A Shetland cancer survivor who was given a stoma has set up her own support group to help others with similar experiences.
Lauren Tulloch, from the north mainland village Hillswick, had a colostomy in 2019 after being diagnosed with bowel cancer.
Surgeons connected one end of her colon, part of her bowels, to a new opening in her abdomen.
The 27-year-old recalled: “Everything went pretty smooth sailing.
“I had the op and was told the recovery in hospital would be around a week when I’d learned to do a bag change, use all the products I needed and the stitches were out with no signs of infection.
“I, ‘Miss Independent’, said ‘I’m not staying in here a week’ so was desperate to learn and get out.”
‘I’m used to looking after people, not being looked after’
After working as a carer, Lauren admits she found it difficult when the roles were reversed.
“I was a bit of an impatient patient. I’d worked as a carer so I was used to looking after people, not being looked after.
“I knew I was going to have a stoma for the rest of my life, I was 24 at the time,” she said.
In an effort to cope with this new reality and accept the change a little more Lauren decided to give her stoma a name – Stella.
“I got home and took it easy, the stoma nurse came on two different occasions – once for a check-up to see how I was managing and the other to help me with an issue,” she explained.
“I couldn’t figure out how to fix it, it was causing me a lot of stress.
“But she was five star and I don’t know what I would have done without her.”
‘It was so difficult to find help’
In September 2020, Lauren had another operation to remove her tumour, and her small intestine was connected to the stoma instead.
But at this point the local connection she had relied upon before was lost, as the nurse had left her post.
Lauren explained: “I was home with minimal information and I felt so lost, frustrated and just completely stuck since the stoma nurse was no more in Shetland.”
While she was able to contact stoma nurses at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary over email, phone or videocall, she found situations where she would have preferred help closer to home.
At this stage, Lauren decided to take matters into her own hands.
She set up her own stoma support group for Shetland via Facebook.
‘It’s more common than I thought in Shetland’
Lauren was shocked to learn how many Shetlanders required stomas.
And, though she doesn’t claim to be an expert, she is there as a source of support.
She explained: “I didn’t think there would be many people in Shetland with a stoma that would find it helpful.
“It was only through talking to people this year that stomas were more common than I thought in Shetland.
“I have mentioned a few times on the page I am not a nurse, but would like to try and support people in any way I can.
“If they know they will be fitted with a stoma, they can join the group before its fitted so it doesn’t feel so daunting and like it’s a foreign thing to learn.”
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Ballater charity launches children’s book to help kids dealing with a stoma
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