If you have a stoma bag are you able to work?

[dogsandbudgey]

My friend from childhood has Crohn’s disease and needs to get a stoma bag. She doesn’t have a career as such but enjoys her job and the friendships she has there but is worried she will not be able to manage her new way of life once she has her surgery

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A good friend of mine is in her 70s. She’s had a stoma for over ten years. You’d never know unless she told you.

She goes on organised walking holidays all over the world, it doesn’t seem to stop her doing anything she wants to do.

She may well find it’s easier working with a stoma than with badly controlled Crohns.

My brother got one in his late 30's due to ulcerative colitis. Yes, its life changing but its also an exhaust pipe in another position (as the stoma nurse explained).

He has a very active job- part handy man, grounds keeper, caretaker type role which includes cleaning/vacuuming and lugging a vacuum around, taking communal bins out to the kerb, gardening, law mowing etc. There are multiple facebook and other support groups available, depending on why your friend needs it.

I was young when I had mine so wasn’t working yet, but I still went out regularly and went on several holidays, carried on studying and passed my driving test, so I suspect the answer to being able to work is yes.

He is so great - great ambassador for stoma awareness

i know three people with them who all worked. i didn't know they had them til after they told me. one was a teenager and was offered a reversal but chose to keep the bag.

you can apparently get a plug so you can put that on the tube instead of the bag and go swimming if you wish.

I had one for a couple of years before having a reversal and it was easier working with the stoma than with Ulcerative Colitis.

It took 2/3 weeks to find the right bag for me - there's different shapes and brands and it's trial and error for a bit. But by the time I was medically recovered enough to go back to work I was fine with the bag.

Before the bag sometimes I couldn't be away from a loo long enough to do the 30 min drive to work. It completely took that problem away. It was genuinely life changing.

Eta - I mean life changing in a good way!

My nephew has Crohns. He skydives, and has jumped with an experienced diver twice his age (mid-late 40s) who also has Crohns, and has had a stoma for at least 10y. This really has helped DN come to terms with the fact that he will probably have a stoma one day. He has seen how a man he respects copes, honestly and openly, and is not held back at all by his stoma.

According to my DN many people with IBD say their lives are massively improved by their stoma, which actually gives them more freedom and more energy than before it was done.

I have a stoma; a colostomy, so my poo is soft and semi formed. An ileostomy will be liquid and likely a bit smellier.

I haven't found it particularly difficult, I just carry more stuff in my handbag! Only had a couple of incidents when out and about but I could feel them happening so I could deal with them before it became an emergency. I also haven't needed to use a disabled loo as I've got better and better at changing as time has gone along.

Currently I'm not working as I have stage 4 cancer. However I did work for a few weeks with it and hope to start working again soon. Work were very supportive.

I'm happy and content with who I am and proud to still be here...my stoma is a part of me and if I want to wear a tighter fitting dress I will.

There is a fabulous Facebook support group which was great in the early days and continues to give me advice when I need it. STOMA support group (UK)

I used to work with a guy who had Crohn’s he had a bag under his clothes and honestly if he hadn't told us you'd never know. I'm in accountancy.

My dad went back to work as a policeman after his was fitted 30+ years ago.

I know three people who have them and they all have professional jobs, exercise, travel and do what they want. It has been much better for the one I know best than having Crohns and its comorbid conditions, such as ulcers and joint damage.

I’ve had one for 13 years. Once it settled down and I got used to it, I could do anything I did before. I do have to carry supplies with me and need to take boxes of stoma bags with me if I go away

My builder works full time and has a stoma whiz he seems to manage fine so definitely possible even in a very physical job.