Latest / Tom's Hirschsprung's Podcast / Episode 115 - With Hana Walker
Transcript
- 0:02Speaker 1: You are listening to Tom's Hirshprung's Podcast, a space where
- 0:05Speaker 1: we talk openly about living with Hirshprung's disease. Whether you
- 0:09Speaker 1: live with it, care for someone who has it, or
- 0:12Speaker 1: just want to understand more, this podcast is for you.
- 0:15Speaker 1: Each episode, we will explore real stories and honest conversations
- 0:19Speaker 1: about a condition that often goes unheard. Thank you for
- 0:22Speaker 1: tuning in. Hello, and welcome to episode one hundred and
- 0:48Speaker 1: fifteen of Tom's Hirshprungs Podcast. I joined this evening by Hannah,
- 0:54Speaker 1: and we have a fascinating story to tell. Welcome to
- 0:58Speaker 1: the podcast, Hannah, Thank you.
- 1:01Speaker 2: I'm so excited to be here and share my stories.
- 1:04Speaker 2: Thank you.
- 1:05Speaker 1: It's it's a fascinating one and obviously I'll let you
- 1:09Speaker 1: let you tell it and get into it, but it's
- 1:13Speaker 1: it's story. I think people will really it's possibly can't
- 1:17Speaker 1: even believe it's that sort of it's that incredible. I
- 1:22Speaker 1: guess incredible might be the word. But but yeah, I
- 1:25Speaker 1: guess it's up to you kind of where you want
- 1:27Speaker 1: to start from. But over to you. Thank you. Yeah.
- 1:31Speaker 2: So I feel like I have some notes because I
- 1:34Speaker 2: wanted to try and keep everything in chronological order because
- 1:37Speaker 2: I feel like I can get all over the place
- 1:39Speaker 2: really easily. But I'm twenty four. I have always since
- 1:46Speaker 2: I was young. I always had these like chronic stomach
- 1:50Speaker 2: issues from the time I was young. I think my
- 1:52Speaker 2: earliest memory was maybe age four, and I mean up
- 1:57Speaker 2: and like from newborn to age four, I don't really
- 2:00Speaker 2: have any memories. But talking to my parents, they said
- 2:03Speaker 2: I was pretty normal. I was born in a birthing center,
- 2:07Speaker 2: so I wasn't born in a hospital, so they didn't
- 2:09Speaker 2: have nurses and doctors coming to check on me and
- 2:12Speaker 2: be like did she did she poop? Like all that,
- 2:15Speaker 2: So they I was born at three pm in the
- 2:18Speaker 2: birthing center and my parents were home by six pm,
- 2:22Speaker 2: so they didn't really they were like, yeah, she's good.
- 2:25Speaker 2: Good the ghost. So I went home and my mom
- 2:28Speaker 2: said the midwife came maybe a couple days later and
- 2:31Speaker 2: was like how's she doing? Like how is she looking?
- 2:34Speaker 2: How are you feeling?
- 2:35Speaker 1: All that?
- 2:35Speaker 2: So I actually did pass school as a new born.
- 2:40Speaker 2: I don't know how much, but I think I'll get
- 2:44Speaker 2: into this later, but I think that's why my doctors
- 2:47Speaker 2: were like, definitely can't be hershrungs like you passed the
- 2:50Speaker 2: stool when you were a baby, Like that's one of
- 2:52Speaker 2: the major things they look for. So I think since
- 2:56Speaker 2: I did pass the school, they were like, hey, she's good.
- 2:59Speaker 2: So I I don't know. Growing up, I always had
- 3:04Speaker 2: like chronic pain and like just this constant bloating and fatigue.
- 3:10Speaker 2: I was always tired. I was very active as a kid,
- 3:13Speaker 2: but I remember like coming home from school and saying,
- 3:16Speaker 2: I need to take a nap. I'm exhausted, and my
- 3:18Speaker 2: mom's like, you're seven, Like why are you so tired?
- 3:21Speaker 2: And I just I have a memory of coming home
- 3:25Speaker 2: from school and my stomach was hurting really really badly,
- 3:29Speaker 2: and I was I like was leaned over the couch
- 3:32Speaker 2: and I was kind of like rocking back and forth
- 3:34Speaker 2: like a laboring mom. And my mom delivers babies, and
- 3:37Speaker 2: she's like, you look like you're like a laboring mom.
- 3:40Speaker 2: And my doctors were saying, like maybe that's her way
- 3:44Speaker 2: of trying to like get things moving because I was
- 3:47Speaker 2: so like constipated and I had so much backed up
- 3:51Speaker 2: in there that like that movement kind of helped me
- 3:54Speaker 2: like be able to pass a little bit of stool.
- 3:57Speaker 2: But I from a young age, like I was on laxatives.
- 4:01Speaker 2: I was taking me relax like twice a day. My
- 4:05Speaker 2: doctors were like, I don't know, like it's definitely not hershprungs,
- 4:09Speaker 2: like that was ruled out. When I was a kid,
- 4:13Speaker 2: I had a workup done it Children's hospital. I think
- 4:16Speaker 2: I was about eight years old, and they did some testing.
- 4:19Speaker 2: I don't really remember what it was, but I think
- 4:22Speaker 2: they did like two procedures and they were like, it's
- 4:26Speaker 2: definitely not hersprungs. And they were at Children's hospital, so
- 4:29Speaker 2: I think kind of specialized in that. I'm not too sure,
- 4:31Speaker 2: but they were like, it's not that, so let's just
- 4:35Speaker 2: keep her on like the same laxative regimen. And nothing
- 4:39Speaker 2: was working. I remember like I would just always it
- 4:43Speaker 2: would be coming out the other end, like I would
- 4:44Speaker 2: be sick, like throwing up, but it wasn't working down there.
- 4:50Speaker 2: So as a kid, obviously I don't want to be
- 4:53Speaker 2: drinking that stuff. I don't want to be taking pills
- 4:56Speaker 2: at like nine years old, so I would hide the pills.
- 5:00Speaker 2: I would pretend to drink my medicine. And my parents
- 5:04Speaker 2: and I had the like a really kind of interesting
- 5:08Speaker 2: relationship growing up because they were like, we want to
- 5:11Speaker 2: help you, and we want to make you feel better.
- 5:13Speaker 2: But I was like, the medicine's not working and like
- 5:16Speaker 2: no one's listening. So I went to the same pediatrician
- 5:20Speaker 2: until I was like eighteen, and then I started seeing
- 5:23Speaker 2: a new doctor at a new hospital and I got
- 5:27Speaker 2: a GI specialist I think when I was like nineteen
- 5:30Speaker 2: or twenty, and same testing, like let's do a colonoscopy
- 5:35Speaker 2: and endoscopy, like all of these things, and they were
- 5:38Speaker 2: like the findings are normal. Like they'd show me the
- 5:41Speaker 2: report and be like everything's normal, and it's not this,
- 5:44Speaker 2: it's not that. So I think it was really frustrating,
- 5:48Speaker 2: especially as I got older, because I was like, obviously,
- 5:52Speaker 2: if I could have this not happen, I would want that,
- 5:56Speaker 2: Like I don't want to be in chronic pain. I'll
- 5:58Speaker 2: try all these medications. But I think constantly doing that
- 6:03Speaker 2: was just doing like more damage to my body in
- 6:05Speaker 2: the end, because I was like taking all of these
- 6:09Speaker 2: medications and none of it was working. So it was
- 6:12Speaker 2: kind of just this cycle that I was stuck in.
- 6:15Speaker 2: And I when I was about twenty, I was out
- 6:20Speaker 2: with my friends and I had to go to the
- 6:23Speaker 2: bathroom but I couldn't pee. I couldn't urinate. So I
- 6:27Speaker 2: was really worried because I was like, this is really weird.
- 6:29Speaker 2: Like obviously I'm consummating all the time, like I can't
- 6:33Speaker 2: like pass any stool, but I was like, why can't
- 6:37Speaker 2: I pee? That's really weird. So I was like sitting
- 6:39Speaker 2: there for ten minutes, nothing was coming out. I was
- 6:42Speaker 2: so in pain. I like my belly was really distended.
- 6:45Speaker 2: I was super uncomfortable. I went home, ended up going
- 6:49Speaker 2: to the er and they gave me a catheter and
- 6:51Speaker 2: drained out like two leaders of urine. So I think
- 6:56Speaker 2: within the span of maybe like six hours, I accumulated
- 7:00Speaker 2: that much and then it wasn't coming out. So they
- 7:03Speaker 2: were super worried, but they ended up sending me home
- 7:06Speaker 2: with the catheter in. I came back a couple of
- 7:08Speaker 2: days later had it removed, and I mean, it's an er.
- 7:12Speaker 2: So I told them about like my chronic constipation, and
- 7:16Speaker 2: they did an ultrasound and they were like, we can
- 7:19Speaker 2: see that all of this stool is really compacted and
- 7:23Speaker 2: it's kind of weighing on your your like other organs,
- 7:27Speaker 2: and that's why you weren't able to pee. So that
- 7:31Speaker 2: was really scary. That was the first time that that
- 7:34Speaker 2: happened to me, and I think it was kind of
- 7:36Speaker 2: a realization of like this is getting really bad and
- 7:39Speaker 2: affecting me in a way but had never affected me before.
- 7:44Speaker 2: So that happened again like six months later, and then
- 7:48Speaker 2: like a couple months later, and I was in the
- 7:50Speaker 2: urgent care and emergency room a lot for not being
- 7:54Speaker 2: able to urinate. So I ended up switching insurance when
- 7:58Speaker 2: I was about almost almost twenty two, I think, and
- 8:03Speaker 2: I saw a new GI doctor and then she was like,
- 8:08Speaker 2: I'm out of options. I don't know what to do,
- 8:10Speaker 2: Like we've done all the testing, we've done, like all
- 8:13Speaker 2: the medications, like we don't know what it is. And
- 8:16Speaker 2: she kind of just like sent me on my merry way,
- 8:18Speaker 2: and I was crying to my mom and I'm like,
- 8:20Speaker 2: this is so frustrating, Like I became such an advocate
- 8:23Speaker 2: for myself, but I feel like I don't know. I
- 8:27Speaker 2: felt like I wasn't being heard and kind of just
- 8:30Speaker 2: like okay, like you'll figure it out, like it's nothing
- 8:32Speaker 2: like too serious, even though I feel like it was
- 8:35Speaker 2: really serious. So one thing I will like jump back
- 8:40Speaker 2: to since I was a kid, I always I was
- 8:43Speaker 2: chronically constipated, and I had something called enco paresis, which
- 8:47Speaker 2: is like the leaking around the stool and the colons.
- 8:51Speaker 2: So as a kid and growing up as like a
- 8:54Speaker 2: teenager and stuff experiencing that and always having like anxiety,
- 9:00Speaker 2: and it came to like the bathroom where like anything
- 9:02Speaker 2: like that. Like I feel like my childhood was really
- 9:06Speaker 2: different because I wasn't going to sleepovers, I wasn't going
- 9:09Speaker 2: to the pool. I wasn't like, I didn't like going.
- 9:11Speaker 1: To the beach.
- 9:11Speaker 2: I didn't I was really embarrassed. And I think it
- 9:15Speaker 2: kind of goes back to like my parents and I
- 9:17Speaker 2: relationship where they were like why are you doing this?
- 9:21Speaker 2: And I'm like, I'm a teenager, Like if I could
- 9:24Speaker 2: help it, of course I would. It's like so embarrassing
- 9:27Speaker 2: and really hard. So that was like my main concern,
- 9:32Speaker 2: especially growing up in my twenties. I was like, I
- 9:35Speaker 2: can't be living like this, Like my quality of life
- 9:39Speaker 2: was just awful. So when I met with the GI doctor,
- 9:42Speaker 2: I was explaining to her all of my concerns. I
- 9:45Speaker 2: was like, I honestly will try anything that I haven't
- 9:48Speaker 2: tried already, and she was just like, I don't know
- 9:52Speaker 2: what else to do. So I met with a colorectal
- 9:56Speaker 2: surgeon and it was my first time ever meeting with
- 10:00Speaker 2: the one, so I didn't really know what to expect.
- 10:02Speaker 2: I knew a surgery was probably in my future, I
- 10:05Speaker 2: just didn't know what kind. And met with him. He
- 10:10Speaker 2: did like just a normal like work up exam, and
- 10:13Speaker 2: he's like, Okay, obviously they've ruled out X y Z,
- 10:17Speaker 2: let's talk about the other options. And the first thing
- 10:20Speaker 2: he brought up to me was the awest tome bag
- 10:23Speaker 2: and he's like, you know, if you've tried everything up
- 10:27Speaker 2: to this point, nothing's worked like I could do this
- 10:32Speaker 2: for you, like it's worked for like a lot of
- 10:34Speaker 2: my other patients that experience symptoms similar to yours. And
- 10:39Speaker 2: I was crying. And I think I was crying because
- 10:42Speaker 2: I was nervous, of course, but I think it was
- 10:44Speaker 2: like a relief that maybe something could finally work for me.
- 10:49Speaker 2: So that was in May of twenty twenty four, and
- 10:54Speaker 2: my surgery was scheduled for October. He was super busy
- 10:57Speaker 2: and backed up with the surgeries and everything like that,
- 11:00Speaker 2: so he was like, if you can get through these
- 11:01Speaker 2: next couple months, which you know, living my whole life
- 11:04Speaker 2: and having to go a couple more months wasn't a huge.
- 11:07Speaker 1: Deal, but.
- 11:09Speaker 2: Yeah, that time came. I went to the hospital. They
- 11:13Speaker 2: admitted me like a couple days prior. They had me
- 11:16Speaker 2: try and drink go lightly. They had me try and
- 11:20Speaker 2: drink a bunch of you know, laxative maxge tray all
- 11:23Speaker 2: those fun things, and nothing was working. So he's like, Okay,
- 11:26Speaker 2: we tried it. That was the last time we'll ever
- 11:29Speaker 2: do that. And then I had my awesome surgery on
- 11:33Speaker 2: October tenth of twenty twenty four, and yeah, so it's
- 11:38Speaker 2: been over a year now, but it's it's crazy. I
- 11:42Speaker 2: feel like that I never thought that that would be
- 11:45Speaker 2: the thing that fixed me. But I woke up and
- 11:49Speaker 2: obviously looking at that bag on my stomach, it was
- 11:53Speaker 2: really hard. I feel like I never I never thought
- 11:56Speaker 2: it would have come to something like that. But I'm
- 11:59Speaker 2: very grateful and I've been living the last like year
- 12:02Speaker 2: and couple months pain free for the most part. I've
- 12:06Speaker 2: only been to the doctor like a couple times since
- 12:09Speaker 2: then for like checkups and everything, but the bloating and
- 12:12Speaker 2: the fatigue and nausea and all that is gone. I'm
- 12:16Speaker 2: not on any medications. I can live a pretty normal
- 12:20Speaker 2: life now, So it's really crazy just thinking about where
- 12:25Speaker 2: I came from and where I am now and how
- 12:27Speaker 2: long it took, of course, but yeah, my colorectal surgeon
- 12:32Speaker 2: was the one that diagnosed me with hershprungs, and yeah,
- 12:37Speaker 2: so I think it was it was relieving to get
- 12:40Speaker 2: an answer and kind of like, this is what's wrong,
- 12:43Speaker 2: and you know, like even though it took us up
- 12:46Speaker 2: until this point, this is what you have and this
- 12:50Speaker 2: is how we can help you. And there, Yeah, I
- 12:53Speaker 2: still don't know how I made it this far. He
- 12:56Speaker 2: doesn't really know either, but yeah, yeah, I guess that's
- 13:01Speaker 2: kind of all of it in a nutshell. But I've
- 13:03Speaker 2: been living really really like my quality of life has
- 13:08Speaker 2: improved a lot since getting my AST. Me so super
- 13:12Speaker 2: grateful for that.
- 13:13Speaker 1: But yeah, wow, I mean that sounds like enormous amount
- 13:19Speaker 1: to go through for well over twenty years. And I
- 13:23Speaker 1: think one important part you made at the start was
- 13:27Speaker 1: that you passed the mconium, which I know and you
- 13:31Speaker 1: know as well, is it's something where the symptom of
- 13:37Speaker 1: hirshprungs is obviously not passing them maconium. But I think
- 13:40Speaker 1: it's also really important to note that it's not the
- 13:43Speaker 1: be all end all of herd brumps because you passed
- 13:47Speaker 1: the mcconium. I passed mcconium as well, so it's not
- 13:51Speaker 1: it's you can do that and still have hirshprungs. So
- 13:56Speaker 1: when was because you mentioned the hirshprungs was constantly ruled
- 14:00Speaker 1: out throughout your childhood. It's like, well, you can't have it,
- 14:03Speaker 1: you can't have it, you can't have it. When was
- 14:05Speaker 1: sort of the first time it was brought up and
- 14:09Speaker 1: then kind of dismissed. Was that really early on or
- 14:12Speaker 1: was it just a constant throughout?
- 14:15Speaker 2: I would say it was kind of early on. I think.
- 14:19Speaker 2: I think I was at the doctor all the time
- 14:21Speaker 2: as a young kid and like a toddler and growing
- 14:24Speaker 2: up and stuff. But my earliest memory of like age
- 14:27Speaker 2: seven or eight, when I went to Children's Hospital and
- 14:30Speaker 2: I had that whole work up done there and they
- 14:33Speaker 2: did a bunch of testing. I think that was the
- 14:34Speaker 2: first time since you know, probably like my doctor in
- 14:38Speaker 2: the very beginning when I was just born, said no,
- 14:41Speaker 2: it's not hrshprungs. We heard it again at Children's and
- 14:44Speaker 2: they were like, it can't be hershrungs, like if she
- 14:47Speaker 2: passed the stool as a baby, and you know she's
- 14:51Speaker 2: going like she's passing stool still, like it can't be hershruns.
- 14:56Speaker 2: But I was even as a kid, only pooping like
- 15:01Speaker 2: once every week maybe or like every as I got older,
- 15:05Speaker 2: it got really bad. I think I was going like
- 15:08Speaker 2: once every almost two weeks, and it was painful and
- 15:12Speaker 2: not fun.
- 15:14Speaker 1: Doesn't sound like a lot of fun at all.
- 15:16Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, that's And.
- 15:20Speaker 1: Obviously you know, and I know that you are a
- 15:24Speaker 1: huge advocate for you know, speak up and oustomes and
- 15:30Speaker 1: for if something doesn't feel right then saying that it
- 15:34Speaker 1: doesn't feel right. And obviously from a young age you
- 15:38Speaker 1: knew you knew that, so that something wasn't right. You
- 15:41Speaker 1: know you're only going once every week and a half,
- 15:44Speaker 1: ten days, two weeks, whatever it is. Yeah, you know
- 15:47Speaker 1: that something's not right. That must be so frustrating to
- 15:50Speaker 1: then be told by different specialists that you know, it's, oh, well,
- 15:59Speaker 1: you know, there's nothing we can do. Was there a
- 16:01Speaker 1: point of view that thought, well, is this just me?
- 16:04Speaker 1: Is this just like yeah, how my life is going
- 16:07Speaker 1: to be forever?
- 16:08Speaker 2: Yeah? One hundred percent. I think I got to a
- 16:12Speaker 2: time in my life where I think I was like
- 16:14Speaker 2: a teenager. I was probably in like middle school, and
- 16:17Speaker 2: I was like, Okay, obviously, if this were happening when
- 16:20Speaker 2: I was a kid, I would have probably been better
- 16:23Speaker 2: by now. It probably would have just fixed itself, or
- 16:26Speaker 2: if something was seriously wrong, I would have been told so.
- 16:29Speaker 2: And I kind of just was like is it in
- 16:32Speaker 2: my head? Like am I making it worse? Like am
- 16:35Speaker 2: I doing this on purpose? And that was again a
- 16:39Speaker 2: huge thing with my parents. They were like, you're a teenager,
- 16:43Speaker 2: like get it together. We potty trained you or tried
- 16:45Speaker 2: to potty train you, and obviously it didn't work. And
- 16:48Speaker 2: I don't blame them. I think it's it's really hard
- 16:51Speaker 2: with hirsh Bruns, I think too, because but really just
- 16:55Speaker 2: any any like illness. I don't really know, but like
- 16:59Speaker 2: I think it was really hard. There was a lot
- 17:01Speaker 2: of back and forth of like, Okay, if you can
- 17:03Speaker 2: fix this, like fix it, you can walk to the bathroom,
- 17:06Speaker 2: you can go and not have accidents and not leak
- 17:10Speaker 2: in like your underwear and all this stuff. But I
- 17:13Speaker 2: was I feel like I was constantly like no, like
- 17:16Speaker 2: it's something more, something that's out of my control. And
- 17:20Speaker 2: I was told to try like a number of things,
- 17:23Speaker 2: like change your diet, try like maybe it's stress, maybe
- 17:27Speaker 2: it's anxiety. I was even in therapy from a really
- 17:30Speaker 2: young age, and they thought that could fix it. But
- 17:33Speaker 2: obviously it was something way deeper than that.
- 17:36Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, and again that's come back to that word again, frustration.
- 17:41Speaker 1: That's got to be when you know that something is
- 17:44Speaker 1: physically the matter, you know that something is physically not right,
- 17:49Speaker 1: but you're being told it's it's an emotional issue, it's
- 17:53Speaker 1: a mental issue. It's this, that and the other. I
- 17:56Speaker 1: can't and it's almost I don't know about the gas
- 17:59Speaker 1: lighting is the right word. Possibly it is the right word.
- 18:03Speaker 1: It's that No, actually yeah, it is the right word.
- 18:07Speaker 1: But it being told constantly that you're the one that's wrong,
- 18:13Speaker 1: and you know, you know in your heart of hearts
- 18:16Speaker 1: that it's not. And I just to have to go through,
- 18:20Speaker 1: you know, not just childhood of all of that. And
- 18:24Speaker 1: I understand where people are coming from when they say, well,
- 18:26Speaker 1: if it was Hirshprung's, it would have been sorted. But
- 18:29Speaker 1: you are a prime case where people can be diagnosed
- 18:32Speaker 1: late on it has it has happened, you know, several times.
- 18:36Speaker 1: I've heard of people who've been diagnosed in their late
- 18:39Speaker 1: teens early twenties, and it's and I we were talking
- 18:44Speaker 1: a little bit off air that I just I find
- 18:49Speaker 1: incredible how you got through that time. You know, was
- 18:52Speaker 1: there anything that you did that kind of alleviated any
- 18:58Speaker 1: of the chronic pain or anything that you that you know,
- 19:01Speaker 1: you had sort of good days and bad days, or
- 19:03Speaker 1: was it just every day was just a bad day.
- 19:07Speaker 2: I would say I I did have days that were
- 19:11Speaker 2: a little easier and where it didn't seem as bad.
- 19:14Speaker 2: I think the prime time in my life where I
- 19:17Speaker 2: kind of felt it getting better and kind of had
- 19:19Speaker 2: that hope that maybe this is going to be fixed
- 19:22Speaker 2: was around high school, so I was like fifteen to
- 19:25Speaker 2: maybe like seventeen or eighteen. I was super active. I
- 19:29Speaker 2: was dancing. I was on the cheer team in high school.
- 19:32Speaker 2: And I think being super active and always moving around
- 19:36Speaker 2: kind of helped my body kind of be able to
- 19:40Speaker 2: alleviate some of that like constipation, because I was like
- 19:44Speaker 2: moving so much. I was drinking a lot of water,
- 19:46Speaker 2: I was eating semi healthy. I don't know, but I
- 19:49Speaker 2: think I was along with the medications that weren't working.
- 19:52Speaker 2: I think the combination of being healthy and active it
- 19:56Speaker 2: kind of helped my body move things along a little bit.
- 20:00Speaker 2: But for the most part, I mean, I have a
- 20:02Speaker 2: lot of bad days, but I think it just became
- 20:05Speaker 2: like that was my normal. Like I woke up every
- 20:08Speaker 2: morning with a stomach ache. I'd cry to my mom
- 20:10Speaker 2: and be like, please don't send me to school today,
- 20:12Speaker 2: and like I just don't feel good. And I think
- 20:16Speaker 2: it just I became accustomed to living like that, and
- 20:20Speaker 2: it was kind of like I'm comfortable being uncomfortable because
- 20:24Speaker 2: that was my normal. So it was just every day
- 20:27Speaker 2: was just this constant cycle of discomfort and pain. And
- 20:32Speaker 2: I think I kind of just was like, Okay, if
- 20:35Speaker 2: I'm gonna have a stomach ache, I'm gonna like eat
- 20:37Speaker 2: this ice cream, even though my stomach's already hurting, Like
- 20:39Speaker 2: it's gonna hurt anyway. It's gonna hurt when I wake up.
- 20:42Speaker 2: Like it was just this like this constant thing, so.
- 20:46Speaker 1: Well it's hurting anyway, I might as well just do whatever.
- 20:48Speaker 1: It's still gonna make it. Ye that that's it's Yeah,
- 20:55Speaker 1: it's interesting when you say your sort of you know,
- 20:58Speaker 1: new normal was just being in pain the whole time.
- 21:02Speaker 1: I mean, that's that's awful. You know. It's this idea that, oh, well,
- 21:08Speaker 1: I'm just going to be in pain all the time,
- 21:10Speaker 1: and that's sort of on that sliding scale of you know,
- 21:14Speaker 1: if you had your normal day, be everybody else's really
- 21:18Speaker 1: bad day, but to you, it's just a normal day.
- 21:21Speaker 1: And a good day is when you've probably been not
- 21:23Speaker 1: in no pain, but just in less pain, you know,
- 21:26Speaker 1: which is is just it's just absolutely awful. And but
- 21:32Speaker 1: I guess what was it like being sort of finally listened.
- 21:37Speaker 3: To it was.
- 21:41Speaker 2: I like, I find it hard to like find the
- 21:44Speaker 2: words because I feel like saying I'm grateful and like
- 21:47Speaker 2: saying it changed my life as such an understatement. I
- 21:50Speaker 2: feel like this doctor I like sat down with him
- 21:54Speaker 2: and my mom came with me to the appointment, and
- 21:56Speaker 2: he just sat there and like hit record on his
- 22:00Speaker 2: and was like, I'm gonna record all of this just
- 22:02Speaker 2: so I have it and I can go transcribe it
- 22:04Speaker 2: into my notes and so I don't miss anything. And
- 22:07Speaker 2: I was like, yeah, totally good. Like I don't know,
- 22:10Speaker 2: like I just I felt like I was like, Okay,
- 22:13Speaker 2: he's actually going to listen to everything I say, like
- 22:15Speaker 2: there will be like a written thing or printed out
- 22:18Speaker 2: thing with everything I've said. And I think it was
- 22:23Speaker 2: such a relief and I was so excited. I feel
- 22:28Speaker 2: like knowing I was getting the awes Tome bag was
- 22:32Speaker 2: was the harder part for me, of course, but I
- 22:36Speaker 2: was like, if this is it, and this can be
- 22:38Speaker 2: like my relief and help me live a more normal
- 22:42Speaker 2: life and lead me to be able to do the
- 22:46Speaker 2: things I want to do, Like why would I not
- 22:49Speaker 2: do this? So I think, yeah, I was super grateful,
- 22:52Speaker 2: super happy, and just I always had like a negative
- 22:59Speaker 2: like thought when I thought about like the doctor, the
- 23:02Speaker 2: hospital or anything like that, like I'm like, they don't listen,
- 23:05Speaker 2: they don't like want to help me, Like it's so frustrating.
- 23:09Speaker 2: And I definitely gave up when I was younger. I
- 23:11Speaker 2: feel like I was like, this is just how it's
- 23:13Speaker 2: gonna be. But I think meeting with that doctor when
- 23:16Speaker 2: I did, came at the perfect time and he was
- 23:19Speaker 2: just like I want to help you. I like, this
- 23:22Speaker 2: is what I do, this is why I do what
- 23:23Speaker 2: I do. So I'm super grateful and very blessed to
- 23:27Speaker 2: have met him and his team that helped.
- 23:30Speaker 1: Me absolutely But that makes perfect sense that your negative
- 23:35Speaker 1: thoughts around hospitals, and I think that's the same with
- 23:40Speaker 1: a lot of people, especially because it's not a happy place.
- 23:43Speaker 1: So certainly wasn't a happy place for many, many heady years, because,
- 23:47Speaker 1: as you've said, you go to whether it be children's
- 23:51Speaker 1: or whether it be a different hospital, and everyone either
- 23:55Speaker 1: says the same thing, or they haven't listened, or they're
- 23:59Speaker 1: just kind of been you know, just oh, world, take
- 24:03Speaker 1: this and you know, disappear around my sight type thing.
- 24:06Speaker 1: So naturally you're going to turn up to hospital appointments,
- 24:10Speaker 1: I presume going, oh, here we go again. Here's here's
- 24:13Speaker 1: another you know, I'm going to sit here, They're going
- 24:16Speaker 1: to tell me a bunch of things that I don't believe,
- 24:18Speaker 1: and then I'm going to disappear again, and then I'll
- 24:20Speaker 1: be back in a few weeks because my stomach will
- 24:22Speaker 1: hurting it. Yeah, but it's so that makes absolute sense
- 24:28Speaker 1: that that you had, you know, negative thoughts around that,
- 24:31Speaker 1: and and but so good that you found someone who certainly,
- 24:35Speaker 1: you know, look like he wanted to really help and
- 24:39Speaker 1: wanted to because being in pain the whole time is
- 24:43Speaker 1: not normal, you know. It's so I mean and I
- 24:49Speaker 1: guess you probably had the same thought. You know, am
- 24:51Speaker 1: I going mad here? Or am I just you know,
- 24:55Speaker 1: being in pain is not a normal thing. If the
- 24:57Speaker 1: body is in pain, the body is telling you something.
- 25:01Speaker 1: It's telling you that something somewhere isn't right, you know,
- 25:07Speaker 1: and and in the end there's going to be something
- 25:10Speaker 1: that's going to you know, fix that or medication or whatever.
- 25:14Speaker 1: So I guess it's yeah, I guess that was kind
- 25:17Speaker 1: of a relief that you sort of thought, actually being
- 25:19Speaker 1: paid all the time isn't normal. I don't have to be.
- 25:21Speaker 2: A bit something was wrong. Actually I knew it.
- 25:26Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, but it's no, that's really good that you
- 25:31Speaker 1: found someone who kind of listened in the end. And
- 25:35Speaker 1: it's but I want to talk a little bit about
- 25:38Speaker 1: the ostome as well, because I know you're a really
- 25:40Speaker 1: really good advert for advocate. Advert advocate that's their advocates
- 25:45Speaker 1: the right word. Sorry, I'm struggling with words that a
- 25:51Speaker 1: really really good advocate for surgery. And obviously there are
- 25:56Speaker 1: people who have hirshbrungs and have ostomes, or they have
- 26:02Speaker 1: pace my owns, or they have various types of stomas,
- 26:06Speaker 1: and there are people who have no Stomas, such is
- 26:08Speaker 1: the way with Hirschbrungs. It's so it's so different for everybody.
- 26:12Speaker 1: But how have you kind of transitioned over the last
- 26:18Speaker 1: a couple of years or so since yea twenty twenty
- 26:23Speaker 1: four into having asked me, what's that transition been?
- 26:27Speaker 2: Like? I feel like really tough. I feel like I
- 26:33Speaker 2: only show the really good parts, like on my TikTok
- 26:37Speaker 2: and in the videos I make. I try to be
- 26:39Speaker 2: very positive because I think I just I try and
- 26:42Speaker 2: look at life in a very positive way. And I
- 26:44Speaker 2: feel like when I was told I was getting my
- 26:46Speaker 2: ass to me, I was again I think I said
- 26:49Speaker 2: this earlier crying. I was excited, but I was super
- 26:53Speaker 2: nervous for what that was going to look like for
- 26:54Speaker 2: me and being like a young woman too. I feel
- 26:58Speaker 2: like I had never really heard of like an awes
- 27:01Speaker 2: to me or like what that was, And if I
- 27:03Speaker 2: did hear of it, I was like, oh, like, I
- 27:05Speaker 2: think older people have that, Like I don't think younger
- 27:08Speaker 2: people have that. And I think right before my surgery,
- 27:12Speaker 2: I was going on Instagram and TikTok and looking it
- 27:14Speaker 2: up and I was finding people online like Paula the
- 27:18Speaker 2: girl that makes like the bag covers. And then Sarah
- 27:20Speaker 2: she's the model and I think she lives in Canada,
- 27:23Speaker 2: but I love I loved seeing Max. I was like, wow,
- 27:26Speaker 2: like they're young like me, and they're like totally rocking
- 27:30Speaker 2: it is. I'm like, it can't be like as bad
- 27:32Speaker 2: as what I'm thinking it'll be like. So getting my
- 27:36Speaker 2: awes to me and waking up that day and looking
- 27:39Speaker 2: at it for the first time, I think totally freaked
- 27:42Speaker 2: me out. But every day that went by, I think
- 27:45Speaker 2: was a little easier. I think it was an adjustment
- 27:48Speaker 2: learning how to change it and care for it and
- 27:51Speaker 2: make sure I was staying healthy. And then also just
- 27:56Speaker 2: like the mental aspect of it, like my body image
- 27:59Speaker 2: and you know, looking in the mirror and now I
- 28:01Speaker 2: like have a bag that's permanently attached to my body,
- 28:05Speaker 2: Like I never really see myself without it other than
- 28:08Speaker 2: you know, changing it and I look in the mirror,
- 28:11Speaker 2: and it's really hard some days because I'm like, like
- 28:14Speaker 2: there was a time when but back then I was
- 28:17Speaker 2: I was so sick. So it's like I don't even
- 28:18Speaker 2: want to go back to that because I feel like
- 28:21Speaker 2: I've adjusted to this life and living pain free and
- 28:25Speaker 2: having such like a different outlook on life now. I
- 28:28Speaker 2: feel like I'm just really grateful. So I think living
- 28:32Speaker 2: with an oustemia, I wouldn't trade it for anything. I
- 28:34Speaker 2: feel like it truly like saved my life and gave
- 28:37Speaker 2: me like brand new lease on life. I don't know,
- 28:40Speaker 2: so I think I have I have bad days, of course,
- 28:44Speaker 2: but I think majority of my days are really good
- 28:46Speaker 2: days now. And I'm total advocate for it because I
- 28:50Speaker 2: think it can really change your life.
- 28:53Speaker 1: Absolutely. I think that's brilliant. You mentioned a couple of
- 28:56Speaker 1: people there who who have osterlies or Austin bags, but
- 29:03Speaker 1: to a lot of their social media in a positive light,
- 29:07Speaker 1: which I think is brilliant because I think it's so
- 29:11Speaker 1: so easy, especially with chronic illness, to be negative, to say,
- 29:14Speaker 1: oh this hurts, and that hurts, and you know and
- 29:17Speaker 1: and and that's okay to say, you know, to be
- 29:19Speaker 1: sort of upfront and honest, like we happen for the
- 29:21Speaker 1: last half an hour and say, look, there are times
- 29:24Speaker 1: when things that you know, when things are for But
- 29:28Speaker 1: I do love the way that you know, you are
- 29:30Speaker 1: very positive about it. And it's whether it's a lot
- 29:36Speaker 1: more common than it was maybe ten years ago or
- 29:39Speaker 1: so or whether we just see it more because you
- 29:43Speaker 1: will be your might be you follow a lot of
- 29:45Speaker 1: people with stomach illnesses and ostermies, And whether we just
- 29:49Speaker 1: see it more because of social media, I don't know,
- 29:53Speaker 1: but there certainly seems to be a lot of people
- 29:57Speaker 1: who who have domes of various kinds, and I think
- 30:03Speaker 1: yourself included, have become such great advocates and real inspirations
- 30:09Speaker 1: for people, because again, it's one of those things, like
- 30:15Speaker 1: anything in life, whether it be a sport or whether
- 30:17Speaker 1: it be a medical condition, if you see somebody, people
- 30:22Speaker 1: can tell you all you like that this will be
- 30:24Speaker 1: like this, and this will be like that. But actually,
- 30:25Speaker 1: if you see someone like yourself doing really well with
- 30:30Speaker 1: an osterby, I guess that makes a lot more difference
- 30:33Speaker 1: than someone telling.
- 30:34Speaker 2: You totally yeah that is yeah, I think yeah. I
- 30:40Speaker 2: don't know. Seeing it and like seeing people post about it,
- 30:43Speaker 2: I was like, Okay, they're living like normal lives. They're
- 30:47Speaker 2: going out, they're going to the beach, they're traveling, they're
- 30:50Speaker 2: you know, playing sports. I don't know, so I think
- 30:52Speaker 2: it was it was really nice. Seeing all that kind
- 30:55Speaker 2: of gave me like peace of mind and made me
- 30:58Speaker 2: a little less scared.
- 31:01Speaker 1: I guess, yeah, yeah, because again I can imagine it's
- 31:06Speaker 1: especially if you haven't had because again with with hirshprung,
- 31:09Speaker 1: some people have stoma and then they might have it reversed.
- 31:13Speaker 1: But obviously you weren't diagnosed at the tipe where everyone
- 31:17Speaker 1: else is usually diagnosed. So having so you hadn't had
- 31:22Speaker 1: the stona before or and so then see having a
- 31:26Speaker 1: stona then kind of yeah, it becomes a huge, huge
- 31:32Speaker 1: change in life. But what kind of things, you know,
- 31:37Speaker 1: are you able to go out more now? And this
- 31:40Speaker 1: that the other sort of hours sort of life changed,
- 31:43Speaker 1: I guess socially.
- 31:45Speaker 2: Yeah, I feel like in the beginning it took me
- 31:48Speaker 2: a couple months to kind of get out and start
- 31:51Speaker 2: seeing friends again and doing what I love to do.
- 31:55Speaker 2: I used to go line dancing all the time. I
- 31:58Speaker 2: still kind of do, but I wasn't going as often
- 32:02Speaker 2: back then because I was healing and all that. But
- 32:04Speaker 2: getting back into that and hanging out with friends, and
- 32:07Speaker 2: you know, it took me a while to like go
- 32:10Speaker 2: to the beach for the first time with it, or
- 32:12Speaker 2: go swimming with it, or even like take a shower
- 32:15Speaker 2: with it. Like I don't know, I feel like there
- 32:17Speaker 2: were a lot of things where I was really nervous
- 32:20Speaker 2: to but I was able to like tell my friends.
- 32:23Speaker 2: And of course it's kind of an awkward topic because
- 32:26Speaker 2: I feel like, you know, you don't really understand unless
- 32:30Speaker 2: you're going through it. But I think I have such
- 32:34Speaker 2: a great support system that really can you know, empathize
- 32:38Speaker 2: and understand to an extent how it affects me and
- 32:43Speaker 2: all that. But my parents have been great. I have
- 32:47Speaker 2: two brothers that have been super supportive about it as well.
- 32:50Speaker 2: I met my boyfriend maybe like six months after my surgery,
- 32:55Speaker 2: so meeting him and telling him about it was really
- 32:58Speaker 2: nerve wracking, but he has some knowledge of what it
- 33:02Speaker 2: was and kind of just sharing my story. I think
- 33:06Speaker 2: he was super understanding and super supportive about it. So
- 33:11Speaker 2: although I was really nervous, I think telling him and
- 33:14Speaker 2: telling friends and even family and just describing what it
- 33:18Speaker 2: is and how it affects me, I think that was
- 33:21Speaker 2: the scariest part. But I did that. I'm able to travel.
- 33:24Speaker 2: I went on a cruise, I went on a plane.
- 33:27Speaker 2: I like, I've been able to do a lot of stuff,
- 33:29Speaker 2: and so I think although it affects me to an extent,
- 33:33Speaker 2: I think I can like the pros significantly outweigh the cons,
- 33:37Speaker 2: and even then with the cons, I'm like, what's so
- 33:39Speaker 2: bad about it? Like I have to change it every
- 33:42Speaker 2: like a couple of days. But that's ten minutes and
- 33:44Speaker 2: then I'm good in all my way.
- 33:46Speaker 1: So yeah, that's brilliant. Well, I guess ten minutes is
- 33:50Speaker 1: a lot better than being twenty four hours chrodic tide
- 33:54Speaker 1: if you do.
- 33:55Speaker 2: We do the bat line.
- 33:57Speaker 1: Yeah, it's it's it doesn't sound you know, it doesn't
- 34:00Speaker 1: sound so much of a much of a chure. But yeah,
- 34:04Speaker 1: that's brilliant though, that you have such an amazing support
- 34:07Speaker 1: network and a support system. And like you said, I
- 34:12Speaker 1: guess it is, you know, pretty nerve wracking when you
- 34:15Speaker 1: tell family members and partners because you think, you know,
- 34:19Speaker 1: will they understand, will they you know, will they you know,
- 34:24Speaker 1: get what I'm going through or why I have this
- 34:26Speaker 1: or you know whatever. But I guess when you tell
- 34:31Speaker 1: people that, I guess some people reacted in different ways.
- 34:34Speaker 1: But it's so good to hear that they were so supportive.
- 34:38Speaker 1: Did they want to kind of know more about it
- 34:41Speaker 1: or was it just kind of oh okay, cool and
- 34:43Speaker 1: move on. Yeah?
- 34:44Speaker 2: Yeah, I think with my parents, my mom's and nurse,
- 34:48Speaker 2: like I said earlier, so she delivers babies, so it's
- 34:52Speaker 2: different because her specialty is not like GI stuff, but
- 34:56Speaker 2: she would help me change it. And my nurse was
- 35:00Speaker 2: come and help me do like bad changes in the beginning,
- 35:02Speaker 2: and my mom was super involved, saying with my dad,
- 35:05Speaker 2: he was like, I think a little freaked out via
- 35:08Speaker 2: at first, understandably so I mean I couldn't even look
- 35:11Speaker 2: at it. I think for a couple of weeks I
- 35:13Speaker 2: was so freaked out by it. But yeah, my parents
- 35:17Speaker 2: have been great. My brothers are like, you know, like
- 35:20Speaker 2: we don't judge you. It is what it is, Like
- 35:22Speaker 2: you're living such a better life now, so it's like
- 35:25Speaker 2: so happy for you.
- 35:27Speaker 1: Yeah, that's brilliant. And and your boyfriend the same as
- 35:30Speaker 1: it just got a you know just yeah, was he
- 35:35Speaker 1: just the same as everyone else?
- 35:37Speaker 2: Well he yeah, he's been he's been great. He he's
- 35:40Speaker 2: super understanding. I think I like talk about it and
- 35:45Speaker 2: I'm more like, like I don't know, like self conscious
- 35:48Speaker 2: of it than he is. Like he's like it's part
- 35:50Speaker 2: of you, but it's not like completely who you are,
- 35:53Speaker 2: and like it doesn't change how I feel about you
- 35:56Speaker 2: or change, like you know it like it's there, and
- 36:01Speaker 2: like I'm so glad it may like helped you feel
- 36:03Speaker 2: better and you know, has led us to be able
- 36:06Speaker 2: to like do all these things like travel and and
- 36:09Speaker 2: do all those fun things.
- 36:11Speaker 1: So it's brilliant. That's amazing. No, that's because it's absolutely right.
- 36:16Speaker 1: You know, you your quality of life is you know,
- 36:21Speaker 1: I presume on a thousand times better than it was,
- 36:23Speaker 1: or certainly is You've described it a thousand times better
- 36:26Speaker 1: than it was, you know, pre ostome. And I think
- 36:32Speaker 1: you're you're you're very much living proof when people maybe
- 36:36Speaker 1: get concerned when they hear the word stoma or you
- 36:39Speaker 1: you know, because presumably you were given a choice as
- 36:42Speaker 1: to whether you you had it or not. And yeah,
- 36:45Speaker 1: a lot of people have to make that choice and
- 36:48Speaker 1: they maybe think, oh, it's you know, it's permanent and
- 36:50Speaker 1: it's going to be like this or like that. But
- 36:53Speaker 1: you are living proof that, you know, when when people
- 36:57Speaker 1: do have a stonema, you know, lives can very much, yeah,
- 37:01Speaker 1: improve tenfold, I guess totally. Yeah.
- 37:05Speaker 2: I feel like that's why I'm such a big advocate
- 37:07Speaker 2: and like I post online and stuff. I think it's
- 37:10Speaker 2: really nerve wracking posting being vulnerable and like showing it
- 37:14Speaker 2: and showing like the reality to it, because I don't
- 37:16Speaker 2: like to just show like, oh it's perfect all the time.
- 37:19Speaker 2: Like I talk about how it takes like the mental
- 37:21Speaker 2: toll on me and it's it's I do have bad days,
- 37:24Speaker 2: of course, but I think posting about it has kind
- 37:27Speaker 2: of been like an outlet for me, and it's kind
- 37:29Speaker 2: of therapeutic in a way because I feel like, you know,
- 37:31Speaker 2: it's one thing to like call my mom and be like, oh,
- 37:34Speaker 2: like I want to like rant to her about this,
- 37:36Speaker 2: but I'm like I want to post it online and
- 37:38Speaker 2: have people be able to see it and know that
- 37:42Speaker 2: like there's light at the end of the tunnel and
- 37:44Speaker 2: like if you do have an owes to me or
- 37:46Speaker 2: you're getting an awesome like life can be significantly better.
- 37:52Speaker 1: Yeah. No, that's brilliant and I love it as well.
- 37:55Speaker 1: And you're doing you know, by posting and by I
- 37:59Speaker 1: guess by doing this as well, you're doing the same
- 38:02Speaker 1: thing as the people you looked up to were doing. Yeah,
- 38:06Speaker 1: people like Sarah, So you're sort of carrying that on
- 38:09Speaker 1: as well, which I think is amazing And krudos to
- 38:13Speaker 1: you because I think that's fantastic, And just I guess
- 38:16Speaker 1: my last question really it's just kind of the future
- 38:21Speaker 1: for you. I know, we've talked about a lot medically
- 38:23Speaker 1: that's happened in the past, and you have your rhurostomy now.
- 38:27Speaker 1: But I guess, what do you sort of hope for
- 38:31Speaker 1: the future for you.
- 38:34Speaker 2: I would say it's hard because I feel like I
- 38:37Speaker 2: think about it sometimes, but I'm like, I don't know,
- 38:40Speaker 2: like I live in the now. But then I like
- 38:41Speaker 2: sit in my bed at night and I'm like, okay,
- 38:44Speaker 2: like I am getting older, Like I'm like.
- 38:46Speaker 1: What's sitting old? Fourth Yeah, I know.
- 38:51Speaker 2: I'm like, you know, I'm growing up. So I feel
- 38:55Speaker 2: like it's just I do think about my future a lot,
- 38:57Speaker 2: and I do have a temporary ostome. Technically speaking, I
- 39:02Speaker 2: have a colostomy. I do still have part of my
- 39:04Speaker 2: colon left. I have the opportunity for a reversal in
- 39:08Speaker 2: the future if I want it. I feel like I've
- 39:11Speaker 2: kind of been given the option whether to just keep
- 39:14Speaker 2: my ostome or try the reversal. If the reversal works, great,
- 39:19Speaker 2: If it doesn't, I'll have an illiostemy after that. So
- 39:24Speaker 2: I think I'm I like, I think of my life
- 39:28Speaker 2: in two different ways. Like, if I have to have
- 39:31Speaker 2: an ostome for the rest of my life, I've already
- 39:34Speaker 2: lived the last year with doing so much more than
- 39:38Speaker 2: I could have ever thought. So if I do have
- 39:40Speaker 2: to live the rest of my life with an ostomy,
- 39:42Speaker 2: like I'll be happy. If I get the chance to
- 39:45Speaker 2: have it reversed and I can be healthy without a
- 39:48Speaker 2: bad then that's great. But I feel like, I don't know.
- 39:53Speaker 2: I'm in school. I'm hoping to be an ultrasound tech
- 39:57Speaker 2: once I finish school, so that's kind of my career future.
- 40:02Speaker 2: But I think just living like I don't know, day
- 40:05Speaker 2: by day very positive and just keep sharing my story
- 40:08Speaker 2: and hope to I don't know, inspire people and just
- 40:12Speaker 2: I think it's important to keep advocating for yourself, especially
- 40:15Speaker 2: if you feel like deep down in your gut like
- 40:18Speaker 2: I don't know, like, just keep advocating and someone will
- 40:22Speaker 2: listen to you. I feel like it's easy to lose
- 40:24Speaker 2: hope and kind of just take it as it is
- 40:27Speaker 2: and be like, I think this is just how I'm
- 40:29Speaker 2: gonna have to live life. But I think, yeah, just
- 40:32Speaker 2: stand up for yourself and you know your body better
- 40:34Speaker 2: than anyone else.
- 40:36Speaker 1: Absolutely well, I think I wish you the best with
- 40:39Speaker 1: the ultrasound. I think you'll you've definitely come at it
- 40:42Speaker 1: with a.
- 40:42Speaker 3: Lot of experience, totally, so I think I think you'll
- 40:47Speaker 3: you'll be absolutely brilliant to that and that if anybody
- 40:51Speaker 3: does present with Hirshbrungs, you'll be able to tell them yep.
- 40:56Speaker 1: Fantastic. And I know you said just finally, you said
- 41:01Speaker 1: you do a lot of advocating on social medium on
- 41:05Speaker 1: Instagram and TikTok especially where can people find you on those?
- 41:12Speaker 2: So on my Instagram it's my life with Stella with
- 41:15Speaker 2: like an extra A at the end I can post on
- 41:19Speaker 2: my TikTok maybe like the link to that, but my
- 41:21Speaker 2: TikTok is the same as well, my life with Stella
- 41:24Speaker 2: with extra at So fantastic.
- 41:27Speaker 1: Well, thank you so so much for coming on.
- 41:29Speaker 2: It's been Thank you so much.
- 41:31Speaker 1: Another amasic story, incredible story, and I know it goes
- 41:36Speaker 1: without say, but I wish you all the best in
- 41:39Speaker 1: terms of your your health, your career as well, And
- 41:44Speaker 1: thank you so so much for coming on.
- 41:46Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Tom, I really appreciate it.
- 41:49Speaker 1: Thank you, thank you for listening and being part of
- 41:54Speaker 1: this growing community. If you have enjoyed the episode, don't
- 41:58Speaker 1: forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with
- 42:01Speaker 1: someone who might need it. You can connect with us
- 42:03Speaker 1: on social media via Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok under the
- 42:07Speaker 1: name Tom's Hirsprung's Podcast. See you next week.