Will you dare to show off your body in a swimsuit with a stoma bag attached to the abdomen? Anyway, why Emma Otsuji Pickles, a 42 years old British and Japanese woman, dares to present herself with that bag on her body because most Ostomy patients feel embarrassed and keep it a secret. As a model, Emma posed photos in a swimsuit hoping to inspire those who share the same illness to be proud and motivated to live their lives like ordinary people. She also wants society to understand how challenging those patients live in this world. Emma wishes that her awareness could raise society to accept more people’s differences.

Ostomate is a patient who has severe bowel condition that the feces or stool can’t pass through the anus, and has undergone a surgical procedure to create an opening in the body that will be used to discharge wastes, so there’s a small pore that looks like a mouth stuck on the abdomen which in fact is the end of intestine or ‘stoma’ in medical term, to allow waste (feces or stool) diverted out of the patient’s body, not through the wounded area. That makes the patients feel uncomfortable with the stoma bag on their abdomen all the time. Cleaning or changing a new bag is quite difficult as bleeding sometimes occurs during putting on and taking off, and may cause infection. One thing that really hurts patients is mental health and embarrassment to have a stool bag on their abdomen and most bags are transparent so mental support is truly essential for those patients.

Ostomate may happen from several causes, such as colon cancer or gastrointestinal cancer, intestinal obstruction, any injury that hurts the digestive system, or birth defects, for example; no anus, toxic megacolon, the abdominal wall is not closed. Most children with Ostomate at birth hide their abnormality because they’re timid and are afraid of being bullied in schools. They're about 210,000 Ostomy patients now in Japan and it’s expected to continuously increase more in the near future. In Thailand, Thammasat University Hospital also states that the number of patients has risen every year to about 80-100 people per year.


Emma Otsuji Pickles developed Ostomate at the age of 38 and her life has dramatically changed since then. Emma who loves dressing up has to wear men's boxers now instead of pretty feminine lingerie. She can no longer wear her favorite Tight dresses because a stoma bag on her abdomen will be protruded. Moreover, she’s a single mom who gains tremendous positive energy from her 8-year-old son. Later, her attitude towards herself and Ostomate has changed when she saw a picture of Amber, a British model with the same disease who shows off her body in a bikini and a stoma bag but that bag is a solid in color so the waste is invisible. Amber has inspired Emma to be courageous to disclose her identity and her body, and to tell the world that Ostomy patients are able to live a life with confidence.

Emma decided to talk to the manufacturer of Stoma bag, a monopoly company in Japan to share her needs and problems about using the bag. The Stoma bag made in Japan is transparent to allow patients to check what’s in there. She proposed the company change it to solid color. She visited the company team many times to convince them to understand the difficulties the patients are facing, and the solid bag can hide unpleasant waste so they can wear it without embarrassment. So far, the company admitted that they didn’t talk to many patients and they finally followed Emma’s suggestion as they profoundly knew the patient’s needs. Emma said that Ostomy patients sacrificed a lot of things in life and she wants to tell them that they can overcome their illness and live a normal life without bashfulness. She believes that patients can own happy life after chronic pain.


When the solid bag launched, Emma started making a fashion photoshoot for that company with the new Stoma bag attached to the abdomen. The reason behind this is to raise awareness to the society that there are quite a number of Ostomy patients and to share her story through NHK TV Channel which gained massive and positive feedback. Many comments said they never heard about Ostomate and admired Emma’s courage for disclosing her body while carrying that disease; thus, society has eventually changed their attitude towards Ostomate. After the NHK broadcast, a family with a 4 years old daughter who developed Ostomate at birth, contacted NHK that they wanted to see Emma personally. Emma met the girl for motivation and put the sticker on Stoma's solid bag and then gave it to her as a gift. The girl thought that she was the only Ostomy patient in the world and now Emma is her friend so she’s inspired and doesn’t feel being left out anymore.

The world is full of variety. It’s important to accept difference and, especially to treat those who must fight against severe disease with empathy. Today, we may be in good health and live a normal life but we never know when a bad day will come and change our entire life like Emma. Holding health insurance is essential to ensure your wellbeing in every step of your life and help you when confronting critical diseases. Apply for health insurance now to secure your health in the future. Study about health insurance in detail at https://www.scb.co.th/en/personal-banking/insurance/health-insurance.html
 

Pictures from https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ondemand/video/5003166/


References

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ondemand/video/5003166/

https://www.hospital.tu.ac.th/nursing/CoP/CoP/elearning/2%20%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%94%E0%B8%B9%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%A5%E0%B8%9C%E0%B8%B9%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%9B%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%97%E0%B8%B5%E0%B9%88%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%82%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%9A%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%9C%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%95%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%94%E0%B8%97%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A3%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%97%E0%B8%B5%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%A1.pdf