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After I got my colostomy bag, we were bowling and my parents smelled something and asked if it was me. I said no, my bag doesn't smell - someone in the lane next to us had farted. If you poop out of your butt, you've probably made worse smells in public than someone with a stoma.
So yeah, colostomy bags don't smell. And while we're debunking, colostomy bags aren't just for old people. I had one for five months when I was 22.
They're not just for people with chron's or collitis, either, and I wish there was more representation for people who have a colostomy or internal pouch because they've had bowel cancer.
And speaking of people with internal pouches, we exist, too! Some people get their colostomies reversed, which is when part of the small intestine is made into an internal pouch that functions like a large intestine. It's incredible what surgeons can do.
I used to go swimming and to the gym with my colostomy bag, and the first time I went swimming with it I was so excited and liberated, knowing I could still do the things I enjoyed.
But I love my internal pouch even more. I've had it for ten years and I function fairly normally. My quality of life with my internal pouch is - most of the time - excellent. I love being a pouchie, and if I still had my colostomy, I would love that, too because it saved my life.
