It’s all about the mental health with guest Chium

Intro  (0:00)

• This week’s guest is Chium and we met on Instagram.

• She was out there with her Ostomy working out, doing all that fun stuff I love and I just needed to know her because she is such an inspiration out there!

Start Of Her Story (00:55)

• Had her Ostomy due to an emergency situation in 2018.

• In and out of the hospital dealing with her Crohn’s and flare-ups.

• Not in a great place at all.

• During a routine colonoscopy, they found a perforation in my colon which led to having the Ostomy put in.

• Have had it since then, and now she is able to live a much better quality of life than she had before and what she thought she was capable of.

• A blessing in disguise.

• Ileostomy – not yet permanent. Still remains to be seen.

  • At the time of the surgery, it was the idea of being temporary because of the issues that popped up.

  • Still need to go through the procedure and have it assessed to see if it can be reversed.

  • Right now it will be there for a bit.

• Was a complete surprise when coming out of the procedure.

  • Knew it could have been a possibility, but never expected it to become a reality.

• She was doing very poorly and what was happening with her bowels, was a thought that was in the back of her mind that it could happen.

• Not having time to research and understand what it was and how it could benefit held her back at first.

Experiences Post Surgery (4:34)

• Was a lot of mental processing afterward because it was a shock.

• Her body changing so drastically and something synthetic is now a part of you with this taboo topic and stigma of POOP!

• The mental hurdle you have to get over is that this is not taking away from you and making you less of who you are.

• A huge wall was put up. Attractiveness, sex appeal, her pride, all took a huge hit.

• At first, I did not do much to get through that.

  • Sat in self-pity and feeling bad.

• Got to a point where it became such an effortless process that somehow it clicked that it is not a big deal!

  • Not sure when or what happened, but somehow clicked.

• The first part of getting over the hit her pride took.

• Decided she has been dealt this card and she can either choose to sit and wallow or do something.

  • Didn’t want her children to constantly see her like that either.

Coming Out And Being Social After (9:12)

• When did you start going on social media and saying WOAH there are a bunch of people out there going through what you did.

  • Before this was not active on social media at all.

  • Facebook was for family and the extent of social media.

  • Felt so isolated and did have that click, I knew that I wasn’t the only one going through this. There are more people out there.

  • Wanted someone else in this situation to maybe avoid a little bit of what I went through.

  • This is why I started on Instagram to post anything I could.

  • Discovered other individuals.

• 750,000 to 1 million people in the US with Ostomies

• Though it was a smaller community and no one likes to talk about this.

• Remember seeing something and being blown away by the number of people living with this.

• Was a sad moment because so many people living with this and it’s so hidden.

• Part of the stigma is just older people who deal with this and this adds to the shame when you are younger.

• Someone else’s journey helped you, now your journey is helping other people!

What Are You Doing On A Daily Basis To Work On Your Health, Your Messaging & Mental Health (15:00)

• There are days when you don’t want to do anything and veg out, and I think that helps my mental health, you do need those days.

• Should have to be on the go and in a constant state of rush.

• If I feel tired, I do a better job of listening to myself and telling myself to take a break.

• Tried to be more self-reflective and take a hard look at myself.

  • Started in the hospital when recovering from surgery.

  • Recognized I needed to change the way I was eating and approach food with a more open mindset.

• Starting with food opened the door to educating myself on other things.

• Exercise came next.

  • Realized I was not active which is probably playing a huge role in being over-stressed, inflamed, and other things.

  • Found out about the gym, different exercises.

  • Understand what I am going to do.

  • Worked with a personal trainer to feel more comfortable.

  • Didn’t want to do anything to hinder me because of the Ostomy.

  • Trainer pushed me to get out of my corner, but kept it within a reasonable pace and allowed me to feel comfortable.

• Did end up with Peristomal Hernia in the long run because I went from being a sedentary person to trying to work out 5-6 times a week.

  • Recently I had surgery for that hernia.

  • So that concern was big for me in the beginning but I didn’t realize how easy it can pop up.

• When I started to really educate myself on nutrition and exercise and get into it, walking is better and really good for you.

Closing (24:50)

• If there was one thing you would want to say to the listeners, what would that thing be?

  • Having an Ostomy is a way to get your life back under control.

  • It may not be what you thought or what you envisioned, but it definitely is a new door opening up to help you, not hinder you.

• Find her on Instagram

  • @Chium816