Robert Gale

Today was a big day in terms of getting back on track with running. Today was the first day since surgery that I felt comfortable enough to head out to a race to photograph my club along with other runners. Whilst still feeling some discomfort, I felt strong enough to stand around photographing the runners enjoying, and perhaps not enjoying, the race.

Since have my new bum installed, I haven’t been at all been concerned about who knows about it, if my bag is on show and I’m happy to blog about my progress and show off my new bum to anyone that us curious enough to want to see it. I think the hard work done by ostomates and support groups in reducing the stigma around wearing the bag has helped me feel more confident about not being afraid to show it off.

Four weeks after surgery and I’m feeling good! I’m in a much better place than where I was pre-surgery. Right now I have zero regrets and I haven’t experienced all of the benefits that the surgery brings. Just wait until I can start running without worrying about the dreaded runner’s trots! Sure, I’ll experience issues along the way but I see those as part of the learning experience and the positives will far outweigh the temporary negatives that can be easily solved. 

My relatively short running career was going well up until April 2018. I had caught the running bug, I had joined an amazing running club, I had achieved many goals such as sub-20 5K, running my first half marathon, running a marathon, running an ultra marathon and completed a 50-mile race in Paris. And then Crohn’s threw a spanner in the works!

I was originally not due to see the stoma team until next week but due to my stoma shrinking and the area around it becoming irritated I brought the appointment forward so that I could get new bags cut. It’s fortunate having such a flexible team so that I can get appointments at short notice.