Body Confidence & Swimwear With a Stoma

I am finally getting on an aeroplane and flying to sunny Greece; it is going to be amazing and I can not wait to feel the enjoyment of some R&R alongside not having to think about work for an entire 10 days.

The villa we have booked looks idyllic and my daughters obsession with Mumma Mia is going to have a field day as we are staying on Skopolos which is where they filmed parts of the film. 

Having a private pool means I won’t worry about swimming whilst at the villa but I still worry about judgement from others when going to the beach as we all love snorkelling and the beach is the best place for that activity. 

Now I know I am the same size as when I last went on holiday, I think I look ok from the back… but sometimes I worry about others staring and making me feel uncomfortable, I shouldn’t feel that way, but occasionally I do. 

My body confidence

I have started getting better over the years, shock horror, I now wear shorts, since the balloon style shorts come out, I find them easier to wear, I use a large stoma bag so short shorts are not ideal as my outlet pokes out of my left leg hole… it also occasionally digs into my thigh, yes I could use the smaller bags but they are not equipped to deal with my output. 

Body confidence is such a fickle thing, considering myself more or less normal with an added bonus of a ileostomy that has a bag attached to catch the waste, does this make me less able to flash my midriff or does this give me a purpose of educating and highlighting what so many of us hide underneath clothes. Clothing on can hide a multitude of sins and also hides the ostomy.

Are we right to be afraid and less likely to show the bag or is it a case of flaunting what we have to and to hell with the general consensus of you can only show the perfect body? 

We all have those small imperfections. Mine is a mass of stretch marks and some rather epic scarring. Pre ambassador and advocating stoma life I was always reluctant to bare it all and always considered myself not worth being stared at due to my scars.  Most of my body confidence has now come from the fact I have hit a happy place with my weight and with my body shape. 

For me my ostomy doesn’t bother me, it’s the stretch marks and lack of stomach muscles. I have mesh holding in my innards so regardless of how fit and healthy I am, my stomach is still slightly rounded and rather solid thanks to scar tissue. 

Body image is unique to each of us. We all have our own neurosis. There is no right or wrong way with stoma life. You can flaunt it and show off your life saving, life improving device or you can keep covered. It is down to how you want to live life and how you feel about your stoma. 

The swimwear 

Preparing for holiday has it’s good points, now like most women I enjoy shopping for clothes much to my husbands delay. Buying swimwear has always been slightly more difficult for me. I can’t wear swimsuits as I end up with the ever lasting wedgie, and no one likes those in 30 + degree heat. 

Knowing my own body shape I still struggle. Do I wear low waisted? Do I wear high waisted? For me high waisted serves a purpose of hiding my bag and comes in handy when your snorkeling as a flapping bag whilst swimming can make me slightly neurotic. But the high waisted makes me look bigger than I am, so low waisted is my preferred choice. 

Since my last holiday abroad the ModaVi stoma bag has come out and with this having the foldable option this has made my bikini choices easier. I no longer have to worry about the size of my bag, whilst swimming I can fold the bag up and  when I am back to soaking up the sun I can unfold the bag. 

I am really looking forward to my holiday, I am now of the notion that I should just wear what I am comfortable in. 

As always

Many thanks for reading 

Louise Xx

@crohnsfighting