Watch: I’m living my best life after having my bowel removed and a permanent stoma fitted
A woman who was going to the toilet 40 times a day says she feels like a “new woman” after having her entire bowel removed during emergency surgery and now lives with a permanent stoma.
Charlie Ryan, 37, a fitness professional, from Salisbury, Wiltshire, was living with a number of different health issues related to her gut and initially needed a temporary colostomy – a procedure which creates an opening in her abdomen to allow stools to exit her body.
But after her bowel became perforated through disease, her doctor said she’d need to have the entire organ removed. Now she has a permanent stoma and ostomy bag, and despite some initial fears says the procedure has been life-changing.
Charlie was initially diagnosed with ulcerative colitis – a long-term chronic condition where the bowel and rectum become inflamed – at the age of 33. Doctors also diagnosed irritable bowel disease (IBD) – a group of conditions which can cause severe stomach pain or diarrhoea.
“My health has been a bit of a minefield,” she explains. “In 2020, just as we were going into lockdown, I was diagnosed with IBD. Then, in October 2022, things got really bad. I was really poorly, in-and-out of hospital constantly.”
Charlie’s entire body would react to the inflammation caused by her IBD and ulcerative colitis. It led her to develop a skin condition called Sweet syndrome, which causes fever and red, raised cysts all over the body. Her joints also developed “reactive arthritis”, for which she was prescribed steroids.
But the most severe issue caused by Charlie’s health conditions was malnourishment, which saw her being admitted back into hospital in May 2024. “I was malnourished to the point where my brain was shutting down,” she recalls. “My doctors said I’d need a temporary colostomy to help the inflammation. But I kept going down hill and, after a couple of days, I started being fed through a PICC line.
Charlie says at this point she was going to the toilet up to 40 times a day and was forced to wear nappies. During an MRI of her bowel to determine when best to go ahead with surgery her bowel became perforated through inflammation and Charlie underwent an emergency procedure to remove the entire organ, leaving her with a permanent stoma and ostomy bag.
“My gastro doctor told me: ‘In two weeks’ time, you’ll feel amazing’,” Charlie says she was reassured. “I couldn’t really talk to anyone at the time, because I needed to process everything. But sure enough, soon after the surgery; I was sitting in my garden, amazed at how well I felt.”
Of course after such a big change to her health, it was inevitable Charlie would experience some initial “wobbles” with her stoma. “When I woke up from the surgery, I had a clear-fronted bag and I couldn’t look at it,” she says. “The first time I had to change it at home, I passed out. In my head, it was ugly, it was disgusting. I wondered whether my husband, Fraser, would still be attracted to me.”
Despite those initial upsets Charlie slowly began taking up activities she couldn’t do before her surgery. She set herself small fitness goals, starting off with walking 300 yards to the corner shop and back. Within four months, she was running long-distance and lifting weights at the gym and in September 2024, she ran a 60-mile race for Crohn’s and Colitis UK.
Now, five months on, Charlie says she is “living her best life”. “Physically I’m strong and capable,” she explains. “I also feel very comfortable in my own skin, which is weird, considering I’ve got this horrendous scar and bag.”
And Charlie has some words of advice to any other women who are having stoma surgery: “Let yourself sit in the discomfort,” she says. “It’s only temporary. I’ve definitely had my wobbles, but I’ve stepped into this and I’m owning it.”
Additional reporting SWNS.
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