'I live my life with a stoma bag - checking my poo could’ve saved my life'
30.04.2023 - 11:17
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Over 200,000 people in the UK are living with a stoma bag - a small, waterproof pouch used to collect waste from the body. For many, adjusting to a colostomy can be extremely difficult at first, taking a toll on their mental and physical health.
The surgery can impact a person's self-confidence, as well as their intimate relationships due to the stigma surrounding stomas and pooing into a bag.
Lucy Jane, a 24-year-old local influencer from Rochdale, has a bowel disease called Ulcerative Colitis. This is a long-term condition where the colon and rectum become inflamed, and small ulcers can develop on the colon's lining, which can bleed.
READ MORE: 'I can't even have a kebab without worrying about days of pain afterwards'
When Lucy was 17, she began experiencing symptoms such as extreme fatigue, which at first she chalked down to being stressed out while studying for her A-levels.
But when she noticed blood in her stools, Lucy knew something was wrong.
“I'd sleep for days and I'd still be exhausted - that was the first symptom I noticed. I've always been such a get up and go person, so it was just weird that that was happening," she told the Manchester Evening News.
“As a few weeks went by, I noticed blood in my stool when I was going to the toilet. Luckily my family has always been like ‘if you notice any changes tell us,’ because my nana actually went through the same thing that I did but in the 60s.
“My mum has always been aware of it, saying if something goes wrong, make sure to tell us because she knows that a lot of people feel embarrassed, or they don't want to talk about it.”
Knowing what to look out for, Lucy's mum was quick to march her daughter to the doctors as soon as she told her what she'd seen.
Initially