It was time to take back my life
For Kevin, returning to work as a career firefighter was important. He loved his job and was the main income for the household which consisted of; his wife Trudy and his 2 boys, aged 19 and 15:
"After dealing with Ulcerative Colitis and several medications for 20 years, as well as all the frequent washroom trips, I decided it was time to take back my life and have my ileostomy surgery performed. I joined an IBD support group and I was paired up with three group buddies. So after the first several talks before ostomy surgery, I was prepared mentally."
Establishing a solid routine
After the surgery, Kevin first had to establish a routine for looking after his ostomy;
“Finding out what works for you is key, not only in the changing your appliance, but also the products you use. I tried different products, before I found the ones that works best for me.”
But before going back to work, it was also important for Kevin to get comfortable with his new body. He joined two ostomy support groups and spent time talking to his family and co-workers about his ostomy and Kevin soon found, that being open and making jokes about his ostomy helped people accept it:
“It helped to be open about my ostomy and tell everyone that will listen not only what my life was like before and but now, with my ostomy. When others know and understand that and see you getting on and enjoying life, they become more aware and accept not only you, but your ostomy. Educating people that don’t understand helped to mentally accept and get on with enjoying life.”
Returning to work
After the surgery, Kevin took time to recover – both physically and mentally. At first, Kevin eased back into work to make sure he could overcome the days, but after a month, he started back on the truck full time again:
“Only you have the power to get yourself back to work again. I took three months off from work to make sure my body had healed enough. When I returned, I started on modified duties, working 4 hours a day and increased 2 hours every week until I was back at full days. The key thing to remember is start out slow and listen to your body. Also, educating your co-workers that there is life after an ostomy and nothing can hold you back. It’s important they all see that you can live life and get back to work again.”
Today, Kevin is living a normal life – just like he did before he had an ostomy. He believes that with his ostomy, the sky is the limit:
“I can now do whatever I want to do. I can still travel, eat whatever I did before and get back to doing what I enjoy.”
