About Us

My name is Priti Das-Guha Founder of fostomy and my story starts summer of 2012. I felt a little tired and had tummy pain, a visit to the Dr revealed I needed immediate tests and soon I was faced with the news that I had a huge cyst that needed removing immediately from my abdomen. Within weeks I was sat on the pre op ward gowned up waiting to be wheeled down to theatre.

Some nurses came to do final examinations and mentioned someone would be up to measure a site for a possible stoma. I was still a little confused on why I would need a stoma and asked no questions about it, of course I was not going to need one. The nurses came with a stoma bag measured it up against my waist asked me if this spot would be comfortable to wear trousers and X marks the spot.

A day later I woke up in ICU and unbeknown to me my operation turned out to be bigger then expected and my worst nightmare was there …. the stoma bag! I kept repeating to my husband ‘I have a bag’ and he assured me it was temporary and the operation was far more serious and I needed to listen to the consultant give me the details on it. However, for me my life was stuck at I have a bag, how did this happen?! I missed all the details on the operation and the only question I asked the consultant was what about the bag and how long I would have it for, his words were ‘don’t worry about the bag that will go once your insides heal in 3-6 months’

Now my journey with the stoma had started. The first few days all I felt was anger I couldn’t even look at it, when the nurses came and tried to teach me how to care for it I would look away. I just didn’t want anything to do with this thing. It wasn’t until a week later one nurse said to me 'if you can’t start looking after your stoma we can’t discharge you'. This hit me I had a young daughter to get back home to and staying in hospital any longer then I had too just wasn’t an option. The next morning I cleaned and changed the stoma bag myself, I slowly started to realise that the bag and its contents were mine not someone else's and I need to get a grip on how I felt.

Soon I was discharged, home and on my own to now move forward with my life which was now a new normal plus stoma. 

Life with a stoma didn't really come with a hand book you sort of learn on the job about what clothes you can wear, what you can eat, what to do if you have a leak, what to do if your stoma gets blocked and bag bursts … yes I went through all of this and not always having someone to talk to. Days turned into weeks and months and I soon found my feet with it, I never got use to it or liked it I just learnt to work with it.

6 months post op there I was on the phone to my consultant to have it reversed and soon a date was set to have the reversal. Well this came with a range of emotions I told myself maybe having a stoma wasn't so bad, what if the reversal wasn't successful, do I really want to go through post op pain again. I was given all the ‘maybe’s’ of the reversal, my bowels may take days or even weeks to open again, I may need medication to help me go to the loo, I may need to change my diet and the big one my bowels may not return to normal for up to 18 months, but I soldiered on and had the reversal.

Unlike my first operation I woke up in a normal recovery room and only had a small bandage covering the scar and to my relief this time as I put my hand on my tummy no stoma. The pain wasn’t as bad and within a few hours I was having ice cream recovering waiting for that first trip to the toilet. It wasn’t long exactly 12 hours after my operation in the middle of the night I stumbled to the toilet and my bowles opened I was in shock and being high on pain killers I didn’t give going to the toilet a thought but what a moment after 6 months I had been to the toilet. 

My consultant was so please with me he said I could go home the next day and within a couple of weeks my bowel habits were normal and I healed really well. 

Nearly 10 years on I have healed physically and had another baby and had a normal delivery  all the things Drs said may not happen.

As I reflect on my time as a stoma patient I realise having a stoma saves lives, my ileostomy allowed my body to heal fully so today I can lead a healthy life. For some people it’s the only option and it means a life with no pain. I’m grateful for the care and journey I went through and moving forward hope the stigma with stomas is broken and seen as a procedure needed for a better life. If you are somebody who is living with a stoma please remember you are not alone.....