Welcome Margaret!

Hi Guys,
So today I have some big news to tell you all.
After months of battling to get the old Crohn's under control, we have really run out medical options, this means that nothing is really keeping the disease stable and under control. The only option that is left to go down is surgery.
So, pretty soon I will be welcoming Margaret in to my life. Margaret will be an ileostomy bag. Now, I have so far only told three friends and my boyfriend that Margie would be joining us as it was only going to be a temporary thing. However, it is now looking like she is going to stick around for a while longer so I've decided it's time to welcome her to the public. If I am not okay with Margie and having Crohn's then how can I expect others to be. On hearing that I would need this surgery my wonderful boyfriend's first reaction was what we could name it. He came up with Margaret, 'Margie' for short. Unfortunately this also happens to be the name of my consultant... but there is no link and we definitely won't be telling her. Bit awkward. My family continue to be amazing but Matt really has been incredible about this news, he hasn't batted an eyelid at the thought of it all and continues to be my rock through everything. He has turned something which could turn my life upside down in to something funny and light hearted. I can't thank him enough for this.
Margaret will be joining me at some point this Summer, to give my poor bowel a break. It is a pretty huge life style change but on hearing the news I kind of laughed, and I think humour is really the only way forward. As much as it is far from ideal, Margie will give me my life back! I will be healthy for longer than a few months for the first time since I was 15, which is huge! I will be able to hold down a job, complete all my dream internships and finish my degree without interruption, and one day be able to have kids without having to stress about the next flare up. I will be able to pretty much do everything I want to do, and will get to lead a completely normal life. Something I haven't really been able to do till now. Weighing things up, it is a good thing.
Now, an ileostomy is very similar to a colostomy, which most people have heard of, it is just a bit higher up in the digestive track. But, the fundamentals are the same. I will have a stoma created and have a bag (about the size of your hand) fitted to the outside of my body.
I still have a lot to get my head around the main thing being NEVER POOING OR FARTING AGAIN! (Something Matt is definitely not complaining about). I am only at the start of a long road to healthy Gabi but I hope to document my journey with Margaret on this blog and raise awareness for people living with ostomy bags (it is way more common than you might think). I am having lots of lovely tests done at the moment to get ready for this surgery and will write about these soon. If anyone reading this has any questions please ask. I won't be offended or grossed out, please ask away :)

Lots of love xxx