My biggest problem was that I hated what I saw when I looked in the mirror, I hated the bag, I hated my body, but most of all I hated me. I never wanted sympathy; I just wanted someone to understand. After some counselling, I was told to name my Stoma so that when problems happen, I was blaming something other than myself, this has really helped me over the years, and 12 years on me and ‘Squirt’ are now best friends.