When I was going into high school, I had a few friends who kept mentioning a sport called pole vaulting. I had no idea what they were talking about, but I was interested. Growing up, I was a pretty active child. I loved to be outside with my friends playing football, soccer, and other sports and activities. I played on a soccer team from fourth grade to eighth grade. I never thought I would do a sport that required flinging myself over a bar with a pole. 

As I entered high school, I had a few friends talking about a sport called pole vaulting, and they said I should try it. Being my first year, I wanted to try many different things out and meet a lot of new people. I began with football, where I played as a running back and cornerback. I enjoyed it for the most part until I got severely injured. During a game, I was in as running back. The quarterback gave the play, and we lined up, ready to tun it. When he said hike, he passed it to me, and I run up through the hole the defensive line created. As soon as I got through, I made it about ten yards before getting blindsided and hit in the front all at the same time. This hit was terrible. Both of their shoulder pads hit in the same spot, and I knew something was wrong as I was falling to the ground before I passed out. 

When I woke up, I was in the hospital, where a doctor spoke to my parents about the severity of my injuries. He told me I had a concussion and ruptured the intestine. I would need a temporary colostomy procedure to help. After the procedure, I was told football was off the table, and the thought of pole vaulting came to mind. I told the doctor about my plans, and he said it would be fine so long as I don’t land on my front and don’t wear my bag when I’m jumping as the movement would be hard due to the bag. When I got back to school a few weeks later, I signed up for pole vaulting, and the first practice was a few weeks later. 

Before practice, I made sure I did not need to use the bathroom before removing my ostomy bag. When my coach explained how to do everything, I gave it a shot and turned out to be more or less a natural. I could tell why my doctor told me to take the bag off because the movement would have been strenuous with it on. There would have been a restriction of my movement and reach. My coach was so proud of me for being able to do it so well my first time. I went on to win a few meets that year: today, I’m a senior, and it’s almost my last meet. I got approached by a recruiter and was offered a full ride, so I think my pole vaulting days are not done yet. I’m also getting the ostomy reverted soon, so I’m very excited about that. 

Growing up, I never saw myself doing a sport that required me to fly in a sense. I am so glad my friends put me on this sport; it has been a real treat and an excellent way to keep me distracted from my situation. Only a few people on the team know about my ostomy, and they are all amazed at what I can do. I am excited to keep pole vaulting in college with a full ride where I can learn to be a doctor and help people like me in the future. 

It’s almost that time of year again. When the leaves are green, the tank tops come out, the iced tea is being poured, and summertime is underway.  Ok well maybe not almost, but it is starting too slowly warm up outside. (And hey if you live in the south, summer will be there in like…two weeks!) Even though summer is still a few months away, it’s never too early to start planning. Especially when you have a stoma, and even more so if you’ve never experienced a summer with a stoma. Let me tell you, it’s no 4^th of July picnic that’s for sure. But it doesn’t have to be miserable. You just need to know a couple things before the fireworks start. 

First of all, if you’ve just had ostomy surgery the best thing you can do is take your time and heal. That should be your first and foremost priority. Once the healing process takes place, you then need to go through an adjustment period. Things are different now. You no longer do certain things the way you used too. And hey, that’s ok. It just takes a little time getting used too. Just make sure you’re speaking out when you’re feeling down, and don’t be afraid to ask for help. You need all the love and support you can get. 

Once you’ve gone through that initial adjustment phase and you’re at a point where you’ve embraced the new normal (or as much as one really can), now it’s time to look to the future. Summer. When you can’t hide that pouch (and maybe a pooch…ahem that’s me) under a baggy sweater anymore. Instead, you have the t-shirts, tank tops, and those cute little summer dresses to choose from. But don’t freak out! There are ways you can hide the pouch. One method that has helped for me is by going to an online clothing retailer that makes specially clothing for people like you and me. There are these nifty little bands that you can put over the top of the pouch that act almost like Spanx would, and it has a smoothing effect that helps to make it disappear under your shirt. Plus, this is great for also keeping it in place when you’re running around doing all those fun summertime activities.  

Another thing to plan for during summertime is water time. After all, what’s summer without a pool, lake, or beach? And despite what you might think, your stoma and pouch are totally water friendly. There are just a couple things to watch out for. The first one is you want to make sure before going in water that you check the seal and your baseplate. Make sure everything is sticking and is tight. Otherwise, it can leak. It’s also good to empty out your pouch before diving in. Also, like with the band, it’s good to have a tighter swimming suit (thankfully they’ve finally mad one pieces cute) that way everything stays in place. And if you plan on being in the water fairly often, just be regularly changing out your pouch, so again the adhesion doesn’t fail. 

Summertime doesn’t have to be a scary time when you have a stoma. On the contrary it can be an amazing time. You just need to do a little pre planning before you’re ready to do some suntanning (sorry couldn’ help it) in order for you to have a rockin’ summer!