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Meet Krystal Miller – a bag lady who is out to make a difference.

Image Source: Facebook/BagLadyMama
Image Source: Facebook/BagLadyMama

The mother-of-two has Crohn’s disease who relies on an ileostomy bag, is using her condition to empower women and encourage them to love and appreciate their bodies – no matter what.

‘I want to be a famous advocate for “bag ladies” like myself,’ says Krystal. ‘And let them know they can live a full life, they can have children, that’s a big thing for women.’

The 32-year-old mum has just launched a blog called, ‘Bag Lady Mama’ to help inspire other Crohn’s sufferers and women around the world.  The blog has taken off as women respond to her real-life posts about her life as a mum and living with Crohn’s disease.  Last week alone her Facebook page garnered a staggering 4000 likes.

Image source: Facebook/BagLadyMama
Image source: Facebook/BagLadyMama

Krystal’s Crohn’s story is an almost life-long one.  She first realised there was something was wrong as a teen – when she found herself constantly sick with vomiting and diarrhoea and would sleep for up to 22 hours a day.  She was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, an often debilitating condition that causes inflammation of the digestive system or gut.

Krystal and her husband on a recent night out. Image source: Facebook/BigLadyMama
Krystal and her husband on a recent night out. Image source: Facebook/BigLadyMama

When Krystal was 22, she had her large intestine, part of her small intestine, and her anus removed. This is where the ileostomy bag came into her life. Doctors took the end of the small intestine and brought it out through an opening in the belly. This opening is called a “stoma.”  Through the stoma, your body is able to eliminate your body’s waste into a connected pouch that you wear at all times.

Image source: Facebook/BabyLadyMama
Image source: Facebook/BabyLadyMama

Krystal had overcome some massive hurdles in her life, including having two children vaginally (which doctors said could not be done) and has recently been accepted into nursing school.

This fabulous “bag lady” is on a mission to raise awareness of her condition and remind women that they can still be beautiful, sexy and desirable – even with their bags attached.

As she explains: ‘The moral of the story is… You are still sexy! You are still amazing, You are still powerful, You are still desirable! #‎thisbagladyrocks‬‪#‎sexyandpowerful‬‘

 

Image source: Facebook/BagLadyMama

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  • How wonderful. I have a friend who wore one for a while, great to see someone out there with one and not embarrassed.

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  • wow what a strong lady! very inspiring to see her confidence and courage

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  • Have a friend who has a bag and she is an amazing woman too. Funny, free spirited and very kind hearted ..truly beautiful inside and out.
    Thank you so much for your wonderful story and making folk aware …love and all my best wishes to you Krystal :-)

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  • My sister has chrons. She hasn’t had this procedure done yet though but it is a possibility in the future, glad she is raising awareness :)

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  • What an amazing, beautiful woman. Good for you krystal

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  • What an inspiration and so amazing to do this post.

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  • Good for her. Wish her all the best with raising awareness for Crohn’s disease.

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  • good on you, I know three people with Crohn’s – one very bad… More power to you x

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  • What an inspirational and brave woman to share this story.

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  • Strong women and their incredible stories are inspiring.

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  • An Auntie of mine had Bowel Cancer and had to have a bag. She and her husband continued on their daily lives as though everything was a normal part of life. However my Auntie was in her late 60s – early 70s so it didn’t have quite as much impact as on a lady wanting to become a Mum. Having babies would have been very umcomfortable during pregnancy as they were probably pressing pretty close to the stoma.

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  • Good on her! How amazing that she is trying to inspire others like her.

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  • It’s good to see that she’s not letting her condition define her.

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  • Lke it

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  • Good on her!! There are so many silent suffers and she has taken a fantastic step to speak up for them.

    Reply

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