This is good dialogue. I was stage 3 and now have a permanent ostomy. Did you know, Hollister has labeled me and others like me Ostomates? That cracked me up.
Nearly everyday I irrigate my colon with 1500 cc's of warm distilled water. It's a mechanical ordeal because I refused to live with pooping in a bag whenever my body decided to do it. While it can be difficult at times, my days are less preoccupied with pooping and passing gas uncontrollably and more about working and enjoying life.
I like to swim and I have a special belt I wear over my pouch to conceal it because I'm not comfortable with the bag being seen as I wonder that people might think it's not sanitary. Actually peoples bare butt holes in a swimming suit is less sanitary that I am. I swim in my own pool and not in public but when guests come over I don't get into the pool.
Ostomies tend to cause hernias as well and I have a bulging belly as a result of a hernia that I'm told can't be repaired. Or rather can but it will just happen again due to the placement of the ostomy.
I'm making a documentary film. Called "Up Yours"
(
www.holycowprods.com)
but also visit my You Tube site where there are 5 free videos that will touch your heart and have already moved so many people into action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyRfa3cZ-_8
Let your voice be heard by writing comments and dialoging in front of the world about this "taboo" subject. Subscribe to my free You Tube site and make comments, let the world know what you are thinking and dealing with and help me normalize and demystify poop, anus, sphinters, colons and rectal bleeding. I'm one of the top 5 most subscribed You Tube sites and in 3 weeks have had nearly 5000 hits. That's a lot of impressions. I'm also in the iTunes Store, search "Up Yours". Keep talking. No matter how bad we might feel for what we're going through, somebody always has it worse. And while sometimes I think dying would be easier than all this, my wife and children would disagree.
Love and blessings.
Tim