Eight years ago, Megan Louise Sands suffered a horrific jet ski accident that resulted in her having to undergo a colostomy, a surgery that took a toll on her physically and emotionally. With support from family and friends, and through educating herself on her condition, she now lives a productive and normal life.
Sands recently completed the 26.2-mile Marathon Bahamas in less than five hours, a goal she set for herself, and proved that her life is not limited due to her ostomy -- a surgically created opening from an internal organ such as the intestine to an external point on the body usually in the abdomen. She now wants fellow ostomates (a person who has had one of three ostomies, colostomy, urostomy and ileostomy) to come to the realization that they can live their lives without limitations.
"No one should feel restricted due to an ostomy," said Sands. "I want to show people out there who are locked in their houses because they're too uncomfortable to go out in the community, that you pick to live life without limitation."
To that end, the 28-year-old has founded the Megan Louise Sands Ostomy Foundation, which she says will be devoted to raising funds to help individuals who have an ostomy and are economically disadvantaged and require both financial and emotional support. This is her way of giving back to people who weren't as fortunate as she was to receive emotional and financial support.
Her immediate goal is to create awareness by getting people talking and sparking positive conversations about ostomy.
One of the first events to be staged by the foundation will be a 5 kilometer fun/run walk on Sunday, May 18, starting at Montagu. Sands' goal is to raise $50,400 from the effort, from which 100 percent of the proceeds earmarked to help 24 ostomates through the foundation's Patient Assistance Program. It costs an average of $2,100 annually for supplies (pouches, wafers, skin prep wipes, remover wipes and paste) for one person and which are all essential items for people with an ostomy.
"I can attest from a personal experience of living with an ostomy that it is crucial to always have sufficient and proper supplies and that this can be extremely costly. Unfortunately, there are ostomates here in The Bahamas that are resorting to the 'Ziploc bag and tape' method due to a lack of finances," she said.
Sands said she could not have imagined her life if she had not had the proper supplies at her disposal. She said having them made her life a lot easier.
Education and awareness
Education and awareness is also high on her agenda for the foundation in Sands' vision, as she said too many people don't know about ostomies, or don't want to talk about it.
"It's not something people find easy to talk about -- regardless of whether it's affecting them personally, or it's someone that they know. If I talk to someone about it and say, 'ostomy or colostomy', they would usually have no idea what I'm talking about. I would usually have to say I wear a bag, and when I say that, people get it. Through the foundation, I just wanted to create awareness."
When she woke up in the hospital in 2006 after her accident, Sands was one of those people who did not know what an ostomy was, or how to take care of herself. Over the years she had to do a lot of research, and learn how to care for herself. She also had to educate herself on the options available and the fact that she did not have to restrict herself to using what she left the hospital with. She said she went though trial and error to make her own life more comfortable.
Today Sands utilizes a two-piece system (instead of a one-piece). She has an appliance that sticks to her stomach, and the actual bag. Over the years she's also had to endure lots of skin issues, because the appliance is stuck to her skin 24 hours a day and causes irritation. As she runs, she sweats a lot and goes through her supplies quicker than most people, so she has an appreciation for how costly it can be for people who are financially challenged. And without insurance, she says an ostomy patient can find that purchasing supplies can be costly.
Some common reasons someone may surgically have an ostomy created include cancer, Chron's disease, irritable bowel disease or trauma, such as an accident or a gunshot wound.
Sands, who says she's a lot more comfortable today with her lifestyle (going to the bathroom in a different way) than she was just a few years ago, said getting to where she is today was a "gradual breathing process" because immediately after her accident she was told it was possibly only temporary. Looking back, she said being told that did not help because she told herself that she could live her life as an ostomate in the short term. When she came to the realization that it would be more permanent, the then college student said it was hard for her. In the final analysis, Sands said what she has had to endure has made her a stronger person.
"When I moved home I got into running, and I set a goal to do the half marathon and I said if I could do that I would push myself and I did the full marathon in January. It was like if I could go through what I'd been through, then I could do all these other things, so it's made me a positive, more stronger person, but also to show that just because I have a colostomy doesn't mean that I can't do the things that I love to do."
Prior to her accident Sands had always been active -- she played tennis and ran -- even though she wasn't as serious a runner as she is today.
She said she decided to make the first event by the foundation a physical one to show ostomates who are locked in their homes that they can choose to live their life without limitation.
Sands, who has been working alongside Ostomy Nurse Dawn Albury to bring more of an awareness to the condition and erase the look of disgust people give ostomates because they don't fully understand, departs New Providence this week for a six-week course in the United States as she focuses on her foundation.
Sands, who has a master's degree in community mental health counseling and a bachelor's degree in psychology, says her classes also helped her during her ordeal. Eventually, she wants to host health seminars and have a meeting place for ostomates to be able to meet each other, in a support group setting.

1st Megan Louse Sands Ostomy Foundation Fun Run & Walk
When: Sunday, May 18
Starting point: Montagu
Time: 6:45 a.m.
Fee: $30 (tee-shirt included)
Registration: Opens April 21Registration locations: SOS Marine, East Bay Street, Green Parrot, East Bay Street, The Linen Shop, downtown and Studio Vivo, Sandyport Plaza

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