This is a new thread simply to share my poetry and thoughts about my life with Eddie Stomart.
Eddie was born as a result of two tumours being found back in November 2020, which rocked my world, and meant a no brainer of a decision being made; abdominperineal resection, loss of my rear end and a permanent stoma (christened Eddie Stomart) or, quite simply, DEATH.
After the initial tears and anger at myself for not getting checked earlier, and the realisation that life would be very different after the operation, I got to planning how I would cope.
I spent the time in the run up to the op making sure I was as fit as I could be, both physically and mentally.
The operation was performed in Feb 2021 and I thank the magnificent surgeon and his team that saved my life and the staff of the NHS in the hospital who helped me through the most difficult time of my life.
I won't suggest that the recovery is easy, It's not, It's painful and debilitating but each day gets better and the painkillers at least make it bearable. I was lucky, my mum was a trained nurse and was able to come and live with me (and her cat) to help in the early weeks.
The emotional damage can be overcome with positive thoughts and the acceptance and gratitude that the distress of the symptoms caused by the cancer, are now gone (who actually enjoys sitting on a toliet anyway?)
During the recovery, I started to write (initially defiant) poetry (I've always been a poet but usually of the romantic kind)., and now also some humourous takes on life with Eddie.
I'll post these on here in the hope that they can perhaps provide some respite from the anxiety, or support to those of you that are (understandably) concerned about the future.
I wish you all well in your journey
Richard
The cancer that ate away at me
Now gone
Questions about my mortality
Answered
A new beginning of
Hopeful futures
Without sutures
A return to feeling strong
No more feeling "wrong"
Never doubt your strength
Never question your will
We can defeat
Put into retreat
What may seek to kill
I'm not afraid
Nor shying away from the fight
I will survive and flourish
As I banish you into the night
Cancer you have no place
You have no right to presume to invade
I'll never give you the chance
Of your victory parade
A bloke and his bum hole
Have parted
His last fart
Farted
They'll reunite in the next life
For sure
At least for the cancer
It's a cure
My bum now looks like the great Wall of China
A seam like a plait
That certainly ain't minor
It'll settle down over time and look pretty neat
But I won't be showin too many me seat 
You think you can beat me
Eat me
Take my life from the inside out
You think you can break me
Make me
Give it all up no doubt
Let me tell you
You rotten cancer
You can't
You won't
I will not allow your festering decay
I will beat you
Defeat you
I will smile as you fade away
You came uninvited
Invaded where you were not wanted
Consider yourself
CONFRONTED
You cowardly scum
You sickening scab
You're presence is in violation
I'm done with you now
I'll show you how
To get rid of your infiltration
OVER AND OUT
The day of my op
Now history
The day they removed
The source of the mystery
The thing inside me
That was causing me strife
The hideous thing
That may have ended my life
Now the thing has gone
The future is bright
At the end of the tunnel
There's light
The recovery
(Though not without pain)
Is going well
And so much to gain
Each day strength returns
The wounds heal a bit more
Each day my bum
Is a little less sore
Each day I sit
A little more easy
A little less tired
A lot less queasy
Let me introduce you to Eddie. Eddie Stomart. Eddie's a good old boy, he sticks with me through thick and thin, always by my side no matter what. He happily carries his share of the load and (almost) never kicks up a stink
A stoma's not a stigma
Nor a sign of weakness
Sometimes an enigma
But needn't herald bleakness
The little pink blob
That sits on your tum
That now does the job
That was done by your bum
He's inoffensive, not rude
And deals with the pooh
He'll handle any food
But remember to chew, chew, chew!!
I watch
As a mole emerges from a hole in my tummy
I examine the pooh
For signs of blood
Or goo
There’s none
Does this mean that I've won
Does this mean that the dread
In my head
Can be put to bed
Can be ostracised
No longer my body despised
The sense of relief
From the grief
I'll survive
Feel alive
I'll have a future without pain
So much to gain
A brutal op
Put a stop
To a terminal diagnosis
A hopeless prognosis
And now a sunny dawn, a life worth living
And many more days without misgiving
If you have some pooh
Coming out of you
From a place not normally expected
Don’t feel dejected
Rejected
By society
Cos you and me
And thousands like us
Can thrive
Survive
Feel so very good
To be alive
If your stoma brings you down
Makes you frown
As though you’re no longer whole
Then tell your soul
To rock n roll
A bag does not define us
Nor confine us
To a life no longer fun
Live life
In the sun
Weird the things
That emerge from yer belly
Just like the stuff
I've been watchin on the telly
The beast from "Stranger Things"
Has become a fixture
An extrusion of pooh
A soft, nutty mixture
I lie on my bed
Quite fascinated
Thinking "hmmmm"
A bum hole's overrated
As my diet dictates
The porridge consistency
It amazes me the level of persistency
Eddie and I share such moments as these
In a state of joy
That there's no more disease
18 months
Feeling strong
I belong
In this world without pain
Thank my lucky stars
I only bear scars
Of an op that brought sunshine After rain
The cancer now gone
Surgically removed
By scans
Proved
Positive thoughts
That now there is none
That's it for now, Eddie and I are going for a trip to my caravan for my birthday (the one they said I'd not make without the surgery!!)
