The woman who couldn’t go to the bathroom for a month – The mystery disease and the videos on TikTok

When Cherine Docherty woke up in the middle of the night with her colostomy bag overflowing with faeces she was devastated, confused and upset. He had just recently undergone surgery as he was unable to act. Doctors made a small hole in her abdomen, guided the tip of her colon through it, and adjusted the bag. But in such a case the patient cannot control the bowel movements and thus accidents can happen like the one the young lady had.

This was one of the many experiences he shared on TikTok with her nearly 244,000 followers, in an effort to describe the difficulty she was facing and give courage to those going through the same. He started the videos last February when he started not being able to go to the toilet. But we are not talking about one or two days, but for periods of up to and exceeding a month, with her belly so swollen she looked almost 8 months pregnant.

Docherty was forced to go to hospital every 3-4 weeks to administer drugs, but after a few months they stopped working. No matter how many times they saw her, the doctors did not have a clear answer as to what was causing her difficulty defecating. “It was an absolute nightmare. I’ve had to set an alarm every hour at night since I was discharged because I was afraid the bag would overflow,” she says, according to the Insider report.

After many stays in the hospital, the 39-year-old asked her doctor to relieve her of the nightmare. He told her he would prefer to have the colon removed, but the waiting list was long, as was the surgery, which would take about 12 hours. So he operated on her immediately and placed the colostomy bag. “Either I would do this or I would continue to live as before,” he says.

And while the surgery brought her relief, the experience was traumatic. The stress of the bag overflowing was so great that she started having trouble sleeping, felt constantly exhausted and cried every day. “It was one of the worst things I have ever experienced in my lifehe admits.

He still hasn’t gotten clear answers about what caused the health problem and needs further tests. Doctors have assumed that he may be suffering frominflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which is a chronic inflammation that occurs in various parts of the digestive tract or from lazy bowel syndrome, which works slowly or sluggishly. A clear diagnosis has not yet been made.

She is supported by those who follow her on TikTok, where she uploads videos of both the good and the very bad days she is having. He asks for advice from those who have a similar experience and gives courage to those who feel that they no longer have the strength to fight the difficulties. “There are a lot of TikTokers full of bad comments, only receiving negativity from what I say. But I’m not like that,” he emphasizes.

Humor has saved her

Humor seems to be one of the best tools for feeling good. And this is what Doherty’s parents have in abundance, “true Scots”, as she describes them.

“For God’s sake, hen, shut up and carry on,” her dad tells her in his own unique way. So is her mom who constantly expresses her love for her and tells her not to give up.

“They’re Scottish, they’ll tell you ‘go ahead or whine, it’s up to you.’ You moan and lie on your bed or you go on and that’s it.” To be honest I’ve taken cues from both,” he says.

Although living with a colostomy bag is the hardest thing she’s ever been through, Doherty also sees its positives. Now he can eat, whereas before he used to burp and stop after 1-2 bites. And so he started cooking again, which he loves. He never puts it down, not even in the past when he had to be intubated four times. “I think I have 9 lives” he says.