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A mum who was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease aged 13 and had to have her colon removed eleven years later as it became pre-cancerous, giving her a “second chance at life”, is now an influencer bearing all to show it is possible to “live a beautiful, normal, happy life” with a stoma bag. Meghan Cary Brown, 31, a stay-at-home mum and content creator, from Charlottesville, Virginia, in the US, spent most of her teenage years in “so much pain” and had to “deal with bullying as well as being sick”. At 24, the mum of two, to Cora, three, and 23-month-old Colin, was told her colon was precancerous, causing her to “collapse on the floor crying”, just eight months after she had married Thomas Brown, now 31, a project manager. Meghan was in a “very dark place” and was “overcome with sadness” at the thought of getting cancer, so with some encouragement from her doctor, had her colon removed and had a stoma bag fitted. One year later she created an Instagram page, and more recently a TikTok, to share her story and raise awareness about life with a stoma bag with thousands of followers. Her postings include an open discussion of her experience, sharing bikini pictures and openly explaining she has worn “beautiful lacy wraps” for stoma bags in intimate moments with her partner, and it has “served as a healing mechanism” to make her realise she needs to “stop worrying so much” about the opinions of others. “I started posting as I wanted people to see that you can live this beautiful, normal, happy life with an ostomy bag, and when I was researching it I couldn’t see anyone my age talking about it,” she told PA Real Life “But the other reason was that it almost served as a healing mechanism for me – I think it was really powerful to just put myself out there on the internet. “Like, this year at the beach for the first time I wore a bikini with my bag on show and it felt amazing – I just thought life is too short.” After Meghan was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease she had to be home-schooled for a year because she “could not even get out of bed”. Meghan said: “My parents would find me lying on the bathroom floor because I could not get up and walk to the bed, I was in so much pain, and I had so much fatigue. “But it was also hard because since I was home-schooled, we didn’t have social media or anything, so no-one knew where I was, and there were lots of rumours spread about me – I had to deal with bullying as well as being sick.” Meghan was put on lots of different medications and had to deal with their side effects, such as giving her a “big moon face” as she retained water. She said: “I can remember having to get clothes three times my size and just breaking down crying. “That’s really difficult when you’re a teenage girl.” One year later Meghan was “in remission” for Crohn’s and was able to return to school. She continued taking “maintenance medication” which kept her symptoms at bay but, when she was in her first year of university, she began getting sick again. She explained: “I fell out of remission and it turned out I formed antibodies towards the drug I was taking so it was no longer working. “I had to inject myself at home while in college so it was really difficult.” Meghan also had to have regular hospital visits and aged 24, eight months after getting married, a routine colonoscopy showed that her colon was pre-cancerous. She said: “When they told me I had high-grade dysplasia deep within the tissue of my colon, and it was pre-cancerous, I was heartbroken. “I can remember standing in the kitchen when my doctor told me this over the phone, and it made me collapse on the floor crying because when you hear that word, cancerous, all you can think is that you’re going to die. “It was terrifying.” At the follow-up appointment Meghan was told she could have routine checks to make sure the cancer was not progressing or have her colon removed. She said: “I was adamant that I wasn’t going to have my colon removed – I thought my life would be over if I had that done. “I was in a very dark place and I was overcome with sadness. “But when I told my doctor my decision, he explained that I could have it removed now, or in a few years’ time I could be a mum with young children and have cancer. “That just put things into perspective for me – it made me realise it’s not just about me, so I decided to have it removed.” From that moment on, Meghan decided to live her life to the full. She said: “I decided I was going to look at this as my second chance at life – I had already been incredibly sick for 10 years – I told myself I was going to look at this as a positive thing. “Before, there were so many things I couldn’t do, like I had so much anxiety riding in a car because I couldn’t control my bowels and I was so worried that I wouldn’t be able to find a bathroom.” It took Meghan a few months to get used to having a stoma bag, and she explained what it is like day-to-day: “I change the whole system appliance every three to four days, and throughout the day I have no feeling. “I don’t have the urge to go to the bathroom, it just happens. “Throughout the day I’ll just go to the bathroom and empty my bag – I do this around six to eight times a day.” Meghan also had to adjust to having a stoma bag while being intimate with her husband. She said: “I wore beautiful lacy wraps made for people with bags, with a pocket to tuck it in, as it helped my body image because I felt pretty. “But honestly, now I’ve had my ostomy bag for almost seven years, we’re so comfortable with one another – if anything ever happens during intimacy, we just can laugh it off and move on.” One year after having her bag fitted she decided to create an Instagram account to share her story, where she now has more than 14,100 followers, and a further 19,400 followers on TikTok. Meghan said: “It really puts life into perspective and really made me realise life is so short. “I need to stop worrying so much about the opinions of others, or what other people are going to think – making my Instagram account made me realise this too. “I’m just so happy to be happy and healthy.” Read More Charlotte Dawson gives birth to her and Matt Sarsfield’s ‘rainbow baby’ How to sleep during hot weather, according to experts How to keep your pet safe and healthy during a heatwave Charlotte Dawson gives birth to her and Matt Sarsfield’s ‘rainbow baby’ How to sleep during hot weather, according to experts How to keep your pet safe and healthy during a heatwave

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Summer and smalls… it’s the yin and yang of our wash-day world. You’ve got a bit hot and sweaty at lunchtime, but you’ve only worn your favourite lacy bralette once… so it’s OK to put it back in the drawer, right? And then there’s the sports bra in your gym bag – it’s looking a little bit grubby but you can’t remember perspiring in your Pilates class. Here, experts shed some light on how you should be looking after your lingerie, along with some do’s and don’ts… How often should you wash your bra? “Realistically, if your bra hasn’t been worn for sports or on a particularly hot day, then we would advise washing every three to four wears,” says Rachael Burdis, product and marketing assistant at Pretty Polly. “If you leave it too long, then it will allow bacteria to build up and you could get dreaded boob spots; or even worse your bra could start to smell,” warns Burdis. Do you need to hand wash your bra or can you put it in the washing machine? We’ve all read the small print… some labels recommend hand washing but is this really necessary? Fabric plays a huge part in not only how often, but also how you wash your bras, says Burdis. “We all know bras are delicate garments and ideally, we should be hand-washing them each time in warm water – this keeps the bras’ shape and maintains the quality of the materials used. “However, I think we can all say we’re guilty of not doing that all the time – but we should try our best!” With fine fabrics like silk and fragile laces, she says they should always be hand-washed to avoid any additional wear and tear. If you’re pushed for time and your bra is going in the washing machine, Dinara Akhmerova, senior manager UK and Ireland for Simone Pérèle, advocates a detergent made specifically for delicates. “We recommend you don’t add softener as it can stay in the fibres for longer and reduce elasticity. Also, wash on a delicates setting at maximum 30C and no more than 800 RPM spin.” She also suggest using a bra wash bag to protect your underwired bras – and always dry lingerie flat to keep the shape. Does it matter if you wear the same bra for a week, even in summer? “We wouldn’t advise wearing a bra for a week; whether that be summer or winter, just to avoid any bacteria build-up,” says Burdis. “We also know length of time worn plays a huge part when deciding when to wash your bra.” If it’s been for a couple of hours a day, she says you could have a week’s worth of wear. But for a full day’s wear, she wouldn’t advise wearing your bra for a week. For matching sets, should you always wash knickers and bras together, so they don’t become different shades? “We tend to wash our knickers more often than bras – and good-quality lingerie shouldn’t fade so dramatically that you can see a marked difference, simply from not washing them together on a few occasions,” says Akhmerova. However, how well your lingerie maintains its colour depends on many factors, such as how careful you are when washing it, the type of fabric and colour, suggests Akhmerova. “Whether you wash your sets together or not, the number one rule is to always separate colours, especially your whites. Just don’t mix the colours! “Also, don’t use bleach on whites,” she warns. “It’s more likely to turn lingerie yellow than brighten it.” What about sports bras? For sports bras, Burdis sees this a little differently: “With a less intense low-impact workout, we advise every two wears. “But when it comes to a heavy gym session, long run or HIIT class, we advise after each wear to ensure you are always smelling fresh – and the bra isn’t accumulating bacteria.” Should you wash you underwear before wearing it, if it’s brand new? “Underwear should leave factories or packing houses clean as strict hygiene rules are in place,” says Akhmerova. “But it never hurts to give it a rinse out before the first wear.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live 5 late summer blooms to plant now This is why you keep waking up at 4am – and what you can do about it The two best exercises for lowering blood pressure, according to study

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