Louise Thompson shared a moving moment with her two year old son, Leo, as the toddler investigated his mother’s new stoma bag.
The former Made In Chelsea star, 34, said Leo is ‘fascinated’ by the medical device attached to his mother’s stomach, and often lifts up her clothes to look at it.
She posted a video to her Instagram account of Leo pulling up her shirt and gently touching the bag as his mother smiled down at him.
Thompson recently underwent a colostomy, an operation to divert one end of the colon through an opening in the stomach, where a bag can be attached to collect waste, and its clear little Leo is already getting used to the change.
She captioned the sweet moment: ‘There are certainly many lessons we could learn from our children.
My son has a really funny obsession with my ileostomy bag. I have no idea how he knows to say “poo poo,” but I guess he’s smarter than I thought.’
She went on to reflect on the ways that children can learn to accept differences that adults may struggle to come to terms with.
She continued: ‘Isn’t it wonderful how unaffected our children are by awkward and “taboo” subjects? If only we could all be this non judgmental… except when he points out a spot on my face in public and shouts “boo boo.”‘
She then joked: ‘I guess boo boo and poo poo sound similar. The #stoma is a bit of a both. It’s both an ouchy and a way to go to the loo.’
The TV star then encouraged others who may have a stoma bag to embrace and normalise their condition, explaining that she decided to share the video in order to inspire others to feel less self conscious. She also revealed that her fiance Ryan Libbey filmed the tender moment.
She wrote: ‘I’m sharing this off the cuff video that Ryan captured when trying to get a “civilised outfit shot” for every person that messaged me to say that they haven’t had the confidence to tell their friends and family they have a stoma…. Some of you for years. (There are thousands of you btw).’
If that wasn’t inspiring enough, she concluded the caption with: ‘Nothing to be ashamed of. Still the same human on the inside. I haven’t had a personality transplant. I can still dress, walk and talk the same.’
Thompson has been open about sharing her health struggles with her 1.2 million Instagram followers, documenting what has been a difficult few years for the influencer.
She first revealed her little grey stoma bag in a post on Instagram a week ago,crediting it with saving her life.
She wrote: ‘Isn’t it bizarre that this little grey pouch is the price I pay for good health! I say good riddance to that nasty menacing colon!’
The stoma bag became necessary after Thompson was rushed to hospital after losing huge amounts of blood while on holiday with her fiance and their son.
She later revealed that her lupus and ulcerative colitis diagnoses contributed to the emergency situation.
While her ulcerative colitis diagnosis (which is inflammation of the lower end of your digestive system, including your large bowel and rectum) came prior to giving birth to her son, it wasn’t until later that Thompson ‘danced with death’ in a series of dire health issues.
After Leo’s birth in 2021, Thompson revealed that she had to remain in hospital for a wide range of physical and emotional symptoms.
She wrote of the experience: ‘To dance with death twice brings a whole new view of the world,’ she shared that she and her new baby were admitted to the ICU.
‘Whilst Leo made a fairly quick recovery ❤️🩹🙏🏼 I have been recovering in hospital for a month with various serious complications.’
After her physical recovery, Louise told her social media followers she was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms as well as post-natal anxiety.
Soon after, in 2022, she received her lupus diagnosis after facing severe joint pain and other symptoms. Lupus is an autoimmune condition characterised by joint pain, skin rashes and tiredness as well as stomach pain, hair loss, swelling, and weight fluctuations.
The sweet video of Leo reaching for his mother’s stoma bag makes it clear that through all of her difficult days, Thompson still has her family’s love and acceptance – and is even using her health journey to inspire others.
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