Life can come at you fast. Sometimes people make esprestions like the devel has their playing card. But life is just sometimes life and hard times come. You may find yourself healthy one week and the next you are having uncontrolable panes in places they shouldn't be. Then a week later you find out you need a ostomy. The world turns upside down and some of your fears that you were most afraid of are now facing you head on. But I am usualy a positive person and I believe you can face them and win. That is because living with a stoma has show me how much you can overcome and how much you can simple do with a stoma. On of those things is how to play basketball with an ostomy. That is a phrase you don't hear often, but It really makes me happy when the question arises. Being a part of the midwest implants a few things in your life. One you will love the color green, know the smell or corn by heart, and also be a die hard basketball fan. No matter what you can't get away from the sport and most of us are raised with the intention of all being NBA or WNBA players. That is a truly hilarious thought and it sounds funny writing it, but it's true. Now when you find out you have a stoma or a high schooler with basketball ambitions finds out they can be initially crushed. I like to let them know that I hoop it up on the weekends and still do just fine.
Just like alls sports, it needs to be worked on to improve. Now the art of playing basketball is something that is diminishable and I try to stay up on my game. Having a stoma means that I have to have some gear to go along with me on the court. I first struggled with giant bags and didn't know if I was going to be able to keep up my hobby. But I ended up calling around and talked with customer service agents at a few companies that helped. I landed on big online stores to get me through the unknown and they were pretty darn helpful. They laid out the movement and gear that would probably work for me. Some of the big stores put me on to stoma shields so I wouldn't get hurt on the court and also let me try out the stuff they suggested for free. You had better believe that helped instill some loyalty in me. I was elated to try out new gear while playing basketball in my driveway. It helped build up confidence that I could go out and play in public and not worry about leaks or smells. It was a huge help to me emotional and physical state.
It is true that we all smell while playing basketball but no one wants to post up and guard the guy that literally smells of poo. And to be honest no one wants to be that guy either. So being able to talk out my issues with people was really great. Being able to try them out was good too. I got lots of advice about belts, the right sized bag and wicking clothes that could help with what I was doing.
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