175: Mike wears an ostomy pouch

How would you handle it if you ended up having a medical condition that suddenly made you different from everyone else, in the most embarrassing way possible? That’s what happened to Mike. Today you’ll hear about when Mike got the news from his doctor – sorry, you won’t be able to poop the normal way any more. From now on, for the rest of your life, you’ll use a bag, actually called a pouch, and you’re gonna poop directly from your stomach into that. And when Mike got that news, he was just a kid – not even a teenager yet. So today, Mike’s gonna tell us what that was like, and how he handled it, and what it’s like today, as an adult with an ostomy. I asked Mike all the questions that normally you’d never be comfortable asking someone in this situation. This conversation with Mike is so real. That’s what we do here – real life. You’ll hear it all, because Mike is open to talking about everything. And you know what else he is? He’s happy and he loves life. Because he wants people to know – if you get the diagnosis he got, it’s not the end of the world. If you’d like to contact Mike, his email is [email protected] Full show notes and pictures for this episode are here: https://WhatWasThatLike.com/175 Resources: The r/ostomy subreddit – 8000 members - https://www.reddit.com/r/ostomy/ Meet an OstoMate – large ostomy community - https://www.meetanostomate.org/ Facebook groups: The Real Ostomy Support Group – 23k members - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1160120857334266 Stoma and Ostomy Support Group – 14k members – https://www.facebook.com/groups/1442544766001622 Colostomy and Stoma Support Group – 13k members – https://www.facebook.com/groups/607387186088212 Graphics for this episode by Bob Bretz. Transcription was done by James Lai. Want to discuss this episode and other things with thousands of other WWTL listeners? Join our podcast Facebook group at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook (many of the podcast guests are there as well) Get every episode ad-free, AND get all the Raw Audio exclusive episodes to binge, by joining the other listeners at What Was That Like PLUS. Try What Was That Like PLUS free: iPhone: at the top of the What Was That Like podcast feed, click on “Try free” Android: on your phone, go to WhatWasThatLike.com/PLUS and click to try it free on any app Sponsor deals: Go to Seed.com/what and use code 25WHAT to get 25% off your first month. Go to storyworth.com/what to save $10 on your first purchase! Get 15% off OneSkin with the code WHATWAS at https://www.oneskin.co/ #oneskinpod Cancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to RocketMoney.com/whatwas. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at BetterHelp.com/whatwas and get on your way to being your best self. Go to cookunity.com/What or enter code What before checkout for 50% off your first week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices