Introducing Comedian and Ostomate Louie Green
Personally, for the first few months after my operation, I struggled to accept my stoma and it made me feel quite alone. Then on the first Saturday in October my social media was flooded with people like me, fellow Ostomates telling their story, not just any story – a story that was like mine.
Immediately I felt different, proud, and with a new outlook. I wanted to beat the stigma that I was part of, and World Ostomy Day was a good place to start. I decided that day to be a part of the solution and posted my first picture of me revealing my stoma, Reggie.
Now every year I have something new up my sleeve.
As a comedian it’s important to me that I am not only raising awareness, but that my subject matter will make people laugh. Last year I replicated a scene from the Channing Tatum film Magic Mike, which got such a great response, and I loved every second of making those pictures.
Being part of World Ostomy Day is incredible, the positivity I have received from other people is amazing. Since being involved in such an important day, I regularly receive messages of support on social media, ostomates come to see my show, and I have even been stopped in a supermarket by a well-wisher.
Some have been ostomates, others have been family members and some stop just to say, “you have taught me something I did not know”. If that first Saturday in October is trying to achieve anything it is exactly this.
People often ask me what message I am trying to get across, and it’s simple. If you are a fellow stoma owner (I love this term), then be proud and sing your song from the rooftops because the world is a better place with you here and that stoma ensured you are making it a better place. And even if only one person listens to your story, then the good you have done is immeasurable.
When social media is taken over with pictures of people standing proud with their stoma bags on display, I get goosebumps. These are my people, people with shared experience.
You can live with someone who has a stoma, but you will never truly understand how it feels, and I discovered several influencers who provided tips and tricks for life with a stoma, many I still use now.
What’s important is that it’s not a leaflet, or a doctor, but an Ostomate who gets you and what you are going through. There is much to be said for lived experience.
Moving forward I would love to see more mainstream media coverage, after all, 13.5 million of us live with a stoma. That is a huge number, and our voices deserve to be heard on the biggest platforms.
As for me, what do I have planned for this year’s celebration? Well, that is just something you will have to wait and see . . .
Follow Louie on Instagram at @louiegreencomedy