We are so here for Louise Thompson and her honesty

After suffering from ulcerative colitis for years, the mum underwent a colostomy and now has a stoma bag.

The operation was undoubtedly life-changing for Louise, but she has been sharing her story in a bid to remind others that you can live a normal, if not better, life with a stoma.

Louise's candidness and refreshing honesty have been hugely reassuring for others with stoma bags. She has ensured that it is normalised by using her celebrity status, as well as her platform, to speak about it in a frank and genuine way.

Louise recently opened up about the impact her stoma has had on her sex life.

In her You magazine column, Louise explained that some things are different but people with stomas have perfectly healthy sex lives too.

"Sex was definitely not at the top of my agenda back in April. It wasn’t even on the agenda – I hadn’t had sex since back in November, so it had been a full five months – and I laughed off the question. But then, straight after dinner, I rushed home and bought myself a slinky black bodysuit.

"Sex was definitely not at the top of my agenda back in April"

"My reasoning went like this: if other people thought that I looked well enough to be having sex (and this, I noticed, made me feel quite good) then maybe I should be, well, having sex. The trouble was that Ryan hadn’t seen much of Winnie [the stoma]. I was still really shy about showing it to him."

Louise said she didn't let Ryan see her stoma bag until six weeks after her surgery.

"If you’re thinking about how to put the spark back into your relationship, then confronting him with a bag of poo might not be the answer," she quipped.

She shared: "I’d probably advise emptying the bag first but other than that stomas don’t flail – they are tightly stuck to your body.

"At one point, I did hear Winnie [her stoma's nickname] sort of crackling but I don’t think Ryan noticed. I did, however, make a mental note to put on some mood music the next time."

Louise says having a stoma has completely changed her life for the better even though the early days were difficult.

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