I’m Isabella – a chronically ill, chronic reader, with a stoma bag named Stomas the Stank Engine. Yes, he has a name. I’ve been sick since I was little, which is why I escaped through books and never came back. My bookshelf is my happy place. When I’m not reading, I’m probably watching Carlton lose, playing Sims or crying and wheezing to Taylor Swift like it’s a sport.

I’m a Virgo, a cat person, and fiercely love fictional characters as if they were real. My stoma is a star on TikTok, and that’s where I document the highs and lows of being an ostomate.

The prospect of becoming an ostomate had been an option for nearly my whole life, and it's one that I ran from for many years. It always felt impossible, like the absolute worst-case scenario. I went into my surgery kicking and screaming and came out a whole new version of me.

Two years ago, my life changed forever when I came out of surgery with a stoma bag. I slowly but surely came to terms with my new normal, and with trial and error, I found a routine that works for me. I decided that having a stoma bag was something I did not want to feel ashamed of, and that it wasn’t a secret I wanted to keep.

I documented my entire journey, from pre op to post op. Some days I cannot believe how much having my ‘worst case scenario’ has changed my life, in the best way possible.