocolate which mean you need to 'empty' loads and loads of times - generally your favourite foods (mine's curry, of course, though boiled rice is recommended to eat, as is mashed spuds). Anyway, I really hate this business, but can't complain as it has apparently saved my life. I'm hoping though that because I've been given, moreorless, a clean bill of health after my chemotherapy, that it may be reversed and the little red stoma thing on my right side disappears back into my body for ever (though I've got to quite like it and feel sorry for it when it gets overheated and lolls from side to side like some weird king of alien!). But although the nice surgeon has said this will be considered, I must be entirely free of malignant cells to have it done - even then it will 'be considered' at a meeting at my local Cancer hospital.

So, fingers crossed that it will happen - I know if it does that I will be overjoyed, but no doubt, even if it doesn't happen I will eventually get used to this overactive organ on my side - after all, what choice do I really have?

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