Each and every year I am learning that time with family is important. I am now spending more time with my family because I know that I have less time now to spend with him. It is a simple part of growing up and it surprises me every single time. I love spending time with my family and especially when I am able to do it in places that my father loves. This means that going to the woods and hunting is most likely going to be the goal for me and my father to spend time together. For me, I was a bit worried at first because I have a stoma. I was a little unsure if this was going to be a safe thing to do in the long run, but all my fears were really just that, fears. Being with my father was important and I was not going to let my stoma stand in the way of having fun and being together.
My goal was to get my body into shape to be able to be out in the woods with my father and enjoy what I loved doing. Being new to the whole idea of an ostomy I learned everything I could from my Nurse and Doctors. They were amazing on daily care and nightly of course. I was most interested in nighttime activities and most worried about those at first. I think most people feel the same thing and worry the most about our personal looks and how to deal with them when you just get out of surgery or right before you go in. I researched all the time and I suggest you do the same.
Don't fall down rabbit holes, but look everywhere. I first decided to go to the library and see what books were available. I have found that when it comes to history, someone has always done what you have and most likely way better. Just think, I wanted to know how people coped with stomas in the wild in the past. Because their journey would be similar only with much less technological gear. That is also a big motivational boost because I am able to know that it can be done without all the amazing gear we have today. The honest truth is that so many people did incredible things with stoma's that by the end of my reading for a weekend I felt pretty stupid.
It was time to hit the gym and get into a real shape with a real plan. This meant slowly working out and getting my abs in shape. This is so much harder then I thought, but I talked to many pharmacists and even a large manufacturer to get some active gear that would work for my body. I ended up with some smaller athletic bags and also some cool belt setups to keep everything from shifting on my body.
