22岁就装回肠造口袋　她「对自己有信心」穿比基尼骄傲露出

▲深受溃疡性结肠炎所苦的威廉丝，希望用自己的例子鼓励其他病患。（图／翻摄自wheresmyostomy Instagram，下同） 国际中心／综合报导

网路上穿比基尼晒好身材的辣妹比比皆是，不过英国伦敦的威廉丝（Harriet Williams）却特别引人注意，患有溃疡性结肠炎（Ulcerative Colitis）的她必须无时无刻装着回肠造口袋（Ileostomy Bag），即便如此，她还是会勇敢展露给大家看，希望能鼓励跟她一样深受疾病痛苦的人。

综合外媒报导，今年25岁的威廉丝在14岁时，有长达6个月的时间不断腹泻和胃痉挛，即使住院精心治疗，病情也毫无起色，因为她无法顺利进食，让护理人员误以为她患有饮食失调症，「我在医院的期间，每天要上25次的厕所，有时候还会尿出血来。当医生意识到事情的严重性时，我已经快要死了」，最后她被诊断出患有炎症性肠病（Inflammatory Bowel Condition）。

威廉丝花了一个月的时间，在医院接受类固醇治疗，这也导致她的体重增加。经历8年的治疗后，状况依旧没有改善，因此她在22岁时决定要安装一个回肠造口袋，「大家都说这个看起来很糟糕，但事实上，有这个袋子并不是一件坏事。只不过一开始，必须学会适应如何清洗它，而且很多食物都不能吃了。」

▲威廉丝一开始装上口袋时，也害怕自己不能穿正常的衣服。

威廉丝表示，「当我第一次装上这个口袋时，我以为我再也不能穿正常的衣服，只能穿孕妇装了。但当我适应后，现在我完全不会注意到这个包，它大大改善了我的生活，也不会有人用异样的眼神看我，我的生活完全正常。」

在威廉丝开始把照片分享在网路上后，有一些人批评她这样露出来很恶心，不过她表示，「我想告诉大家要对自己有信心，不用感到羞愧，而自从装了这个口袋后，我对自己更有自信了。我贴了很多照片，让人了解手术后要做什么准备，也收到很多人的评论，告诉我他们现在没那么害怕这种疾病了。这也让我了解到，我可以激励更多人，他们看到后都会明白，我们都能继续过好生活，而且会变得更好」。

So this is a really difficult picture for me to post. On the left I was a very ill 14 year old who was in the middle of a battle with severe colitis and as you might have guessed, was dealing with some very significant side effects of large doses of prednisolone (a steroid and one of the best medications we currently have to treat colitis.) On the right is me a few weeks ago at a party. ——————————————————————-—— I couldn’t look at this picture of me until very recently because it reminded me too much of the horrible things I went through at a pretty young age. Dealing with a bowel condition isn’t easy at any point in your life, but being 14 and in the middle of secondary school was pretty awful to be honest. I looked so different my friends didn’t recognise me, some of my family didn’t even recognise me! I had to talk to doctors about the embarrassing subject of poo. I had so many and such bad stretch marks from my steroid weight gain and steroid induced thin skin, a surgeon actually said to me “what is that on your hips?!” I was stood in my underwear in front of a group of student doctors. It was mortifying. I was anaemic, exhausted, depressed and in constant pain. ——————————————————————-—— I’m not glad I had to go through this, but it did teach me to be strong and keep going. We’re very lucky today we can taper off steroids much quicker than 11 years ago (I was tapering off for over a year) and generally IBD is diagnosed quicker. I am extremely glad that I had my surgery because now I’m medication and pain free, having a bag is a happy sacrifice to make. ——————————————————————-—— The physical effects of steroids fade and I may look ‘normal’ now. But the mental and physical impact of being ill doesn’t, I don’t remember what it feels like to be ‘normal’ and I probably never will. Don’t judge a book by its cover, illness and disabilities aren’t always visible. Seek to lead the best life you can——————————————————————-——#ulcerativecolitis #colitis #uc #crohns #ileostomy #ostomy #stoma #chronicillness #invisibledisability #getyourbellyout #health #wellness #illness #transformation #spoonie #ostomyawareness #bodyconfidence #ibd

Harriet