Social situations

I wonder. The thing about having a stoma is that, although a lot of my friends know about Mr Stoma, it's strange that most people don't. I look pretty much the same as most normal people.

I wonder about this because of the embarrassment that have a stoma really can cause - or at least the embarrasment that it can make you feel. I was out this evening for drinks with friends. I was having a lovely time - give me some wine, some good company and a Friday night and I couldn't really be happier. Everything was paddling along fine, until I felt a slightly familiar slippery feeling. I toddled off to the toilet to check things out and realised I'd left a small pool of shit on the bench seat, in between two of my friends. Now, the joy is that we'd ended up having a late night meal in Wagamama, which for the non-initiated in a chain of slick-but-simple Japanese restaurants here in the UK. So- and this is quite a sad, if fortunate, fact - my pool of faeces looked like a small puddle of katsu curry sauce, which the waitress cheerfully mopped up as if I'd just been a piglet-ishly sloppy eater.

But - it really was quiet mortifying nonetheless. I had to jump in a cab back home straightaway.

This is really what alarms me about the Jpouch operation. As I said, I love having a drunken evening out with friends, but it does lead to significantly more liquid output, and therefore increased leakage potential - which is embarrassing but also a logistical nightmare. So what happens when that's all going on inside you - or leaking out of your rectum (anus? all such lovely words, and I don't quite know which one it should be)? I suppose I'll have to learn to be careful with my diet, and stop worrying. But literally - I do love having a drink and a nice meal out. I'm a bit scared that I won't ever be able to get hammered like I do now - a peculiarly British fear, I'm sure. But I suppose I worry that it's a bit like growing up slightly faster than I'd like. Watching what I eat, what I drink, how late I stay up. Still - it's all saving my life; and at least not-drinking is actually better for you in the long run than drinking...