Laura’s Story
You can also watch Laura speak about her diagnosis, surgery and recovery by clicking the button below:
When I was young, I thought I was invincible. I was a healthy kid, aside from the annual cold or ear infection. I was an avid runner, straight-A student, and drum major in the marching band during high school. No one ever expects their life to take a quick turn for the worse, but at 18 years old, mine did. After just a month of experiencing symptoms, I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. At the time I thought the only way this diagnosis would affect my life was by taking a pill three times a day. I think my blind optimism actually helped me deal with the diagnosis at the time.
After graduating high school, I was accepted into my dream school, University of Kansas. I attended orientation, met my roommate, and signed up for classes. A week before I had planned to move in, I was put in the hospital for a two-week stay. Deep down, I knew it was too dangerous to go to school out of state. This was the first time, but certainly not the last, that my disease got in the way of a dream I had worked very hard for. I had to throw that dream out the window and compromised by going to community college and living at home.
As my disease progressed and became more severe, I was put on 60 mg of Prednisone, ten mg/kg of Remicade, and was hospitalized about once every three months. For two years, I was never in remission. Every day was excruciating and exhausting.
Even through the health challenges I faced, I tried to travel as much as I could. I found it rejuvenating, and thinking about the next adventure I would have helped me get through my hospitalizations and stay hopeful.
I had been doing relatively well for a couple of months, so I planned a trip to Ireland with my boyfriend at the time. We paid for our plane tickets and planned out our next adventure. Two days before we were scheduled to leave I started to have pain. I called my doctor, and he scoped me the next day. He informed me I was not allowed to leave the country because my colon was extremely inflamed. My boyfriend and I lost a ton of money, and for the first time, I felt like a burden on my loved ones.
As my disease progressed, Remicade became even less effective than when I initially started. My doctor and I made the decision that it was time to take my colon out. He told me we could take it out that year, or we could wait, but we would eventually have to take it out either way.
December 18, 2011 was my surgery date. I was told I would either just get a total colectomy, with end ileostomy, or a total colectomy, jpouch, and diverting ileostomy. I woke up with a jpouch and diverting ileostomy. The first time I saw my stoma, I was overwhelmed with joy. To me, this was a step in the right direction. This was how I was going to get my life back! The second night at the hospital I woke up with a high fever, rapid heart rate, and unstoppable vomiting. The last thing I remember for three days was the doctors shoving an NG tube down my throat. I developed sepsis and was transported to the ICU. I have only one other memory of those three days: three doctors trying to put an arterial line in. I was so dehydrated that it took them close to two hours of trying before they successfully put one in.
After a 19-day hospital stay with multiple complications, I was released. At this point, I realized I could feel sorry for myself. I could complain and wonder “why me?” or I could be productive. I decided to start a YouTube channel called “Ostomystory” to talk about the trials, tribulations, and beautiful moments of life with an ostomy. Because of my experience, I cater mostly to people with ileostomies and colostomies. I also have followers with Inflammatory Bowel Disease, many different types of cancer, urostomies, Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, and people whom received ostomies because of different types of accidents and many other circumstances. I’ve found that by creating an online “safe place” for people to feel heard and be part of a community has not only helped them, but me as well.
After two years of making videos I was approached by the producer of the Comedy Central show “Tosh.0.” I was familiar with his humor and wasn’t sure this was the best way to spread my message. My goal has been to spread ostomy awareness, normalize ostomies as much as I can, and show that you can live a normal, productive, wonderful life with an ostomy. I debated with myself for a few months about the offer before deciding to go for it.
The result was better than I could have imagined, and the reaction of the ostomy community was overwhelmingly positive. Through my Tosh.0 episode, Shield HealthCare discovered me. They offered me the title of “Ostomy Lifestyle Specialist.” My goal while working for Shield HealthCare is still to spread awareness, normalize and educate people about life with an ostomy. I want to encourage a happy, healthy, full life with an ostomy.
I look forward to providing my perspective on life with an ostomy, sharing tips I’ve learned along the way, answering your questions to help make your life easier, and I’m grateful Shield HealthCare has given us this platform to expand our community.
You can read more about Laura, her role as our Ostomy Lifestyle Specialist or ask her a question:
- Meet Laura Cox, our Ostomy Lifestyle Specialist
- Ask Laura a Question
- Laura’s Stomaversary | A Time to Reflect
Shield HealthCare | Stronger with Shield
How can one limit ostomy output while sleeping?
