My Story: How My Stoma Saved My Life – Teigan

04 September, 2026

My name is Teigan Griffiths. I am 21 years old; living with a permanent ileostomy stoma bag.

I never imagined that one day I would be living with a permanent ileostomy and a stoma bag.

For a long time, I believed that having a stoma would mean my life was over. I thought my confidence, my future, my dreams and everything I wanted to achieve would be taken away from me.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Today, I live my life with my stoma, who I call Roma the Stoma, and I can honestly say that she saved my life.

But getting to where I am today was one of the hardest journeys I have ever faced.

Where it all began

Around the age of 15 or 16, I started noticing a change in my bowel habits. At first, I put it down to mild constipation that happened every now and again. I never imagined that something much more serious was happening.

As time went on, I began to realise that I simply wasn’t emptying my bowels. Two or three weeks could pass without me going to the toilet.

I had frequent appointments with my GP and hospital visits. I was prescribed laxatives and different medications for constipation, but despite everything I was taking, my symptoms continued to get worse.

I started experiencing extreme pain in my stomach, particularly after eating or drinking.

Test after test followed.

By the age of 16, I was taking around ten sachets of laxatives a day, alongside a mixture of other medications and treatments. Despite all of this, I could still go three or four weeks without opening my bowels.

The pain became unbearable.

I started losing weight rapidly, which became a huge concern. I spent weeks in hospital receiving treatment and undergoing investigation after investigation, desperately hoping that somebody would find an answer.

By the age of 17, I was in so much pain and discomfort that I could barely leave the house.

My days revolved around pain, medication, laxatives and four enemas a day.

And still, nothing seemed to work.

Eventually, I was prescribed morphine to help control the pain. It made me incredibly drowsy. People could be talking to me and I would be falling asleep halfway through the conversation.

I spent the majority of my day sitting on the toilet, desperately hoping something would happen.

But nothing did.

When my body stopped working

Further investigations eventually showed that the nerves and muscles in my bowel had essentially stopped working. They weren’t doing the job they were supposed to do.

I was told that one possible way of treating my symptoms would be an ileostomy, which would mean having a stoma and wearing a stoma bag.

But my condition was extremely complex.

I was told that the surgery couldn’t be performed at my local hospital and that I would need to go elsewhere. Even then, I was told that I was outside of the catchment area.

By this point, I was incredibly weak.

I weighed just five stone.

I could barely walk.

I relied on my parents for almost everything.

For my family, it was heartbreaking to watch their daughter become so unwell.

I will never forget my parents saying:

“This can’t go on much longer. Our daughter’s life is slipping away from us.”

Those words have stayed with me.

Fighting for my life

Eventually, I was taken into private healthcare, where my condition was seen as urgent.

I was told that I needed the ileostomy operation as soon as possible.

But there was a major problem.

I was so weak and so underweight that operating on me was incredibly risky.

I was put onto TPN in an attempt to build my strength and increase my weight enough to undergo surgery.

Then, things became even more serious.

I developed sepsis, along with abscesses on my lungs.

I became extremely poorly, and there was a possibility that I would need to go to intensive care.

Thankfully, with treatment and a long recovery, I didn’t reach that point.

Despite the TPN and numerous other feeding tubes, I still wasn’t gaining the weight we desperately needed.

Eventually, a date was set for my operation.

At that point, nobody knew for certain whether my stoma would be temporary or permanent.

All I knew was that I needed the surgery.

And I needed it desperately.

Thankfully, I was fortunate enough to have the operation performed under the NHS.

When the surgeons performed the operation, they discovered just how severely affected my bowel was.

It had almost doubled in size and had become so enlarged that there was no option but to remove it.

Looking back now, I feel incredibly fortunate that the operation happened when it did.

I often think about what could have happened if it had been left any longer.

Life after surgery

I woke up with a stoma.

A permanent stoma.

It was a huge adjustment.

After everything I had been through, I finally had the chance to begin rebuilding my life, but my journey still wasn’t over.

I was discharged home.

Unfortunately, the following day I began to deteriorate.

I started vomiting and couldn’t keep anything down — not even my medication.

My family became increasingly concerned, and I was taken to the doctors before being rushed back into hospital.

A CT scan showed that I had a hole, with bleeding and fluid inside my abdomen.

I needed to be rushed back into surgery.

There was even a possibility that I would need an additional stoma.

Thankfully, it didn’t come to that.

The surgeons were able to place drains to deal with the fluid and bleeding.

I remember my dad saying:

“I came home from work that day and I thought again we were going to lose you. I knew something really wasn’t right.”

Those words are difficult to hear, but they remind me just how close my family and I came to losing everything.

Eventually, my recovery started to go well.

And slowly, I began to rebuild my life.

Meet Roma the Stoma

Today, I live my life with Roma the Stoma.

At first, I genuinely didn’t think I would ever adjust to this new way of living.

I worried about my confidence.

I worried about what people would think.

I worried that I wouldn’t be able to do the things I wanted to do.

I worried that my dreams had been taken away from me.

But my stoma didn’t take my life away.

It gave me my life back.

My stoma completely saved my life.

The things I once thought would stop me have actually given me even more determination.

I am now able to live each day to the fullest.

I love travelling. I love keeping busy. I love working hard and challenging myself.

And I am incredibly excited about what the future holds.

Embracing Life With My Stoma

When I first got my stoma, one of my biggest worries was my confidence. I worried about people noticing my bag, how it would look under my clothes and whether I would ever feel comfortable again.

Using a stoma bag cover has really helped me with that. It gives me extra comfort and reassurance, especially when I’m wearing certain clothes, but more importantly, it’s helped me feel like myself again.

Over time, I’ve learnt that I don’t need to hide my stoma. I can embrace it, enjoy life and be proud of how far I’ve come.

My stoma saved my life. It hasn’t stopped me from travelling, working, volunteering, chasing my dreams or enjoying life.

There are still days when I feel self-conscious, and that’s okay. Confidence takes time. But I’ve learnt to focus on what my stoma has given me rather than what I thought it had taken away.

My stoma is part of me, but it doesn’t define me. I’m proud of my journey, proud of Roma the Stoma, and proud to be living life to the fullest.

My dream of becoming a police officer

One of my biggest hopes and dreams has always been to become a police officer.

I am currently a Special Constable with South Wales Police, volunteering my time and gaining experience while working towards my goal of becoming a full-time police officer.

It is something I am incredibly passionate about.

I have always been drawn to the idea that no two days are the same as a police officer. The hard work they put in every single day is something I hugely admire.

I love being busy.

I love working hard.

I love a challenge.

And I want to use my experiences to make a difference.

I don’t give up.

I will do absolutely anything it takes to get where I want to be, and I will always give everything my best effort.

There was a time when I genuinely thought having a stoma meant I had no future.

Now, I look at my life and realise just how wrong I was.

I am doing things I never thought I would be able to do.

And I am only getting started.

My family

I could never tell my story without talking about my family.

They have been by my side throughout every single part of this journey.

It has been heartbreaking for them to witness what I have been through. There were times when they had to watch experiences that no parent should ever have to see their daughter go through.

But somehow, they always managed to remain strong for me.

My mam never left my side during my time in hospital.

I spent five months in hospital, and she was there.

My dad somehow managed to juggle the worry of everything we were going through as a family alongside work, yet he never failed to travel every evening to come and see me in hospital.

They were there through the pain, the uncertainty, the setbacks, the operations, the infections, the fear and the recovery.

They are the reason I have come so far.

They are a huge part of the reason I am the person I am today.

There really are no words to describe how grateful I am to them.

I am so incredibly lucky to have had such an amazing support system around me.

Why I share my story

My main aim now is to spread as much awareness as possible about life with a stoma.

If you had asked me years ago what I thought my life would look like with a stoma, I probably would have told you that my dreams were impossible.

I thought my future had been taken away from me.

Instead, my stoma gave me the determination to achieve those dreams.

It taught me that sometimes the thing you fear the most can become the thing that gives you the most strength.

I want people to know that a stoma does not mean your life is over.

It doesn’t mean your dreams have to disappear.

It doesn’t mean you can’t travel, work, volunteer, have adventures, challenge yourself or achieve the things you’ve always wanted to achieve.

Anything is possible

I also want to reach people who may be struggling in other ways.

There are so many people of all ages who may be struggling physically or mentally, dealing with situations that feel impossible to escape from.

I know what it feels like to be in a very dark place.

I know what it feels like to think that there is no way forward.

But I want people to know something I wish I could have told my younger self:

There is always light at the end of the tunnel.

It takes time.

It takes work.

It isn’t easy.

And sometimes it won’t feel like things are getting better.

But keep going.

Reach out.

Stand up.

Ask for help.

There is so much support available, and there are so many people who genuinely want to help you.

You don’t have to go through it alone.

Believe in yourself.

Keep fighting for the life you want.

Because anything is possible when you refuse to give up.

Looking forward

When I look back at the girl I was at 15 or 16, I hardly recognise her.

She was frightened.

She was in pain.

She was losing weight.

She couldn’t leave the house.

She spent her days in hospital, taking medication and desperately waiting for answers.

At one point, I didn’t know whether I would even have a future.

Today, I have Roma the Stoma.

I have my family.

I have my dreams.

I have my passion for helping others.

I have my role as a Special Constable with South Wales Police.

And I have a future that I am genuinely excited about.

My journey has changed me forever.

But it hasn’t stopped me.

It has made me stronger.

It has given me determination.

It has given me a purpose.

And most importantly, it has shown me that life after a stoma can be a life worth living — a life full of possibility, adventure and dreams.

I am so grateful for where I am today, and I am so excited about where I’m going.

My goal is to have the power to make a difference in my community — to help make life a happier and safer place to be.

If sharing my story can give even one person hope, make one person feel less alone, or help someone believe that their circumstances don’t have to define their future, then everything I have been through will have been worth it.

This is my story.

This is my life.

And I’m only just getting started.

Support From Colostomy UK

We offer a wide range of support for people living with a stoma, including our free Stoma Helpline, live chat support, and opportunities to connect with others through local and online groups. We also provide trusted information and resources to offer practical advice, reassurance, and the confidence to live well with a stoma: colostomyuk.org/support