Mum's 'incredibly rare' discovery after mysterious farting: 'Embarrassing'
A mum has opened up about the horrifying moment she started defecating and passing gas through a mysterious tunnel in her bum cheek.
Customer service representative Tierney Dumont, 29, from Miamisburg, Ohio, developed a fistula in her colon in 2018.
A fistula is an abnormal connection between two body parts, such as an organ or blood vessel and another structure.
Tierney said she grew very concerned when she noticed she was not defecating and passing gas from the correct place and was later diagnosed by a gynaecologist.
“I have a rectal fistula, it's essentially a hole in my bowel,” she says.
“The doctors aren’t sure how it came about, but it might have been from childbirth.
“I was putting out stool and passing gas, not from the adequate place, I had created this whole tunnel all the way through the inner side of my butt cheek."
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'Complicated and really hard to fix'
She has since undergone over 20 procedures and surgeries and credits an ileostomy bag procedure in 2020 with vastly improved her quality of life.
Tierney is scheduled to undergo another surgery in August to close the fistula by harvesting muscle from her thigh.
“Rectal fistula is complicated and really hard to fix," the mum of a young girl said.
“I have six surgeries in my hometown, Miamisburg, Ohio and after the sixth when they were unable to fix it we decided to go to a bigger hospital.
“We went to the Cleveland Clinic and the surgery department believed that the best thing to do would be for me to have an ileostomy bag to give my colon a break.”
Tierney says she had a difficult time overcoming embarrassment and shame about her condition.
“At first I was so embarrassed about it and I don't know who to tell, or where to go for this or what I should do,” the 29-year-old said.
“I had a cyst removed from that area years ago, so I decided to go to my gynaecologist about it.
“I told him my symptoms and was diagnosed with a fistula, but he mentioned that they are incredibly rare at my age.
“He believed that it must have developed due to childbirth.
“It’s crazy the things our bodies are capable of doing, I never thought this would be something that was possible let alone happening to me.”
Mum encourages others to share their story
Tierney is now actively sharing her story on social media and hopes to be an inspiration to anyone feeling ashamed about their health issues.
“It's been a really long and frustrating and crazy journey,” she said.
“I have been really open about the process and the journey and what's going on because I think some people feel very ashamed of it or it's gross and it's messy.
“I think if we're more open about those kinds of things other people are going to be open about it and not feel ashamed or embarrassed about it.
“I have found such a great community of people in the ileostomy community we talk and support each all the time.
“It has been a life-changing experience, and I've learned to adjust even though it's not an ideal lifestyle.”
Akanksha Soni/Media Drum World/Australscope
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