Where I am coming from

I'd lik to take it back to fashion for a minute. I've been reading posts on several of the IBD/Ostomy sites that I frequent from new ostomates wondering "how to dress". Right after surgery life is overwhelming and the last battle you want to fight is with clothes. Many think that after surgery you are destined for a life of elastic waist pants, mu-mu's or tunics. Not.true!

Let me show you what I have to work with.

This is a side view of my abdomen - standing normally, not slouching, leaning or anything of the sort. This is just what it looks like for now. FOR NOW I say! From what I gather, this is NOT what the majority of ostomates look like 9 months post surgery.

And here I am holding the camera flat against my chest with the lens pointed straight down - this is what I see everytime I look down. Yes, that is a deep "divet" for lack of a better term. This is a result of multiple abdominal surgeries in a VERY short amount of time. My upper layers of skin became so traumatized that they wouldn't hold a stitch. So nifty internal stitches were placed. Those stitches "came loose" (without having to explain the whole story) and I "dehisced". Dehiscence is a surgical complication (tah-dah!) in which a wound breaks open along a surgical suture. What I'm trying to tell you is my guts spilled out. Seriously. The wound opened up and my insides were there for all to see. Welllll, that was not good. So, I had nylon stitches - I swear they were like fishing line! - placed and those suckers held tight and I guess the last of them were absorbed or fell out or something, I don't really remember anymore.

So, I was supposed to heal up and out. The dehisce was so bad that it left me divided down the middle. Dressing with an ostomy can be a challenge of its own in the days/weeks post op. THIS definitely threw a wrench in any plans I was thinking of! BUT, I wasn't going to let it get in the way of my style so I began searching for things to help push things together. The rest of my body is a 4-6 but in order to get things around my waist I have to get an 8 because there is extra "space" that shouldn't really be there.

Here is an example of how I erase that space:

Jeans with pouch tucked into my undies.

Victoria's Secret bandeau top turned upside down and worn on my hips. It has a good bit of lycra which pulls everything together and just enough to keep my pouch close to my body.

Jeans zipped up with bandeau top on the INSIDE not over the top of the waistband. These particular jeans are a bit loose in the waist so trying to get the bandeau top OVER the waistband is futile. HOWEVER, I do have some skinny jeans that are more fitted in the waist and putting the bandeau top on the inside of those is a bad idea - definitely on the outside over the waistband!

Ready to go! Other people probably don't notice at all, but I can see the very top of my pouch sticking out a little - a simple "blousing" of the tank top took care of that. Just a little adjustment.

Is this what you think a "bag lady" looks like? What ostomy pouch?

First day of work, first day of work

say it in your best Nemo voice - come on! So, it really was my 3rd 1st day of work. Kind of like celebrating the 9th anniversary of your 29th birthday if ya get my drift? I started working way back in December of 2011 (last year!). Worked for 6 days and landed in the hospital at which time I scheduled surgery for 5 days later and saw no reason to return to said job for 5 days to learn things I would inevitably forget should they actually decide to keep me on. After my LENGTHY hospital stay I finally returned to work in March and worked 9 hours in 4 days before my doctor ordered me on IV antibiotics and 3 more weeks off work. And yes, I still had a j.o.b.! So, today, I went back after my latest antibiotic vacation and worked a full day - well, full day for me which is 9-2 and it was GREAT!! Didn't even think about Stella, no pain, up and down from my desk wearing my gigantic Very Volatile platforms. It was fantastic.

So, what did I wear you ask? I wore a pre-ostomy outfit - hell's yeah! The skirt is a smidgy more snug than I would like, but if we are being honest it was way too big in the waist before so it probably actually fits correctly now. My lower abdomen is still swollen and I have a big dippity do right down the middle of my belly :( It is mostly healed over, a small scab remains dead center but should be gone in the next week - they say it will take close to a year for me to "even out". That part kinda makes me sad because my belly was always my favorite part - I had an hourglass shape so my waist was small and my stomach was pretty flat by all measures and now I have this newly formed mountain region on my stomach - bump, dip, bump with a hat (stoma) LOL! It will all come together eventually.

Anywho - on to the fashion part of this blog! What I wore to work today:


Let me say a couple things about this photo - yes, I recently got my hair did :) I am standing on a stepstool, you can see my unmade bed in the background (my mother noticed that in a picture I posted on Facebook that my bed was made so I had to point that out!) and I have a pink iPhone. In exchange for looking at the unmade bed I spared you all from looking at my bras which I removed from that towel bar behind me, but left the wound care spray - go me. I did attempt to stand on the counter but that caused my head to be cut off, which may have not been such a bad idea now that I think about it. NOTE TO SELF - purchase full length mirror to take photos, also get one of those remote picture taker thingies for the iPhone so I don't have to dislocate my shoulder when taking pictures.

So, can you see my ostomy? Would you "know" if you didn't "know"? A great way to camouflage the area is with pattern, today I chose stripes! Also, the top I have on has a band at the bottom - it isn't stretchy but the way that it fits causes the bottom hem to lay just about 1.5" past the waistband of the skirt. A little overlap is good for those days when you are reaching off shelves to retrieve reports and notebooks! The top is sleeveless and if I was going to a picnic or something I would have left it at home, but I was going to work so I needed to cover up. Not to mention I have the remnants of a PICC line on my upper left arm that isn't all that cute to look at, so it is covered as well.

Something else you can't see in this pic are the hella awesome shoes I have on from Very Volatile. I found them in the clearance room at Von Maur forever and day ago and I love them. They are platform wedges and they rock - making my legs look longer and me look taller. Plus, fabulous shoes draw people's eye DOWN to your feet so if you aren't completely comfortable with your ostomy yet it doesn't become the focal point.

There you have it! Cardi-shrug from Old Navy $15, brown top from Talbot's and I have no idea how much becuse I got it eons ago - same for the skirt, it is also Talbot's. I like Talbot's :)

I have Crohn's disease

but it doesn't have me.

In August of 2003 I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease. Crohn's disease is a form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that usually affects the intestines but can occur anywhere from the mouth through the end of the rectum (anus). Sounds fantastic doesn't it? The exact cause of Crohn's disease is unknown *which is why you should support CCFA Take Steps Be Heard! but your genes, environmental factors and the body over-reacting to normal bacteria in the intestines. As an autoimmune disorder, the body's immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys healthy body tissue. It just keeps getting better huh? Crohn's can occur at any age but is most likely to rear it's head between the ages of 15 and 35. Some people are more likely to have Crohn's disease including those with a family history, the Jewish population and smokers. I'll let you guess which of those categories I fall in to.

The delightful symptoms of Crohn's disease can be all of or a combination of crampy abdominal pain, fatigue, fever, diarrhea, constipation, loss of appetite, pain with passing stool, fistulas, mouth ulcers, bloody stools, rectal bleeding and swollen gums. Some people can have very mild and infrequent symptoms while others can have them all at the same time and VERY severe. From reading the above you can imagine that you probably wouldn't recognize someone with Crohn's diasease walking down the street. Heck, you might not even know one of your friends has Crohn's disease - except for the weight loss part which a lot of Crohn's patients would pass off as "dieting" to friends instead of going into the details of their romance with the toilet. Bowel movements aren't an appropriate topic of conversation for most people - unless you are a GI doc, a colo-rectal surgeon, a new parent or an IBD patient. How many times have I heard "but you don't look sick"? More than I can count.

As an IBD patient you get to undergo all kinds of super invasive tests - as if I didn't lose enough modesty having 2 children, it is definitely gone from having Crohn's disease. Colonoscopy, endoscopy, CT with IV and oral contrast, MRI, sigmoidoscopy, upper GI series, barium enemas, etc.

I don't want to bore you with each flare-up of my disease and all my numerous hospital visits because honestly, I don't think I could remember them all without my voluminous medical record. I'll just give you my last stop. In December 2011 I had a total proctocolectomy with end ileostomy - from my colon to my rectum was removed and my hiney was sewn shut. Funny sidenote, the night before surgery I announced I was wiping my butt for the last time....only to arrive at the hospital the next morning to 2 fleet enemas before surgery. So my last butt wiping was actually at the hospital - oh well! Anywho, an ileostomy is a surgical opening constructed by bringing the end of the small intestine (ileum) through the abdominal wall and onto the skin. Intestinal waste passes through the ileostomy into a pouch that I wear on my abdomen and I empty whenever I feel the need, it starts to get full, I am leaving the house, before bed, etc. If I am home all day sometimes I will only empty it twice - depending on what I eat! Mine is located on the right side of my abdomen just to the right of my belly button (or where my belly button used to be!).

So, why did I start this blog? Well - because I want to share that you can still be fashionable with your ileostomy! For the first several weeks after surgery I lived in pajama pants, yoga pants, basically anything with a loose elastic waistband. I was still trying to figure out how this stoma (the part of the small intestine that sticks out of my skin) was going to work and fit into my life. Overtime I eventually wore my first pair of jeans! I combed the internet looking for ostomy apparel - I found LOTS of websites Ostomy Secrets, Vanilla Blush, White Rose Collection Fun Ostomy Belts to name a few, but I was hesitant to spend big bucks on something I wasn't sure was going to work for me. Plus, most of what is out there is focused on undergarments, lingerie and similar things. I wanted to wear what I already had in my closet but I knew I was probably going to have to wear it in a different way - and so Detoured Fashion was born.

So, I look forward to sharing what I find with you! The fashion I share will work for ostomates and non-ostomates alike so be sure to check in and see what I have found and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, leave ideas, suggestions and/or questions in the comments!!! In addition to helping my fellow "osto-mates" (a tip of the hat to my new Aussie friend) I want to help erase the stigma or taboo of the ostomy. I want to make sure the right information is out there for people - no question is too personal and if it is I will let you know!

Under construction

I am so excited to start this new blog adventure! Please stay tuned and bear with me as I tweak and fine tune things just the way I like them. Next up - an intro for those who don't know me or my journey with Crohn's disease. Please share this link with friends and family!!