Erin Goodwin is in good spirits despite having no colon or rectum and battling ulcerative colitis which almost cost her her life twice at just 26.
Now 10 years, four stomas and 12 surgeries later the Gosnells resident won the Global Health Award last month and opened up about living with a permanent stoma and ostomy bag.
Ms Goodwin said the stigma associated with having an ileostomy or colostomy, which is a bowel bag attached to the abdomen was too much for some people who end up choosing death instead.
“I felt isolated and hated myself, I cried every time I looked at my naked body in the mirror, I never wanted anyone else to feel this way,” she said.
She said the picture of an ostomate, someone with an ostomy, was an old person who had survived bowel cancer and she spent years struggling through the changes associated with living full time with an ostomy bag, originally pinning all her hopes on a reversal procedure called a j-pouch where a new rectum was made out of her small intestine.
However after many failed procedures and for quality of life getting a permanent ileostomy and a ‘Barbie Butt’ was her only option.
“The only difference between my butt and yours is that yours stores poop and gas where mine is purely for viewing pleasure,” she said.
Since her multiple surgeries Ms Goodwin has been passionate about helping other ostomates regain the same quality of life and confidence within themselves.
She has been involved with the WA Ostomy Association, has started local groups and a blog called InsideOut Ostomy Life.
Ms Goodwin was also the youngest president of WAOA and the first ever youth ambassador for the Australian Council of Stoma Associations.
She said she wanted to show other that she was stronger than before and no longer took life for granted.
“I honestly didn’t believe I could endure something like this until I had no choice but to if I wanted to survive,” she said.
“You are stronger than you believe possible so don’t give up on you.
“I’m stronger, fitter and healthier than before surgery and I let my ostomy stop me from nothing I truly desire to do, if anything I use it as a reason to do more, as without it I wouldn’t be alive to enjoy life.”
