#Gobeyond Ostomy Fitness Model
Donation protected
#GoBeyondGiving: Thankful to be helping out and raising awareness for people with Ostomies and Colitis/Crohns Disease in the General Community since there are still so many who are uninformed and have no idea what those are! I help by writing my [email redacted].
My name is Saleem Juma, I'm a 23 year old college student in Issaquah, Washington. I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis at 16 after I came home from Military School, however I had symptoms from the age of 14. We tried every medication there was, including steroids, immunosuppresive drugs and biologicals (all have some pretty nasty side effects). Regardless I was going to the bathroom about 25 times a day, and in pain literally all the time. On top of this I was diagnosed with Volvulus (it's where your intestines twist around and do flip flops for some odd reason, creating massive pain).
At 19 I was told I needed to have a total Prolectomy (which is the removal of the large intestine, rectum and anus, yes I no longer have a butt). I ended up with an Ileostomy bag attached to my stomach, it was extremely hard for me to understand that the bag would be permanent and I would have to wear it for the rest of my life; I had been modeling since I was 18 and I didn't know how I would do that with a bag. I didn't know how I would play sports again, or if girls would still look at me the same. That same year I was diagnosed with extreme social anxiety and depression.
I eventually built the confidence I needed to keep moving forward in life, I went back to college and started my own Nightclub/Rave company. I started modeling again as well (small jobs here and there, nothing major). Unfortunately I kept getting scar tissue, adhesions, intestinal blockages, cysts and many other issues. I ended up having multiple surgeries and ended up in the ER over 30 times in the last couple years; many times ambulances were involved and sometimes I spent days or even weeks recovering in the hospital. I was now drowning in medical bills but I refused to give up and kept my head above water, still pushing forward.
It was this last surgery that changed my life yet again, I was at a modeling gig for Siemen's Medical and as I was driving my mate home I started feeling odd; I was supposed to join my parents at a graduation dinner but was starting to feel pain. I went home and hoped the pain would go away but it got worse; it was the WORST PAIN I had ever felt (and I have an extremely high pain tolerance). I went to the ER and it took them 4 doses of the strongest pain medication they had to get the pain halfway manageable; then... a surgeon stepped into my room. I wondered why they sent a surgeon instead of a regular ER doc, I figured it would just be a blockage; they'd stick some tubes down my throat/nose and wash it out and then I could be on my way.
Unfortunately my small intestine was now twisting itself and cutting off blood flow to certain sections, they ended up having to chop out 9 cm of it (and if I hadn't gotten surgery my intestine may have perforated and I could have died, or they would have had to take a lot more out). I spent about a week recovering in the hospital, unfortunately as soon as I was released the wound got infected and I had to go back to the hospital. It was a painstaking process of recovery; but I pushed through. The near death experience started to get me thinking, I was still going to go to college to become a lawyer; but how could I help people like me? What exactly was I GOOD AT that I could change people’s lives for the better?
I found that idea in modeling, I noticed that many of my brethren Ostomates did not share the confidence I had built in myself, they felt unattractive and that they should hide themselves. I noticed this also with people who were depressed or had anxiety. So I decided to follow in the footsteps of notable Ostomate Fitness Model Blake Bedford, Jessica Grossman and her blog Uncover Ostomy were also a huge inspiration to me. I was going to become an Ostomy Fitness Model, not only that I was going to start a blog where I could write articles about all the tips and tricks I had learned about dealing with Ostomies, Depression and Anxiety.
I’ve started my website/blog already and my Social Media Coordinator got me featured on a decently big Instagram page. However I want to take this farther, I want to be an inspiration to every person with a disability out there who feels ashamed or ugly, I want to be an inspiration to everyone who feels sad or rejected. I have a vision and I’m never going to stop until I get there!
You can check out my blog at: Ostomybagswag.com (please give it a subscription and sign up, I’m trying to build traffic on it, as well as like our Facebook page)! I will also be doing Vlogs on Youtube to motivate people. I have big dreams and even if you can’t donate money, in all honesty you can help me just by reading my blog/articles and spreading the word about the site!
The Money Raised will be Specifically Used For:
Medical Bills: (I’m drowning from all the surgeries, nobody would insure me before my mom started working for a hospital so we still have to pay out of pocket for that; my credit has unfortunately already been destroyed). I think I owe somewhere over 100 grand (I’m not even sure at this point it could be much higher).
Paying Bills when I’m hospitalized: (it really does happen a lot unfortunately, I keep getting really good jobs and doing well at them but then getting fired because I keep missing work due to hospitalization, example: when I worked as a Data Analyst at Seattle Specialty and was doing three times the required number of documents per day, but got fired anyway because I was hospitalized 5 times while working there 4 months).
Modeling Travel Costs: Sometimes you have to travel for shoots, I’m still getting my name out there and don’t make a huge amount of money per shoot/commercial.
Portfolio/Photographs: I pretty much have this covered but as I get bigger there will need to be more professionally done shoots, sometimes to update a portfolio I’ll need to pay to have it done.
Running the Blog: Paying for the upkeep of the website and such.
Advertising and Spreading the Word: I want to do paid advertising on Facebook and a few other ideas my Marketing buddies had (in this case again the best way to help is to subscribe and share the site! :D)
School: Law School isn’t going to be cheap and I’ve no idea how I’m going to pay for it. It’s hard to hold down a steady job with how much I’m hospitalized.
The Book I’m Writing: I’m currently writing a book on building confidence as a person with a disability like mine and this would go to publishing fees and things of that nature.
Please help me, I’m not one to ask for help much; I don’t like taking free stuff from people or taking advantage of their generosity. I like to stand on my own two feet, unfortunately in this case I simply am having trouble doing so. Not only that, I really think by becoming a fitness model I can make a difference in the lives of people everywhere with disabilities/anxiety and depression.
If I can even change one person’s life, it will have made a difference. Thank you! (Please support us at Ostomybagswag.com!!!)
My name is Saleem Juma, I'm a 23 year old college student in Issaquah, Washington. I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis at 16 after I came home from Military School, however I had symptoms from the age of 14. We tried every medication there was, including steroids, immunosuppresive drugs and biologicals (all have some pretty nasty side effects). Regardless I was going to the bathroom about 25 times a day, and in pain literally all the time. On top of this I was diagnosed with Volvulus (it's where your intestines twist around and do flip flops for some odd reason, creating massive pain).
At 19 I was told I needed to have a total Prolectomy (which is the removal of the large intestine, rectum and anus, yes I no longer have a butt). I ended up with an Ileostomy bag attached to my stomach, it was extremely hard for me to understand that the bag would be permanent and I would have to wear it for the rest of my life; I had been modeling since I was 18 and I didn't know how I would do that with a bag. I didn't know how I would play sports again, or if girls would still look at me the same. That same year I was diagnosed with extreme social anxiety and depression.
I eventually built the confidence I needed to keep moving forward in life, I went back to college and started my own Nightclub/Rave company. I started modeling again as well (small jobs here and there, nothing major). Unfortunately I kept getting scar tissue, adhesions, intestinal blockages, cysts and many other issues. I ended up having multiple surgeries and ended up in the ER over 30 times in the last couple years; many times ambulances were involved and sometimes I spent days or even weeks recovering in the hospital. I was now drowning in medical bills but I refused to give up and kept my head above water, still pushing forward.
It was this last surgery that changed my life yet again, I was at a modeling gig for Siemen's Medical and as I was driving my mate home I started feeling odd; I was supposed to join my parents at a graduation dinner but was starting to feel pain. I went home and hoped the pain would go away but it got worse; it was the WORST PAIN I had ever felt (and I have an extremely high pain tolerance). I went to the ER and it took them 4 doses of the strongest pain medication they had to get the pain halfway manageable; then... a surgeon stepped into my room. I wondered why they sent a surgeon instead of a regular ER doc, I figured it would just be a blockage; they'd stick some tubes down my throat/nose and wash it out and then I could be on my way.
Unfortunately my small intestine was now twisting itself and cutting off blood flow to certain sections, they ended up having to chop out 9 cm of it (and if I hadn't gotten surgery my intestine may have perforated and I could have died, or they would have had to take a lot more out). I spent about a week recovering in the hospital, unfortunately as soon as I was released the wound got infected and I had to go back to the hospital. It was a painstaking process of recovery; but I pushed through. The near death experience started to get me thinking, I was still going to go to college to become a lawyer; but how could I help people like me? What exactly was I GOOD AT that I could change people’s lives for the better?
I found that idea in modeling, I noticed that many of my brethren Ostomates did not share the confidence I had built in myself, they felt unattractive and that they should hide themselves. I noticed this also with people who were depressed or had anxiety. So I decided to follow in the footsteps of notable Ostomate Fitness Model Blake Bedford, Jessica Grossman and her blog Uncover Ostomy were also a huge inspiration to me. I was going to become an Ostomy Fitness Model, not only that I was going to start a blog where I could write articles about all the tips and tricks I had learned about dealing with Ostomies, Depression and Anxiety.
I’ve started my website/blog already and my Social Media Coordinator got me featured on a decently big Instagram page. However I want to take this farther, I want to be an inspiration to every person with a disability out there who feels ashamed or ugly, I want to be an inspiration to everyone who feels sad or rejected. I have a vision and I’m never going to stop until I get there!
You can check out my blog at: Ostomybagswag.com (please give it a subscription and sign up, I’m trying to build traffic on it, as well as like our Facebook page)! I will also be doing Vlogs on Youtube to motivate people. I have big dreams and even if you can’t donate money, in all honesty you can help me just by reading my blog/articles and spreading the word about the site!
The Money Raised will be Specifically Used For:
Medical Bills: (I’m drowning from all the surgeries, nobody would insure me before my mom started working for a hospital so we still have to pay out of pocket for that; my credit has unfortunately already been destroyed). I think I owe somewhere over 100 grand (I’m not even sure at this point it could be much higher).
Paying Bills when I’m hospitalized: (it really does happen a lot unfortunately, I keep getting really good jobs and doing well at them but then getting fired because I keep missing work due to hospitalization, example: when I worked as a Data Analyst at Seattle Specialty and was doing three times the required number of documents per day, but got fired anyway because I was hospitalized 5 times while working there 4 months).
Modeling Travel Costs: Sometimes you have to travel for shoots, I’m still getting my name out there and don’t make a huge amount of money per shoot/commercial.
Portfolio/Photographs: I pretty much have this covered but as I get bigger there will need to be more professionally done shoots, sometimes to update a portfolio I’ll need to pay to have it done.
Running the Blog: Paying for the upkeep of the website and such.
Advertising and Spreading the Word: I want to do paid advertising on Facebook and a few other ideas my Marketing buddies had (in this case again the best way to help is to subscribe and share the site! :D)
School: Law School isn’t going to be cheap and I’ve no idea how I’m going to pay for it. It’s hard to hold down a steady job with how much I’m hospitalized.
The Book I’m Writing: I’m currently writing a book on building confidence as a person with a disability like mine and this would go to publishing fees and things of that nature.
Please help me, I’m not one to ask for help much; I don’t like taking free stuff from people or taking advantage of their generosity. I like to stand on my own two feet, unfortunately in this case I simply am having trouble doing so. Not only that, I really think by becoming a fitness model I can make a difference in the lives of people everywhere with disabilities/anxiety and depression.
If I can even change one person’s life, it will have made a difference. Thank you! (Please support us at Ostomybagswag.com!!!)
Organizer and beneficiary
Saleem Juma
Organizer
Sammamish, WA
Gulamabbas Juma
Beneficiary
