Have we come so far or not?

I recently met a person who at the age of 14 had a stoma, since that time this person had been ridiculed at school and bullied in the work place and pretty much was so insecure about their stoma they were reluctant to do most things.

My question is.

Do you think things have changed or not, in regards to having a stoma. Think about this question before reading on, think about the stigma behind it, think about the issues as an ostomate you deal with on a daily basis.

This person is now 84, so in all that time have things really changed? we are doing so much to improve awareness and highlight the issues of having an ostomy, some might say that social media has become a fantastic tool in raising awareness but is it enough.

I heard a story recently that someone was on holiday and a comment was made “you would have thought they would have covered that up” they are trying to build their own self esteem and challenging their anxieties to improve life so not what you want to hear, as you well know this was a major thing to do some people can do it and some cant.

I’m a strong believer that if will can educate kids from a certain age we will reduce the stigma for future generations but unfortunately it wont be completely removed.

yesterday the person above did something that they have never done before, they went swimming a what a fantastic achievement and guess there is hope and this should only inspire people to give things try and not let BULLIES and the UNEDUCATED win.