VIDEO – LeeAnne’s Tips on How to Manage Emotions While Living With an Ostomy

Actor, model, businesswoman, and ostomy advocate LeeAnne Hayden shares her personal experience and tips on how to handle the ups and downs related to wearing an ostomy bag.

Get tips for managing ostomy-related emotions

In this video, made in partnership with Hollister, I share my thoughts on how to deal with the emotions you may experience before and after stoma surgery.

I have had my colostomy for over six years. I still sometimes have emotional moments, but thankfully they are now very rare. However, I had quite a few prior to getting my bag and then right afterwards.

When I was told that I had cancer I was shocked, and then I heard my doctor say there was a chance I would have to wear a colostomy pouch. I remember saying, “Oh no, no way – I do not want one!” I was so adamant about it that he had to get stern with me. He told me that if he got in there to remove the tumor and I ended up in a bag, then it was the only option.

When I woke up with a pouch, I was so grateful to be alive that it didn’t matter at first. But then the emotions came. One day I would be fine, then the next day I’d be crying because I saw myself in the mirror, or I had a leak, or a pair of jeans didn’t fit me the way they used to. I had to allow myself some time to heal and adjust to my new circumstances.

At the end of the day, what matters is that I am alive – and so are you. I was given this second chance at life, and I wouldn’t change it for the world. My ostomy is a part of me and because of it I can do all the things I did before.