icky MacDowall, (32) from North Down, was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and had to have a colostomy bag — also known as a stoma — fitted. A stoma is an opening in the abdomen that can be connected to either the digestive or urinary tract to allow waste to be diverted out of your body. Vicky now runs the blog ‘My Little Stomie’, which details her daily activities along with photos of her stomie bag to help dispel misconceptions about the condition. “The stigma about stoma is lifting but it’s not where it should be, there are still a lot of people suffering in silence who don’t want to see a doctor,” said Vicky, who says she receives messages on social media. through people with similar situations to herself. She believes this means people are more open to talking about gut and digestive issues, but she still wants people to contact their doctors about their symptoms. Awareness of early bowel disease has been raised by the recent death of journalist and campaigner Dame Deborah James. Dame Deborah, was diagnosed with bowel cancer in December 2016 and led a campaign in the months before her death for everyone to “check their bad state” for symptoms of bowel disorders, including cancer. Vicky’s first symptoms began in late 2016, when she noticed that she needed to bathe much more than usual. Then he had trouble predicting when he would need the toilet. Initially believing that her problems were due to something she had eaten, Vicky began to notice one of the more obvious warning signs that something was wrong in early 2017 after she discovered blood in her stool. It wasn’t until a more serious side effect of her condition emerged that Vicky was finally able to get a diagnosis for her condition. “The day after my 27th birthday I collapsed at my father’s house and was rushed to hospital in excruciating pain. I had lost so much weight and was in so much pain. The next morning, I woke up to a consultant who told me they thought I had ulcerative colitis,” said Vicky, who was relieved to finally get a diagnosis she felt was more accurate to how she felt. Ulcerative colitis is a long-term condition where the colon and rectum become inflamed. The condition is serious but can be treated with medication. Now with an accurate diagnosis, Vicky was able to receive intervention to help manage the condition, eventually putting it into remission. However, it didn’t take long for her problems to start again, as after Vicky and her now-husband went on holiday to Jamaica, she unfortunately caught a stomach bug which led to her ulcerative colitis coming back worse than before. This time her condition became uncontrollable with medication and she was then told that the only thing left was surgery and a stoma. “I got so sick that I got septic, I had to have iron infusions, medication given every day and I don’t know how many tablets to push the disease into remission again,” Vicky said. “I just knew my body was giving up and they told me there was nothing more that could be done for me.” She is now living a full life thanks to her stoma, but is awaiting some further surgeries and wants to clear up any misconceptions people may have. “I know there are people out there who think it’s the worst thing that could happen to them,” Vicky added. “Everybody’s going to be different, but it gave me my life back because without it I probably wouldn’t be here.”
