Living With Crohns Disease

I’m so scared of having to get a stoma one day I can’t even describe the fear that courses through my veins every time I think about it. It’s gut-wrenching when I consider the possibility.

A stoma is an external outlet for your intestines. In other words, they re-route your digestive tract through surgical means so that it empties through a hole in your lower abdomen instead of through your rectum.

To catch the waste you produce, you have to wear what’s called a colostomy bag. It has a little nozzle that fits over the stoma pretty snugly, and you can attach it to the waistband of your pants.

I guess most of my fear comes from the fact that if I ever had to get a stoma, I wouldn’t be able to take my shirt off to go swimming or mess around with a girl without having some [awkward and disgusting] explaining to do.

Some people say that wearing a bag is freeing, because for someone with Crohn’s who’s always had to worry about their next bathroom visit, once you have a bag all that worrying is over. That’s probably the only upside of the whole deal.

The most common types of stomas resulting from Crohn’s disease are created during either an ileostomy or a colostomy surgery. In the former case, the ileum (the end of the small intestine) is re-routed, whereas with the latter the colon is used to create the stoma.