OVERCOMING OSTOMY
by Johnnie Cason
CHALLENGES
FOUNDER OF OSTOSOLUTIONS, INVENTOR & USER OF THE OSTOMY POUCH DISPOSAL SEAL
Living with an ostomy is a challenge. But in almost all cases, it’s a second chance to
regain our health without dealing with the life-threatening illness or devastating bowel
or urinary problems that lead up to ostomy surgery. I did everything possible to avoid
having a permanent colostomy. Mine has been a long thirty-two year journey, filled with
setbacks and triumphs that have ultimately led to living life to the fullest.
In 1980, I was a healthy 21 year-old college student at Florida State University. I started
having abdominal pain, and was diagnosed with an inoperable grapefruit-sized pelvic
tumor and I was aggressively treated with chemotherapy and radiation. After five months
of chemotherapy and two weeks of radiation to my pelvic area, a tumor-related bowel
blockage was discovered. An abdominal surgery was needed to remove the blockage,
and radiation was restarted. I was given five additional weeks of radiation, resulting in
significantly more radiation than the usual protocol. At the same time, a new regimen
of chemotherapy was started since the first combination of drugs had no effect on the
tumor.
Eight months into treatment, my doctors told me that the treatments had failed and
that I had only three months to live. Despite this prognosis, I never gave up hope and
continued on with chemotherapy. Finally, after a year of chemotherapy, I received the first
positive news since being diagnosed. A CT scan revealed all that remained of the tumor
was scar tissue.
The recovery from treatment was slow, the road back to health was hard, but I was
alive and determined to pick back up where I left off. I graduated from Florida State,
got married, and despite having been told I wouldn’t be able to have children due to the
cancer treatments, I have two beautiful daughters.
As I was busy with my career and raising a family, I lived with significant urinary and
bowel functionality problems for many years.
Over time, the treatments that saved my life had taken their toll. In 2002, I developed a
complex condition related to radiation damage that could only be fixed with surgery. A
colo-rectal reconstructive surgery was performed that resulted in an ileostomy, designed
to be temporary during the healing process.
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