acceptance,  advocacy,  awareness,  Body Positivity,  Colorectal Surgery,  Crohn's,  Dating & Relationships,  Gratitude,  living with IBD,  Ostomy,  Ostomy Awareness Day,  Self-image,  stigma,  Ulcerative Colitis

Ostomy Awareness Day: Empowering Ostomates to Live Fuller Lives

Last month, Amber Wallace Ogle of Ostomy Diaries & I got together with Hollister, Inc. (a major ostomy manufacturer) to bring our audiences a discussion on how to lead a fuller life with an ostomy. Our aim was to engage viewers from around the world who may be struggling with self-image, body image, family life and relationships with an ostomy.

And it was a grand success! We reached nearly 1,500 viewers from over 46 countries and from the feedback received, it was a video that helped many.

Here’s to many more conversations like this where we can help ostomates feel less like outcasts and more like the beautiful human beings that we all are! Here’s to shattering the stigma around life-saving ostomy surgery!

To watch the Facebook Live video, please click below:

**As always, thank you for your readership! Please feel free to leave any comments or feedback for me. I love hearing what you all have to say!**

~~LOVE, LIGHT & PEACE ALWAYS~~

Tina is a health advocate for patients living with chronic illnesses and disabilities. Via her writing, social media and public speaking engagements, she spearheads public health causes, including those creating awareness for inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's & Colitis), life-saving ostomy surgery and initiatives supporting global women's and minorities' health. The intent of this blog is to give those suffering in silence and in shame a voice that creates greater awareness and acceptance. She owns her chronic illnesses and disabilities and her goal is for you to as well!