It's in the Bag and Under the Covers
This book provides a candid account of the challenges that ostomy patients face when they resume dating, intimacy, and sex. Their trials and tribulations tell the story of human courage and grace in the face of illness and unexpected change and the eventual triumph of love over adversity. This will ring true with all men and women who trade any type of major body image-altering surgery for a healthy life.    Judith L. Trudel, MD, FACS, FASCRS, Colon and Rectal Surgery Associates, St. Paul, MN; Clinical Professor of Surgery, Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery, University of Minnesota --book reviewBrenda hit one out of the ballpark again. What a wonderful compilation of real stories and real lives that leaves you feeling good about yourself and your situation. A must read for anyone with an ostomy, caring for, or loving someone with an ostomy.    Robert Rose RN, MS,NEA-BC, Chief Nursing Officer, Trinity Mother Frances Hospitals and Clinics, Tyler, Texas --book reviewWhile reading these touching stories, it feels like reality TV inside a book. You are glimpsing into the private, intimate experieces of ostomates and their loved ones as they not only share but reassure that life does go on albeit several adjustments, mishaps, new coping skills, and attitude changes. These sincere authors of all ages, genders, nationalities, do candidly and unabashedly tune in to the most important point that having a pouch does not mean the end of the world.    As a WOC Nurse, I learned plenty that I will pass on to both preoperative and postoperative ostomates who are scared to ask about the intimacy topic. This book will be on our hospital library shelf because sometimes this topic is taboo, hush hush for folks who won't discuss it with the provider. Since the ostomate or caregiver may not ask the pertinent sexual-related questions, it will be there for the taking. The reader can allay his/her anxieties and especially learn that he/she is not alone with fears about dating, marriage, and much more. Thank you, Brenda, for compiling these true, personal stories to create an enlightening book.    Nancy Scott, RN, BSN, CWOCN, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida --book review