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My name is Clare I live in Nottingham and I have a permanent ileostomy due to IBD. I had my first surgery to remove the colon in April 2016, this was open surgery leaving me a scar from just above my belly button down to my pubic bone. The scar opened up at the bottom so I had to have it packed and it took about 6 months to fully heal.
I was in hospital for 10 weeks with many complications including rectal stump blow out, which lead to pelvic sepsis.
After my recovery from the initial surgery I was well enough to have a proctectomy ( removal of rectum and anus). This was done via the rectum as it was only a few inches long.
I have had quite a few surgeries as I developed fistulas which is an ongoing complication for me, one surgery was an IGAM flap surgery where they try and remove the fistula and then use muscle from my buttock/thigh to fill the dead space in my pelvis and cover with a flap of my skin.
UPDATE
The flap surgery was good for a while then I started leaking out my vagina, I knew the hole was back so months later they had a look and I have a 5cm x 4cm collection in my pelvis. It also started to leak from the flap where my rectum was, so now I leak in two places. I have been to St Marks bowel hospital in London, and am having three sessions of VAAFT ( video assisted anal fistula treatment.)
This site has lots of information, but also my own ramblings, often with graphic images of wounds and stomas.
I have joined the Notts and Derby ileostomy and internal pouch association, and am their ‘IA together’ and events rep. This is a big part of my life and I am training to become a One2One support volunteer for IA.
I am happy to be involved with any media projects that help to spread the word, and welcome guest bloggers to my site. I would love to hear from anyone who has a story of their own and are happy for me to publish it here.
I have written posts for TG Eakin and also went to Belfast to do a video for them which you can see on my main blog page.
My aim is to raise awareness of all things stoma and IBD ( inflammatory bowel disease) and to show the world that life doesn’t have to end after a traumatic event, it just changes.
All links to social media are on the blog pages 🙂
To read my posts please click the blog tab at the top of the page
