Crohn’s sufferer who felt ‘hideous’ after having a stoma bag fitted shares candid photos to help others with the disease 

A 28-year-old woman has proudly posed in her underwear to prove that her stoma bag – which she nicknamed Steve – is nothing to be ashamed of.

Lisa Carvell, from Winslow, Milton Keynes, said she initially felt ‘hideous’ when her diagnosis of Crohn’s disease – a chronic condition causing inflammation of the lining of the digestive system – meant she had to wear an ileostomy bag.

But, after giving it a light-hearted nickname and posting comedy pictures online, she grew more accepting of her bag and is now urging others to do the same.

 

A 28-year-old woman has proudly posed in her underwear to prove that her stoma bag – which she nicknamed Steve – is nothing to be ashamed of.

Lisa Carvell, from Winslow, Milton Keynes, said she initially felt ‘hideous’ when her diagnosis of Crohn’s disease – a chronic condition causing inflammation of the lining of the digestive system – meant she had to wear an ileostomy bag.

But, after giving it a light-hearted nickname and posting comedy pictures online, she grew more accepting of her bag and is now urging others to do the same.

As frustrating as using a stoma bag was at first, I thought “I have to do this, no one is going to do it for me”,’ said Miss Carvell, a brand specialist.

‘I have broken down so many times and felt hideous, but my boyfriend Aaron Watson, 27, took it all in his stride.

‘He said he loved me before and he still loves me now, and told me that I’m still the same person.

‘Naming my bag made it feel a bit more accepting. My friends are open-minded and embraced Steve too.

‘They’d ask how Steve and I are. We’re like a little duo.’

Miss Carvell – who has now had her stoma bag removed, but is raising money and awareness for charities associated with the disease – first became ill back in 2008. Suffering from bad acid reflux, every time she ate something it burned at the back of her throat.

She sought medical help and was placed on some tablets to soothe the pain.

But, her stomach cramps continued for two years, during which time she went back and forth to doctors – but she said they did not know what it was.

Eventually, things got so bad she could barely walk.

She recalled: ‘I was in agony. I went to my GP and collapsed in his surgery.

‘He admitted me to Milton Keynes University Hospital in Eaglestone that night, where I remained for a week.’

At hospital, Miss Carvell had an ultrasound scan and a colonoscopy – a test that allows the doctor to look at the inner lining of your large intestine.

Then in October 2010, she was officially diagnosed with Crohn’s disease.

‘By that point I had it in the back of my mind that it was Crohn’s, as I’d done some research,’ she said.

When they told me I was relieved in a way to have an answer for exactly what it was.

‘At the same time though, I was in shock, thinking about how serious it was and that it was incurable.