Sh*tBag

12/02/2026

🚨Breaking News: Woman Upgrades From Emotional Support Joggers To Slightly Braver Elasticated Denim.🚨

This morning I nearly put jogging bottoms on again.

Since surgery they’ve basically been my emotional support trousers.
Soft. Baggy. Zero expectations. Room for snacks. Room for wind. Room for life.

And then I had a thought…

If I keep identifying as “poorly”
or “recovering”
or “handle with care”

my nervous system is going to keep behaving like I am.

Now let’s be clear — I had major surgery. I have a stoma. I’m not pretending I’m suddenly a marathon runner.

But identity is powerful.

So I asked myself:

“What would the healthiest version of me do right now?”

She didn’t reach for the joggers.

She reached for jeans.

Now before you imagine hardcore button-and-zip trauma…
Let me clarify.

They are elasticated.

BUT.

They are skin tight.

Which somehow feels braver.

So today, for the first time post-op, I’m in actual denim-adjacent trousers 😍

Not because jeans cure Crohn’s.
Not because I’m “fixed.”

But because I don’t want to stay unconsciously loyal to an “ill person” identity forever.

There’s healing…
And then there’s accidentally building a personality around fragility.

And I don’t want that.

So today’s radical act of nervous system retraining?

Skin-tight elasticated jeans.

Paloma is behaving.
The waistband has not launched a protest.
And I feel… powerful.

So I’m curious —

If you live with a stoma or chronic illness…

What’s your version of upgrading from emotional support joggers?

(Elasticated counts. We’re not reckless.)

— Rox 💛
Founder of Slightly Braver Trousers Club

11/02/2026

💫Salvation - by name and by nature! 💫

I was soooo sore under the bag yesterday (there’s usually sticky strips there) that I debated the stoma nurse or doctors as it was so painful.

One application of this amazing Salvation by Anna Curtis of Anna's Enchanted Annex and I forgot there was even a problem!
You can’t even see the soreness - it’s like the cream completely erases it 😍

10/10 product - throughly recommend

11/02/2026

First day back at work after months!!
Are they ready 😂🤣

11/02/2026

First day back at work today!!

Since the op, with Paloma.
It’s been nearly 4 months since I’ve worked - let’s hope it’s not a f**ktastrophy 😂🤣

11/02/2026

10/02/2026

😳A small tummy twinge.
A big nervous system reaction.
A very important realisation.

Tonight I had the faintest bit of stomach discomfort.
Barely there. It came… and went again.

But because I haven’t really felt anything in my belly since losing my colon and gaining my stoma (hi Paloma 👋), my nervous system went straight to PANIC MODE.

And then something else crept in behind it…

Guilt.

I immediately started beating myself up about what I’d eaten.
I’d had a bit more fibre the last couple of days.
More veg. More “normal” food.

And my inner dialogue went something like:
“You’ve damaged yourself.”
“You weren’t careful enough.”
“You should know better.”

Sound familiar to anyone?

Here’s the important bit:

Nothing was actually wrong.

I’d forgotten to take omeprazole (more than once 🫣).
I had a peppermint tea.
I took the meds.
The sensation passed.

But the reaction was loud.

What I realised is this:
👉 The fear wasn’t about the food.
👉 The guilt wasn’t about fibre.
👉 This was my nervous system running an old safety program.

The one that says:
“If something feels off, it must be your fault.”

That’s not intuition.
That’s survival conditioning.

And here’s the reframe I want to offer anyone who needs it:

I didn’t hurt myself.
My body didn’t betray me.
My body simply noticed something new.

Sensation ≠ danger.
Awareness ≠ damage.

And also… I can’t live in fear of vegetables forever.

Healing isn’t about avoiding life.
Safety isn’t built through restriction.
Trust is rebuilt through gentle exposure, listening, and self-kindness.

I noticed.
I responded.
I soothed.
And my body settled.

That’s not failure.
That’s regulation.

So I’m sharing this because if you also default to self-blame when your body speaks — you’re not broken. You’re patterned.

And those patterns can be softened.

Tonight reminded me:
The work isn’t “never having symptoms.”
The work is learning not to turn on yourself when you do.

If this landed, you’re not alone.
And you’re not in trouble 🤍

Photo: Guilty veg (I picked the leeks and onions out and left them)

09/02/2026

I got over 10 reactions on one of my posts last week! Thanks everyone for your support! 🎉

09/02/2026

Top tip:-

Keep your bath mat well away from your toilet 😂😬💩

08/02/2026

💩The tantrum that led to remembering my bucket list 💩

I had no idea when I left home to do the 2 hour drive to my parents yesterday that I was going to have the biggest tantrum ever 😂
(My poor child 😬🙈)

We were having a lovely time when we diecided to stop for coffee and food.
I was hungry as it was past lunchtime (I swear Paloma gets hangry 😂)
I spent ages studying the sandwiches and wraps and was probably over cautious (because of yesterdays watery output and the fact I have some food restrictions at the moment due to an endocrine test on Monday) at 8 weeks post op.

We chose and got back on the road.
I pulled all the lettuce out of my wrap (taking no risks) and started eating it. It was lush!
But then I quickly realised it had raw veg/coleslaw in. I chewed really carefully but given the circumstances and the fact I was going to stay at my parents and had to do the drive back again today, I figured now was not the time to be experimenting with raw carrots and peppers.
So I stopped eating it.
I was pi**ed off.

I asked for my daughter’s wrap.
She took the leaves out but turned out it had cucumber and spring onion in.
Again a bit risky.

So I seethed.
And raged to the point I cried.
And I sulked.
And I got angry because I was crying and sulking and it wasn’t good for visibilty or focus.
But I had to get all the emotions out.

Because this wasn’t really just about a wrap or food in general.
It started that way but turned into pure rage over everything I’ve been through.
It had to come out at some point right?

I said to my daughter that I wanted to stop at the highest hilltop and volley that wrap into out of space - and that was exactly what I intended to do 😂🙈
As started the up the steep dual carriageway, doing the national speed limit, the sprog pointed out that although a great idea in theory it possibly wasn’t the safest place to stop.
She had a point.
And like I said to her, if the wrap landed a foot in front of me I might throw myself over too 😉😂

So we carried on driving.
And then I remembered a nice hilltop stopping point with a big carpark.
And the fact it was at the farm shop with the nice view that I’d added to my “Achievable bucket list” - which I’d completely forgotten about 😂🤣

And so, it was meant to be 😍

I pulled into that carpark and felt the wind take my troubles away at the top of that hill.
And it was so beautiful I couldn’t ruin that view by throwing my food (in the wrapper) at it 🥰

So instead I stamped up and down on that fu**er 😂🤣
Carefully - incase I gave myself a hernia 😂
And then picked it up and put in the bin nicely 😂
And Gods it felt good 🤣

And then we had a lovely time in that farm shop and I reignited my “Achievable bucket list” - more on that later, but don’t you just love how this turned out beautifully 🥰
S**t had to happen for the positives to shine through ❤️

07/02/2026

👜 The Great Watery Output Saga

Night before last/yesterday was a classic reminder that having a stoma doesn’t mean you’re “ill” — it means your body occasionally throws a fluid management tantrum.

Mine kicked off around 3am with high watery output.
Not painful. Not dramatic. Just… relentless.
Cue loperamide, electrolytes, marshmallows, jelly babies, naps, snacks, more naps, and a LOT of bag emptying.

At no point was I unwell.
But I was tired. Depleted. A bit wiped.
Which is a very real state that doesn’t fit neatly into “fine” or “ill”.

By evening things slowed, thickened, then did one last watery wobble (with bonus egg-flavoured wind 💨😂), and by morning my gut was basically saying:
“Breakfast please and we’ll call it even.”

This is stoma life.
Sometimes it’s smooth sailing.
Sometimes it’s active management.

Not a crisis.
Not a failure.
Just a day where listening, responding, and resting mattered more than pushing through.

If you know, you know.
If you don’t — welcome to the S**tbag education system 💛

04/02/2026

Funniest birthday card 😂🤣