I'm an old hand at this colostomy-ing now, 7 years in and I feel complete despite my incompleteness.
There may well be bits of me missing and working parts added but I'm whole, centered and at peace with who I am and how I am.
But even me, this far down the line can get things wrong. I pushed my luck all last week, I wore tight jeans and didn't drink enough water for pretty much the entire week. Not my best plan. It can really block me up and by Saturday I was in some discomfort with my stoma and hernia, and then to top it off I wore skinny jeans for a meal out Saturday night, I'm a genius I know! ;)
Sunday however, common sense prevailed and I dressed in track suit bottoms and just gave my stoma half a chance of being able to flow freely. Not a great look on me and I certainly don't feel fabulous dressed like it but needs must.
Skinny jeans have their place but everything in moderation I guess.
By Monday I felt a lot better, just a few twinges but that's probably just old age rather than stoma-ing hahahahahah.
I headed off for a shopping day in London with my best friend Michelle, always a treat to go up town shopping but even more special with M as she has about a million horses to look after...a slight exaggeration but the ones she does have understandably take up a lot of time.
We had such a lovely day. Trying on dresses, coats etc and generally mooching about. We have very similar taste in clothes, although Michelle is a few sizes smaller (darn it!).
Coat from Belstaff, Top from Dorothy Perkins, Scarf from Pollini, Jeans from Topshop, Boots from Tory Burch.
I added the scarf to this for two reasons, 1, there was a slight chill in the air and 2, although my top was flared enough to disguise my bag I didn't think it would hurt to add another layer.
That said I'm terrible at layering, but even I can add a scarf...only when it's chilly though, I'm not the sort of elegant gal that can rock a scarf in general. My scarf wearing is limited to under a coat rather than over a top as an accessory. I so envy those that can! :) It's a great way of detracting from your bags outline should you be self conscious about it.
I loved this dress from Belstaff, indeed who doesn't love a classic little black dress, and this one is gorgeous. Chic, classy but a little bit quirky. Michelle bought one, it looked stunning on her. I was waiting for Chris to get back to me as to what he thought of it on me but he was in meetings all day and didn't see the message, so I left it. Only to get home for him to say why didn't you get the dress? Cue roll of eyes from me...I then tried to order it online but they'd sold out in my size! Arrgh! Repeat eye roll.
I happen to think it looked better on us than on the model online, no offence to her but us old girls still got it! Hahahahahah...
Ok so it looked great on her as well. It's clearly a dress for all women. Just wish I had one too.
It was a great day out, all the Christmas lights are up ready for the big switch on. Can't wait to go back, I love Christmas in cities. There's a real buzz about it, I love Christmas in general. One of the main things that attracted me to the house we live in now is that it's a real Christmas house.
Tuesday I decided to give my stoma a break from skinny jeans having worn them the day before. See I can learn ;)
Dress from French Connection, Boots from LK Bennett.
I glammed up a plain denim shift dress with these gorgeous boots that I always forget about. Must remember to wear them more often.
I bought them full price last year, saved them for 'best' and by the time I got round to wearing them I noticed they gone down in the sale. Note to self save nothing for best!
Giving my stoma a break has made all the difference. I was uncomfortable during the day, probably due to wearing the skinny jeans the day before, but by the evening I felt fine.
Personnally I feel better inside and out if I go to the glam side. Having a stoma isn't as bad as people may think as long as you remember it hasn't changed who you are or how you should feel about yourself. You can be anything you want to be - sporty, casual, sassy, stylish, sexy even. A stoma is on the outside, it's what's on the inside that counts. :)
Look good - Feel good, or feel as good as you can despite the niggles stoma wearing brings.