When you first wake up from stomal surgery you will generally wake up to a clear bag with a swollen red bud (your stoma). If you're anything like me this vision scared and even disgusted me, the anxiety of having the bag was bad enough let alone one that hung what felt like half way down my thigh and was transparent for the world to see. Some ostomates have had a pre op appointment with the stoma nurse and are hopefully aware that there are many types and options available.
Recently I was lucky enough to get some extra time with Sally Reynolds, an experienced personal trainer and owner of Phoenix Fitness Broome when she was down in Perth to run the HBF Run for a Reason. Sally is not only a successful business owner she has endured years of ulcerative colitis later diagnosed as crohns before receiving an ileostomy a couple of days before new years 2000. Please take the time to read her full story HERE. Together we made this short post-op core basics exercise video, running through some basic to hard exercises that strengthen your core over time.
After posting on Insta and a few groups about a trick I use to seal my bag I was inundated with questions about that and various other points of my bag. So I was excited and a little nervous as I woke my husband to aid me in filming this video. Someone had asked me to do a video to explain the photograph, at first I thought that is a great idea and then my second thought was am I ready to show strangers squish? I had started this out aiming to help others by being a positive image and breaking the stigmas associated with having a stoma while educating those who are interested in knowing more. But when I began I had never thought I would be brave enough to share Squish but in the aid of personal growth and helping others I sucked it up and tada we made this video. It’s not perfect by a long shot but who is, it’s also not viewing for everyone as you will be exposed to my stoma (he’s actually not that bad-looking), so if you’re not yet ready to watch save it for later or if it’s not your thing just skip this post. Before you do though I must say you may be pleasantly surprised if you do watch, it’s not that scary after all.