Teri Holland (00:01.164)
Hi, Cora Lee, welcome to the show.
Coralie (00:03.304)
Thanks for having me.
Teri Holland (00:04.76)
Thanks for being here. So you have spent two decades in sex ed, pleasure and confidence. So before we get into talking about your surgery and the ostomy, I wanna start with who were you before all of this happened?
Coralie (00:22.059)
Well, before all of this happened, I was someone who never thought something like this would happen to me. Yeah, like I just sort of fell into sexual health in 2003. It was something that always intrigued me. I've just had that brain that always wants to learn about things that people won't talk to me about, you know. So I was, you know, and it was something I was just going to do for a little bit.
Teri Holland (00:27.672)
Gotcha, yeah.
Teri Holland (00:45.688)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Coralie (00:51.784)
while my kids were young because child care is expensive and once they both started school it was something I really loved and what it led me to become that I didn't anticipate is someone who really started working on my own personal feelings about my body and attaching it to my worth and so I would say before all of this I was someone who loved talking about sex, sex positive and someone who really wanted to help
Teri Holland (01:10.478)
Hmm.
Coralie (01:22.372)
other women realize that.
what they look like has no relation to their worth as a human being. And I just kind of felt like it was intertwined because there's so much shame attached to our body, there's so much shame attached to sex. And I don't think that everyone needs to tell everyone everything in their business, but you shouldn't feel ashamed about anything, you know? Yeah, so I have wife, mom, all that stuff.
Teri Holland (01:34.477)
Yeah.
Teri Holland (01:46.552)
Right, right.
Okay, and you you said that you were the person who thought something like this would never happen to you. So walk me through what did happen and from, you know, something is wrong or something doesn't feel right to waking up post-surgery with an ostomy.
Coralie (01:57.628)
Mm-hmm.
Coralie (02:01.416)
you
Coralie (02:09.178)
Yeah, so you know, I was one of those women, like so many women who would occasionally have intestinal issues and just be like, IBS or I have a lactose allergy. When I was growing up, I was never a consistent pooper, just to get to the nitty gritty of it. But also I'm a Gen X kid. We didn't drink water. So once I hit like my early 30s, I started really
Teri Holland (02:26.51)
Yep.
Teri Holland (02:33.058)
Yeah.
Coralie (02:38.47)
Realizing like water's good, and I started drinking a lot of water started pooping regularly but You know occasionally would have issues with like Too loose too tight. I would go on trips for work. couldn't poop for a whole week like It would just but I would be like that's just me. This is to a ham. I'm shy pooper. You know that whole time it just That was the most traumatizing was not real like
Teri Holland (02:41.218)
Mm-hmm.
Teri Holland (02:54.316)
Wow.
Teri Holland (02:59.598)
Yep.
Coralie (03:06.568)
Looking back and being like, my gosh, I was so careless with my own health. But you know, last October when it all happened, I was feeling very off for a couple months, but it had been a really hard couple months. Like in July, I was in multi-level marketing for 20 years. I left it to go solo and open my own, you know, just independence and do my own thing, which is what I do. I, but it was a lot. It was a lot of stress leaving that. And then
Teri Holland (03:33.912)
Yeah.
Coralie (03:36.358)
you know, later on that month, our dog died who had, you know, who's like the last childhood dog. Two days after that, my first kid moved out. So I was crying a lot. I was tired and but I didn't know I was sick. And even until the weekend I got sick, I didn't know I was sick. And the only reason I know
Teri Holland (03:45.55)
Mm-hmm.
Teri Holland (03:50.573)
Yeah.
Coralie (04:00.282)
looking back that I was sick is because I did go to the doctors in July and I had blood work and my white blood cell count was high but not super high like maybe you were just getting over a cold or something which I wasn't. So that led to the realization that's when it all started. The weekend that it went insane had really awful cramps and
Teri Holland (04:09.857)
Yeah.
Coralie (04:25.156)
what what had shifted with my cramps and it had happened a couple months prior is that I would get my period and then I would get really intense cramps. So it wasn't before. So again, because I'm my own best doctor, I'm like, menopause, so weird. And and I did have a doctor's appointment. I had a doctor's appointment in October to talk to him about a handful of things. Menopause, ADHD,
Teri Holland (04:35.074)
Okay.
Teri Holland (04:40.588)
Yep.
Coralie (04:54.244)
And I had noticed my poop had changed. I'd noticed that it was very toothpastey. And I have seen enough TikToks to know that's a problem, right? But it wasn't consistently like that. It was just occasionally had this appointment, ended up talking for half an hour about menopause ADHD. And then I made an appointment for November 6th to come back and I was going to talk about my poop. last weekend of October, the Saturday night, I had my first event as an independent boutique.
Teri Holland (05:01.07)
okay. Yep.
Coralie (05:23.996)
was great. I felt great that night. The next morning I woke up, cramps. So bad and so different. Like, and they would come and go high, low, high, low, really high, sometimes higher than they'd ever been. I actually took a gummy because I was so like, just need Tylenol wasn't getting it. Advil wasn't getting it. And the gummy hit it. And then I got giggly and I was like, it is just menopause, you know, but it was a gummy. But two days of that.
Teri Holland (05:42.958)
Yeah.
Teri Holland (05:51.072)
Hahaha
Coralie (05:54.236)
And I finally said to my husband, like, can we just go to the hospital? Because I had to file my GST for the first time as an independent business owner. And I was like, if I wake up tomorrow and I have cramps, I have to go spend the whole day in the hospital. not going to get my GST done. I'm so sorry. Power sweeping is going by right now. You can't hear it. OK. It'll filter out. OK. I'm in a cul-de-sac and he's just.
Teri Holland (06:02.446)
yeah.
Teri Holland (06:14.746)
it's all good. I can hear it, but it'll, it'll cut out. Yeah, it's fine.
Coralie (06:24.392)
going slow. Okay. Do want me to keep talking or wait till he drives on out?
Teri Holland (06:24.736)
All good. All good.
Teri Holland (06:31.156)
Maybe let's just wait because it is getting louder. Let's just wait just in case.
Coralie (06:32.378)
Okay, he's halfway through the cul-de-sac now. That's funny, he's further away because he's on going on the opposite side.
Coralie (06:44.306)
super safe sweepers.
Teri Holland (06:46.318)
Yeah, that's good. It's good. My husband loves the street sweepers. Loves it. He gets so excited to like, he moves our car because we park on the street and he'll like, he'll be like, oh, I saw the sweepers are coming through and he like moves the car so that they can like get right up to our curb. And I'm like, he loves it. Yeah. Men, they like weird things.
Coralie (06:48.1)
sleeping. I've never seen them. I've never seen them in here before.
Coralie (07:05.402)
Yeah. Mm-hmm. Okay, he's almost out. Are you fucking looping again?
Teri Holland (07:13.26)
All good, it's all good.
Coralie (07:13.456)
I'm sorry. just take a drink.
Teri Holland (07:18.061)
Yeah.
Coralie (07:22.426)
one little cul-de-sac.
Coralie (07:33.928)
Okay, please leave now. Some of us are trying to work. Okay.
Coralie (07:42.198)
my fucking God. So sorry. He's getting like now he's. You know, when you go to a hockey rink and what's that thing called the Zamboni and it starts to do the smaller circles, that's what it's doing. So he's cleaning the whole street.
Teri Holland (07:44.93)
He's very thorough. He's very thorough.
Teri Holland (07:53.899)
Yeah
Wow.
Coralie (08:01.394)
fourth time I'm starting to wonder if his steering wheel's stuck.
Teri Holland (08:05.771)
Hahaha
Teri Holland (08:12.142)
Amazing.
Coralie (08:14.024)
I'm so sorry. Yeah. I've just lived here 11 years and never seen a street sweeper. I'm sure they've come, but...
Teri Holland (08:15.234)
No, no, it's fine. It's fine. happens.
Teri Holland (08:23.0)
Wow.
Teri Holland (08:27.182)
That's funny.
Coralie (08:28.016)
Okay, he's trunking out. Okay.
Teri Holland (08:30.401)
Nice, nice.
Coralie (08:34.952)
Can you not hear him? he gone? On your end? sound? Okay.
Teri Holland (08:36.824)
Yeah, yeah, you're good now.
Coralie (08:40.796)
Okay, so.
Teri Holland (08:43.118)
So me start with, start back to, you said to your husband, can we just go to the hospital? Cause you had to file your GST.
Coralie (08:48.41)
Yeah, yeah. So I said, can we go to the hospital just to get things checked out? I thought if they would have said this is just the worst menstrual cramps you have in your life and go home, I would have believed them. I thought maybe I had like an ovarian cyst, which I'd never had before. I thought maybe I had appendicitis, which one of my closest best friends dad passed away from. So I know it was important.
Teri Holland (09:02.904)
Mm-hmm.
Teri Holland (09:15.423)
wow. Yeah.
Coralie (09:17.756)
So we went in and I, you know, one of my best friends is a nurse in an ER and I texted her and she said, make sure you look like shit. She's like, don't stay on your phone. And, and it's so true as a woman, when you go to the hospital, you better look like shit. You better not look good because you will get, you know, you, you'll just be put in a different category a lot of times because, and she's a woman who told me this.
because we're so good at hiding it. mean, and living our life through stuff, right? So, we get to the hospital, we got there at eight o'clock and it's funny cause I wrote about this on Facebook afterwards. And when I was actually not on all the morphine, I realized my timing was so off with what I said then, but we got to the hospital at eight PM on Monday and I was in surgery at one AM. Like it was.
Teri Holland (09:53.538)
Yeah. Yeah.
Teri Holland (10:15.95)
Wow.
Coralie (10:16.801)
that fast. When I went to the front desk, they did the thing where they do my blood pressure temperature. I had a fever, brought me in for blood work right away. And it was so funny because we don't typically go to this hospital. We'd only gone to this hospital for the second time because three weeks prior, my husband had a tooth problem on Thanksgiving weekend. So you can't go to the dentist.
Teri Holland (10:42.206)
no. Yeah.
Coralie (10:43.852)
And wait time there was shorter. So we went there. We were in and out in two hours. So we chose to go this. It was Peace Arch Hospital. so we chose to go there. And they're doing my blood work. And they kept saying things like, we're so glad you came in. Like, we're so glad you came in. you look so good for someone as sick as you. And they kept saying things like that. And I was like, this is the royal treatment at this hospital. Like, they're so glad I came in. my god, they keep saying I'm cute.
Teri Holland (11:04.428)
Wow.
Yeah.
Coralie (11:13.154)
Like I was so delusional.
Teri Holland (11:13.166)
And not like, wow, I'm really that sick.
Coralie (11:18.324)
Right. You know, I was just like, wow, I really like this place. And they gave me some really good pain meds, which is so funny because I don't know, I'm sure I'm not the only one who's like afraid to even ask because you don't want someone to think you're drug seeking. Right. So but they just I didn't even have to ask. They just don't me right up. And then around midnight, a surgeon, I saw a doctor first and
Teri Holland (11:34.989)
Right.
Coralie (11:46.556)
Then shortly after that, surgeon, or they pulled me in for a CT scan. Surgeon came in and told me, and he was very calm and he was very gentle. And he just said, know, that my bowel had perforated and had pulled apart. I was septic. I had peritonitis, which is basically, if I understand it right, when that infection gets into like the inner layers of your abdomen.
Looking back, I was within a day or two of dying from that. And I didn't feel like that. I didn't feel like that at all. And he was just like, we just highly recommend that you allow us to come back and we're going to give you a surgery. And the first thing I thought was cancer. was like, my god, did you see cancer? And he's like, no, have diverticulitis. And he explained that. And.
Teri Holland (12:20.813)
Yeah.
Coralie (12:38.756)
He was just like, we just really recommend that you just come back. And I'm like, well, can I go home and get my things? You know, and he's like, no, we're just going to recommend that you just let us take you back. And my husband and then he, and we're like, okay. And then he left the room. My husband and I were just in shock. We just stood there for like the rest of that time, just like what, what the heck, what is happening? And,
Teri Holland (12:53.538)
I bet.
Coralie (13:02.128)
And then, you know, they came to get me and my husband left. said, they said they'd call him. Like, but he left once I was rolled in. They said they'd call him because was 1 a.m. And, yeah. And then I, and they said I would have an ostomy for two to three months and then they would be able, they would be able to do a reversal. It was called the Hartman's procedure. And, yeah. And, and then I went in for surgery. Yeah.
Teri Holland (13:26.99)
Okay, wow.
Teri Holland (13:31.234)
Wow, so no time to process it or adjust to this new information at all.
Coralie (13:37.232)
Right. Nothing. Yeah. It was a lot. Well, at the time it wasn't a lot because they gave me all the meds, but as I woke up, the November was just traumatizing coming out of that, you know? So yeah. But yeah, you don't, don't assume it. Don't assume. Go to the doctor. Even if it seems mild.
Teri Holland (13:38.668)
Wow.
Yeah, that's a lot.
Teri Holland (13:47.071)
Yeah.
Teri Holland (13:53.55)
and we'll-
Teri Holland (13:57.228)
Yeah, and it's so interesting hearing you say that you were one or two days away from dying, but you didn't feel like it.
Coralie (14:04.848)
I didn't feel like it, no. I didn't even know I had a fever.
Teri Holland (14:07.212)
Wow.
Teri Holland (14:10.72)
Wow.
Coralie (14:12.52)
Cause it was, it was like low grade, you know, but.
Teri Holland (14:14.658)
Yeah, yeah. And what was that like for you when you woke up out of the surgery? Like you knew going into the surgery, you were gonna get an ostomy. And then what was that like coming out of it when reality started to set in for you?
Coralie (14:23.932)
Mm-hmm.
Coralie (14:30.386)
So reality didn't really start to set in until about 24 hours later because you're still very high. They have you on, not only are coming out of anesthesia, but so many pain meds, so many pain meds, which I needed. It's the worst pain I've ever had in my life, that recovery. Aside from childbirth, childbirth was really hard, but I've never had
Teri Holland (14:39.054)
Okay, right.
Teri Holland (14:50.84)
Yep.
Teri Holland (14:58.445)
Yeah.
Coralie (15:00.43)
major surgery like this, you know? And so when I first came out, I was like, this is weird. And I read my Facebook memories every day and reading the posts that I made those days, I was like, that poor girl, she just had no clue because she was so high on hydromorphine, you know, because I was like, it's okay, I'm gonna get through it, la la la. And then that night, all that stuff had worn off, you know, I on like,
Teri Holland (15:18.478)
aww yeah
Teri Holland (15:27.853)
Yeah.
Coralie (15:28.516)
little low dose because once I wasn't feeling that pain like I don't want more meds like I just want to manage it.
then I started Googling. And my best friend is a nurse in a similar capacity, but in the States. And those conversations and the Googling made me realize how serious it was, how close I was to death, and then confirmations with my doctors and surgeons afterwards when I had more brain cells.
Teri Holland (15:51.351)
Okay.
Teri Holland (16:04.909)
Yeah.
Coralie (16:07.304)
That was really traumatizing because, especially because over the past three years, sorry I should have said this at beginning, I already been on this health journey. Part of that journey of becoming more accepting of my body and all that stuff was I stopped dieting. Like 10, 15, I don't know, maybe 2012. I was like, I'm just never dieting again. And then I gained like 15 pounds. But.
Teri Holland (16:17.718)
Yeah.
Teri Holland (16:28.91)
you
Coralie (16:36.166)
What had started happening over the last three years prior to that is I'd lost 50 because it was like, feel like I suddenly fed my inner child and she wasn't hungry anymore. So I had been losing weight without dieting, like just with living my life. And then, you know, just started thinking about family history and all that stuff with heart stuff. I started counting my protein and going on walks and all this stuff. Like, so I felt like I was in such a spot where I was feeling healthier than ever and doing better than ever with my health and feeling so good.
Teri Holland (16:44.415)
wow, yeah.
Teri Holland (16:56.206)
Mm-hmm.
Coralie (17:04.976)
and didn't know I was almost dead, like that was traumatizing. Having the ostomy, that was awful. I don't want to lower that because it was really traumatizing at first as well. But the mental shift, the mentalness around all that was so much harder. I think the ostomy would have been harder if I didn't already think that.
Teri Holland (17:04.984)
Yeah.
Teri Holland (17:09.73)
Wow, yes. Yeah.
Coralie (17:31.176)
I was a bad bitch even though I'm a size 14, 16. You know what I mean? Like I didn't care that I had a bag on my belly. I cared that I didn't know I was sick enough to have a bag on my belly.
Teri Holland (17:34.658)
Right, yeah.
Teri Holland (17:41.678)
Wow. Now, looking back, do you think that there were more signs, like as you look back than what you were aware of at the time? Yeah. And what were some of those signs that you can now recognize?
Coralie (17:42.632)
Mm-hmm.
Coralie (17:50.408)
Yeah. So, yeah, so one was.
I noticed that anytime I didn't drink enough water, I would get constipated. And I just thought, my God, I know my body so well. Like, I just need to drink water. with it, which is true, you do, know, the logs need water to go down Splash Mountain. like you do need water, but it's not like, I was just like, wow, I'm so in tune with myself. And I wasn't, that was a doctor's appointment I should have made.
Teri Holland (18:08.11)
Mm.
Teri Holland (18:18.638)
I love that.
Teri Holland (18:27.384)
Right. Okay.
Coralie (18:29.4)
all the time. And I had like, I had it periodically brought things up with my doctor. And he was like, he would say things like, well, you know, a lot of people are allergic to lactose and whatever. I didn't even have an allergy test maybe 15 years ago. And there was nothing I was allergic to that was significant. So and little things like I would notice certain things with food. So maybe three years prior, I'd done the FODMAP diet, like the elimination diet.
Teri Holland (18:45.558)
Yeah.
Teri Holland (18:54.968)
Okay.
Coralie (18:56.082)
to try and figure out what my body liked and disliked. And I noticed some things from that. But.
More, you know, it's just sort of these little things that now, a year out, that I realize how much better I feel. Now that I've had a like, Bristol level 5-6 poop, I realize how long it's been since I'd had that. Like, I'm telling you, over 10 years. And I think that you don't realize when you're getting sick, and whether it's digestion or not, if it's just this slow thing,
Teri Holland (19:16.238)
Okay.
Teri Holland (19:21.462)
Hahaha
Wow. Wow.
Coralie (19:34.692)
you don't even realize it and you just think it's life and aging and blah blah blah blah blah until something changes and it's better and you're like holy shit I forgot what that felt like and so there's a lot of that all the time
Teri Holland (19:43.704)
Yeah. Yeah.
Teri Holland (19:49.332)
Okay, interesting, interesting. What was one thing that you were not prepared for at all coming out of the surgery?
Coralie (20:00.808)
well, a funny one is, so I had the ostomy bag and I farted into it and it scared me so much. I called the nurse. thought I was dying. Like, I didn't know, like I'd never done any research into this. Why would I know? was, yeah. And it was.
Teri Holland (20:11.726)
Yeah.
Teri Holland (20:16.276)
Wow. Yeah, how would you know, right? Like, how would you? Yeah.
Coralie (20:24.348)
Then when I realized that's what it was, I was laughing at it and stuff. So that was the first thing that I wasn't prepared for. But in the coming months after that, I wasn't prepared for how tired I would be. I was so tired all the time. And that was the ostomy that was recovering from the sepsis and peritonitis. I was in the hospital for a week on fully antibiotics and learning how to deal with the bag and change the bag.
Teri Holland (20:44.59)
Yeah.
Coralie (20:51.65)
I cried a lot. had so many, you we would go to Nightingale Medical Supply in Langley for my ostomy supplies and I would just break down in there because I was so traumatized and clueless. But the tiredness, it's just aging, you know, like you feel like when we're in our 20s and 30s even, you just bounce back and now there is no bouncing. Like there's no bouncing.
Teri Holland (21:01.71)
Mmm.
Teri Holland (21:18.242)
No.
Coralie (21:19.61)
It's a slow roll and fortunately, a year and a bit before this, I tore my ACL, so I learned that then. Like, I have to go slow. So it was kind of, you know, but I really wasn't prepared for how tired I was. And then I wasn't prepared for how hard it would be to live with an ostomy because...
Teri Holland (21:28.298)
Okay. Yeah.
Coralie (21:45.538)
I felt so... I didn't feel shame about having an ostomy. I felt like, what if I ruined someone else's experience because of it? You know, like, like I had tickets to Night 3 Taylor Swift, okay, got them at the drop, did not pay a crazy amount. And I was so worried about going because what if my bag leaks and all these people who are so excited are just like, my God, this chick shit around me.
Teri Holland (21:58.574)
Coralie (22:14.33)
you know what I mean? And fortunately, I actually posted about that on threads. And so many like Swifties were like, it's okay. You know, I was at a concert, this mom was puking, I held her hair. we're all in this, you know what I mean? So I went and I had a great time. It was really sweet, but I wasn't prepared for how ang-
Teri Holland (22:15.896)
Yeah.
Teri Holland (22:30.606)
amazing. Good.
Coralie (22:36.774)
much anxiety I would have around it. I wasn't prepared for dealing with it because you really learn about your body and how your body processes food when you see it because it's in a bag and you're looking at it and you can tell, I didn't chew that. You can you can tell even if you did choose something you think well that your body didn't process it. It's you can tell how. Liquids affect it.
Teri Holland (22:42.19)
Teri Holland (22:47.436)
Right. Yeah.
Teri Holland (22:52.878)
Wow, interesting.
Coralie (23:06.576)
You know, there's something, I didn't know this until I had an awesome, you've ever heard about pancaking? Yes, I didn't.
Teri Holland (23:11.106)
Yes. Yes, but only from another friend who has an ostomy. Yeah.
Coralie (23:15.588)
Yeah, so for anyone who doesn't know, it's when your output is so thick it stays at the top and it doesn't go down and then it starts to build up and it ruins the seal. So you get more leaks. And it really is when someone gets an ostomy, it's a lot of trial and error to figure out what works for you. And there's wonderful ostomy community groups on Facebook and things like that and Reddit that help with it. But
Teri Holland (23:28.802)
Yeah.
Teri Holland (23:39.286)
Nice.
Coralie (23:42.202)
what works for one person won't work for everyone. You know, there's different bags, there's different brands, there's different creams, there's different ways your skin can react. And if you're a sensitive Susie, like I am, like I, you know, I would find a system that would work and I would have a routine, like, okay, I can't, like I knew I couldn't do a bag change on my shower days because I don't know, my skin just stays really moist. wouldn't, the seal wouldn't stick. So I could only do a bag change on a day I wasn't having a shower.
Teri Holland (23:45.549)
Yeah.
Teri Holland (24:06.126)
Coralie (24:09.736)
And I wanted to shower all the time. There's, you know, you'd finally find a system that would work and four weeks later, your skin would be like, sorry, we don't like this adhesive anymore. And you'd have to find a whole new system. And in that time frame, like I remember the week before Christmas, I had eight leaks in seven days and each bag change, a full bag change is 35 to $40. So you're doing that every day, sometimes twice a day because
Teri Holland (24:10.312)
Okay. Yeah.
Teri Holland (24:24.438)
wow.
Coralie (24:38.972)
there's leaks happening because your body's not, you know, whatever. And it's a lot to figure out. really, yeah, you really learn a lot about yourself and your food and all that stuff, you know? And then even like Christmas Eve, my husband and I, ran to the mall. The only places I had been, I'd been to one friend's who lives like two kilometers away. Been to the grocery store, doctor's, ostomy clinic. Never been anywhere else. We're in line at Spencer's gift and I can feel my bag leaking.
Teri Holland (24:41.717)
Yeah.
Teri Holland (24:47.298)
I bet. Yeah.
Coralie (25:09.736)
at the mall. And I just, I was like, I have to go. And I just left and I stood outside Spencer's gifts and waited for him. And then, and we were of course parked at the other end. So try, so then I didn't want to leave my house again. And I had been to the Taylor Swift concert. Sorry, that was the one thing I had done. And one little field trip before that, that my friend took me on to prepare me mentally for Taylor Swift. But my friend that took me was a nurse. So I was, I was surrounded by nurses. So
Teri Holland (25:10.54)
No.
Teri Holland (25:19.562)
Of course, of course.
Teri Holland (25:24.622)
Yeah, right, right.
Teri Holland (25:34.887)
Okay, so you were in good hands.
Coralie (25:39.568)
Yeah, it's just a lot because...
Teri Holland (25:39.746)
Yeah.
Coralie (25:44.472)
It's so funny because it's poop, everyone poops. And it's so amazing how we don't put as much weight into it. Into what going in, what coming out, how much it affects us.
Teri Holland (25:47.182)
Mm-hmm.
Teri Holland (25:55.906)
Yeah.
Teri Holland (25:59.502)
Yeah, because it's something we usually don't think about. Like unless you are dealing with, you know, a bowel condition, you don't think about it. And it's a blessing for those who don't have to think about pooping. Yeah.
Coralie (26:03.175)
Right.
Coralie (26:12.226)
Absolutely. That was one of the most shocking things for me because when I started, I got into these ostomy groups and I know like everyone had the greatest, most wonderful intentions, but people would send me videos of people who live with an ostomy and they would be like doing all the things, you know, and I would feel, because I was so angry and I was so depressed, I would be so mad. I would be like,
Teri Holland (26:29.07)
Mm-hmm.
Teri Holland (26:35.479)
Mmm.
Coralie (26:43.004)
You know how like it felt like toxic positivity because I wasn't in the place for it. That's what it felt like. It was nothing about the person who made the video. And I know the person who sent it would always have the best intentions. But I even had to do a post being like, please stop being like, you got this and sending me this stuff because I can't fucking handle it. Like I don't got this. I don't got this. So, but what really shocked me as it went on,
Teri Holland (26:49.442)
Yeah. No.
Teri Holland (27:03.544)
Yeah. Yeah.
Coralie (27:11.802)
is that there are so many people in those groups who have an ostomy and who would never opt to go back to life without it because it makes their life that much better. That's what I didn't anticipate. That is, you know, and it took a couple months, but once that really started sinking in, that's what sort of changed my outlook. By the time I had my reversal, I was ready for the happy-go-lucky. I would call them tampon commercials because that's what they felt like to me.
Teri Holland (27:23.448)
Right.
Coralie (27:41.416)
I have my period and I can run through a field, you know what I mean? But once I was finally, it was like maybe a month before my reversal surgery, I was like, you know what? I have to get to a place where I can accept this. There's people who prefer it over the old fashioned way because of the quality of life they get. And if that does happen, because there's always a failure rate, I need to be in a better place to accept that.
Teri Holland (27:42.018)
Gotcha.
Yeah.
Teri Holland (27:57.678)
Mm-hmm.
Teri Holland (28:09.218)
Yeah.
Coralie (28:10.95)
And so that's what really started me shifting my thinking around it and becoming more accepting of it while still hoping the reversal went well, but being like, OK, because I would literally think like, if this has to be my life, I don't want to live it. Like, I wasn't suicidal. Like, I wasn't going to go jump in front of a bus, but I wasn't going to jump out of the way either. You know what I mean? It was kind of that state of mind. So yeah.
Teri Holland (28:19.928)
night.
Teri Holland (28:26.318)
Hmm, is this?
Yeah, yeah. Gotcha.
Yeah.
Coralie (28:38.524)
their life saving and and also to another thing I had more people than I ever expected reach out to say someone that they were close with that I knew had an ostomy or they had an ostomy or someone you know like a lot of people have them and don't talk about them because of the stigma attached to something everyone does.
Teri Holland (28:38.904)
Yeah.
Teri Holland (28:51.981)
Wow.
Teri Holland (29:01.582)
Yeah, yeah. Now, this show, one of the reasons I started this show was because invisible illness messes with our heads in ways that many people don't talk about. What happened to your relationship with your body after the ostomy, like, well, going through the ostomy process, but then also after you had the reversal, how did it impact your relationship with your body?
Coralie (29:14.621)
Right.
Coralie (29:29.8)
I don't really ever remember feeling angry at my body. I remember feeling angry at my brain. And I remember...
Teri Holland (29:39.969)
Okay.
Coralie (29:48.208)
I did hate the ostomy. And I remember early on, I was like, I have to name this thing and love it. So I named it Dolly, Dolly Farton. And,
Teri Holland (29:55.361)
Hmm.
Parton, that's great.
Coralie (30:06.15)
Yeah, I I guess the biggest impact it had on my relationship with my body would be that being intimate was hard. You know, like my husband and I have been together 30 years. That was our longest time without it. We didn't we weren't intimate for quite a few months. And I was paranoid, was paranoid about it.
Teri Holland (30:19.374)
Mm-hmm.
Teri Holland (30:32.994)
Yeah.
Coralie (30:35.708)
breaking it wasn't about him seeing the ostomy or or anything like that but in regards to my body yeah i don't that's a hard one because i can't think of it wasn't like a body switch it was more like a brain switch and then just making sure that i'm paying more attention to my body i guess because and not letting little things that i think are nothing like i have a doctor appointment tomorrow
Teri Holland (30:51.118)
Okay.
Coralie (31:03.76)
I'm the most annoying bitch on the universe right now. you know, like if something's unusual, I'm going and I'm dealing with it and I'm talking about it. And actually in October within, was almost, it was two days from the anniversary, not same, very awful cramps. The way I went to the ER, I was so scared. but my, had no variances that ruptured. I was just like, but you know.
Teri Holland (31:06.104)
Good, good. Yeah.
Teri Holland (31:23.256)
you
Yeah.
Teri Holland (31:30.273)
Wow.
Coralie (31:33.618)
Two years ago, because it was about half an hour of really awful pain, two years ago, once that pain ended, I would have been like, okay, I don't need to go to the hospital. But no, that pain was done. And I was like, we're going, we're going now, because you don't know. So I guess that would be the biggest thing, yes, that, I don't know, call it anal retentive, call it anxiety. I don't know, but I'm not assuming I'm a doctor anymore. Yeah.
Teri Holland (31:44.92)
Yeah.
Teri Holland (31:56.899)
I think that's a good thing. I think that's a very good thing. Yeah, let the doctors do the doctoring and yeah.
Coralie (32:02.886)
Yeah, you know when you're just in one of those families where no one really gets sick, nothing really happens. So, and nothing was sudden because when things are slow buildups, you just don't realize. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Teri Holland (32:13.9)
Yeah, you just become used to it. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So let's talk about sex after the ostomy. Because you've mentioned it. And I know that there are so many people, like I read about it in colitis forums all the time, people are afraid to get an ostomy because they think that's going to be the end of their intimate life. Or people who aren't in a relationship are afraid that, how am I ever going to find a relationship or someone who will accept me?
Coralie (32:22.606)
Okay. Yep.
Coralie (32:34.812)
Mm-hmm.
Teri Holland (32:41.898)
as I am and they think that that's going to be the end for them. what fears, like you mentioned some of it, about, you know, but what fears came up around desire or attractiveness or intimacy were coming up for you.
Coralie (32:42.12)
Mm-hmm.
Coralie (32:54.216)
So I didn't feel any less beautiful, for lack of better word. And my husband, he's very, he's very complimentary. He's like, he wasn't fazed by it. But we were both paranoid about doing it with it, because what if something happened? What if it broke? What, you know, and
Teri Holland (33:11.308)
Nice.
Teri Holland (33:20.77)
Yeah.
Coralie (33:24.572)
I just, don't know how either one of us would react to that. So it took a lot. It took almost three full months. And actually the reason that I felt comfortable going forward. So I'd mentioned that I had posted on threads about my concern about going to the Taylor Swift concert, a freaking Swifty who has an ostomy or had a temporary ostomy, had this cute little sort of hernia belt that looked like
It had this ruching on it, so it sort of looked like a vintage garter. And she mailed me that. And with some like friendship bracelet, it so sweet of her. So I put it on and it covered everything so you couldn't see anything. And it just looked like lingerie. And I still have it. And I'm keeping all of my things until I'm one year post-reversal. And then I'm going to find someone to gift it to.
Teri Holland (33:58.104)
cute.
Teri Holland (34:04.782)
That's so sweet.
Teri Holland (34:12.334)
Thanks.
Coralie (34:23.172)
you know, who needs that or who needs, you know, all the supplies I have if I know a person or take it to a charity that will donate it. But it was just so kind of her. And that's what made it easier. So any time we did do that, I had that on. We'd never done it. We'd never done it without that. But, yeah, the fear was the mess that would happen or even hurting.
Teri Holland (34:23.619)
Nice.
Teri Holland (34:37.198)
you
Teri Holland (34:48.387)
Yeah.
Coralie (34:51.558)
because there was so much pain. I had never had a C-section. So when I had my surgery and I had to walk afterwards, it was more pain than I ever felt because I had a C-section scar, which I didn't understand because they had done it lapis, scrop, lapis, you know, that word. And, and it wasn't until months later, cause I'd be like, I don't understand why it was done lapis, scropically.
Teri Holland (34:52.6)
you
Teri Holland (35:06.254)
out.
Teri Holland (35:13.229)
Yeah, here.
Coralie (35:21.192)
but I have 30 stitches where I would have a C-section. Like I didn't understand it. And it was months later that I asked my surgeon and he said, that's where we got all your poop out. yeah. So when I was trying to walk, I remember it was two days before I even tried and I couldn't even make it to the door of the room and back. And it was three days before I made it to the nurses station and back. And it was so much pain from that.
Teri Holland (35:25.623)
Yeah.
Teri Holland (35:33.262)
right.
Teri Holland (35:49.038)
you
Coralie (35:51.97)
And that was residual. So it was pain, positioning, and fear of shit happening, for the lack of a better word. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Teri Holland (36:01.762)
Yeah, literally. Yeah. Yeah. What, what would you say that partners need to learn about this to make their their partner with an osteobeam maybe feel more comfortable and more at ease with the whole the whole thing?
Coralie (36:14.632)
Yeah, well I would say first of all let your partner with the ostomy take the lead. know if um that person has more say in the situation um but I would also say that
Teri Holland (36:20.044)
Mm-hmm.
Coralie (36:40.456)
I'm trying to think of how to say this. Wit koo.
Teri Holland (36:42.446)
just go for it. Just out with it. We're good here with anything.
Coralie (36:47.931)
Okay.
Coralie (36:53.0)
Your partner's feelings about her ostomy are not a reflection of you. They're not a reflection of your relationship. They are a reflection of what they're going through right now. this didn't happen in my household. But there were so many women in the ostomy groups who I could not believe some of the things their partner said.
Teri Holland (37:18.104)
Okay.
Coralie (37:21.16)
Do not, do not do those things. You know, like one partner asked if it was a hole they could use.
Teri Holland (37:22.595)
Yeah.
Teri Holland (37:30.179)
no, no! Dude!
Coralie (37:32.304)
Right. It just floored me that some people would even consider that.
Teri Holland (37:43.278)
Ha
Coralie (37:44.836)
You know, and and it's one thing like my husband and I were very jokey people, you know, we joke back and forth all the time. So we joked around about it a lot. But you still have to take the person with the ostomies lead because sometimes you're not in a joking mood. You know what I mean? And you you can't throw those jokes in. Maybe that has been mended as a really bad joke. I don't know. But, you know, just yeah, be patient.
Teri Holland (37:54.648)
Yeah.
Teri Holland (38:08.226)
hopefully.
Coralie (38:14.192)
You can always masturbate. You can always masturbate. And I would actually recommend the person with the ostomy before they have sex masturbate.
Teri Holland (38:22.926)
Oh, that's a call.
Coralie (38:23.9)
Do it yourself first. Yeah, like you're gonna feel better about it. You know, things are working, all that stuff. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Teri Holland (38:28.876)
Yeah.
such good advice. What do you think that medical professionals fail to talk about in this area? Or do they even address this part of it?
Coralie (38:43.256)
Um, no, there was no addressing. In fact, I think not even in this area, but in all areas, they, you know, just drop the ball, not at the hospital. The hospital was great and the ostomy clinic was great, but they don't follow up with you. You're told, oh, an ostomy nurse will come to your house to follow up. left three messages, never did. Um, so, and I don't think it's their fault. It's all underfunding and, and blah, blah, blah. But, um, yeah, there was no conversations about sex. So.
Teri Holland (38:49.856)
Yeah.
Teri Holland (39:02.21)
Wow.
Coralie (39:12.744)
they 100 % dropped the ball because there's nothing. There was no conversation about it at all. And there's actually, and I understand it can be really hard with positioning when you have an ostomy or even are still a couple months out from surgery. Sometimes certain positions might hurt, but there's so many great, like Liberator makes chairs and.
Teri Holland (39:16.472)
Yeah.
Teri Holland (39:20.002)
Wow.
Coralie (39:39.194)
And these chairs, different ones can specifically be used for different abdominal surgeries. Like there's one if you've had a lower abdominal surgery to help you position yourself better. There's one for an upper abdominal. I they're not made for these. They're made for different bodies, different positions, whatever. But this one, because of it, it works well for people with a lower abdominal surgery. For this one, for people with an upper or with a hip problem or whatever. And I think we get in this idea that if we have a disability in some way that we have to stop having sex.
Teri Holland (39:44.782)
Wow.
Teri Holland (39:54.178)
Okay.
Teri Holland (40:00.151)
Interesting.
Coralie (40:08.584)
and I disagree, I think it's more important than ever. And I think that it's okay to look into things that are going to help you have that better experience with each other.
Teri Holland (40:09.07)
Mm-hmm.
Teri Holland (40:19.83)
Amazing. That's such good advice and so good to know that those are things that are available to people. I know I just recently learned about these things from a woman that I follow on TikTok who's a sex worker and she shares such amazing information. And she was talking about sex with people with disabilities and all the different devices that she uses to make them feel more comfortable and chairs and just different things that she does to make it easier for them and to make them feel comfortable through it.
Coralie (40:20.904)
Mm-hmm.
Coralie (40:25.82)
Mm-hmm.
Coralie (40:40.424)
Mm-hmm.
Coralie (40:46.832)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Teri Holland (40:49.504)
amazing. Now you've said you've said something that hit hard for me this is like when I was reading through your bio and that is that pleasure shouldn't require perfect bodies or big budgets. How did your surgery and going through this how did it deepen that belief or maybe change that belief?
Coralie (41:02.332)
Right.
Coralie (41:10.274)
it definitely deepened it because I mean, I never thought I had a perfect body ever. certainly don't now. And I don't care more than ever, you know, like it was really funny after the surgery, or when I started getting, you know, the consults for the second surgery, my surgeon kept talking about like, you know, you're going to have some scars on your tummy and like acting like it was the worst thing in the world. And I was like this tummy.
Teri Holland (41:23.948)
Nice. Nice. Yeah.
Coralie (41:39.974)
this tummy that's never been a six pack and has had stretch marks on it since I was 18 years old, like this tummy, you think I care about scars? Like I'll be like, look at this scar. I'm a bad bitch, you know? So it deepened that thought that your worth and sex should not be attached to how you feel about your body. But.
Teri Holland (41:43.437)
Yeah.
Teri Holland (41:48.014)
Yeah. Yeah.
Coralie (42:06.524)
When, this is my opinion and there's also science that backs this up, when you have a lower libido, it's often, if you feel like shit about yourself, you're gonna have a lower libido. If you don't like yourself, if you don't like your body, you're gonna have a lower libido. So, and yeah, I was really upset that it wasn't that I didn't like my body, I didn't like myself, I didn't like my brain, and I was sick, you know, recovering. So I very much had a very low libido.
Teri Holland (42:18.123)
Mm-hmm. Yep.
Teri Holland (42:31.692)
Right. Yeah.
Coralie (42:35.656)
So yeah, that deepened. I, in fact, the other one deepened too, because when you have a disability, you have so many other expenses. Like those ostomy supplies were intense. We had coverage, fortunately, but we'd have to pay, get reimbursed. I'm not working. It was like a tight time. And, and it made me believe more than ever that we have to have stuff in every budget when it comes to sex stuff. And that's what I try and do with my
Teri Holland (42:47.694)
Ha
Teri Holland (42:53.582)
Yeah.
Coralie (43:05.426)
boutique is yes I have three hundred five hundred dollar vibrators in there but I also have really good fifty dollar ones you know what I mean like I just want the value to match the the the value I want you to feel like you got your value I hate it when you buy something you spend a hundred bucks on it you're like this is worth fifty bucks you know that's the experience I don't want someone to have when they're buying for pleasure
Teri Holland (43:15.916)
Nice. Yeah.
Teri Holland (43:28.002)
Yeah, yeah.
Coralie (43:31.88)
So yeah, so I think it should be for every single budget. Absolutely.
Teri Holland (43:36.782)
And what would you tell someone who feels disconnected from desire because of illness or because of surgery? What would you do? What advice would you give them?
Coralie (43:48.611)
I would say.
Coralie (43:54.12)
I would say to, I know it sounds so trite, go for a walk. Start going for walks. Like those, that little bit, cause it was such a big game changer for me when I started consistently walking in just realizing how much better I feel when I just get a little, like everything else just is a little bit more doable. And if you can only walk five minutes, walk five minutes, but.
we have to do these things that let us get out of our own head. Because I think when we're in our own head all the time, it makes all that stuff worse. And when you're out of your own head and you're out for a walk, and whether you're listening to music or you listen to a podcast or book, my brain will still wander. And you have these thoughts and things that you might have never considered. And I would also say, find people who that, that you want. If there is someone out there that's like, oh, she is like,
Teri Holland (44:51.224)
Yeah.
Coralie (44:54.542)
You know, I wish I was as comfortable with my body as she is. Follow that person like they are going to influence you in a positive way. Like I was the girl who would never wear a swimsuit, who would never wear a bathing suit in public. And the only reason that started changing is because I have a daughter and I was like, shit, I won't even show my upper arms around my kid, around anyone. Like, what am going to do to her? Because she was a child. So that was kind of what started for me. And now.
Teri Holland (45:00.034)
Yeah.
Teri Holland (45:15.662)
Okay.
Coralie (45:24.72)
And it was seeing other women on the internet doing the same thing, being like, she, like, I know we all have stretch marks, but she put hers on the internet. Now everyone can see that everyone has stretch marks. You know what I mean? Yeah, that, like, yeah. I hate that we don't talk about that stuff because I think if everyone talked about everything, the world would be so much more progressive.
Teri Holland (45:33.484)
Yeah.
Teri Holland (45:46.527)
I agree.
Coralie (45:47.784)
Like if there was that there's a stretch mark photos were going around in 1989 this world would be a different place. You know.
Teri Holland (45:54.926)
Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, I agree. has gone has having gone through this, has it influenced or changed your business at all or how you approach your business?
Coralie (46:08.814)
Yeah, it has because...
Coralie (46:18.822)
I don't know, some of my clients, I'm so, like we have shared so much information with each other. I kind of joke that I'm a retail therapist because I'm not a therapist, not a therapist, don't have any therapy school, but I feel like what I do is retail therapy in that we talk about things and I'm not telling them what to do, I'm just like giving them advice and you know, it's all based on sexual stuff, but it's all related to personal stuff
Teri Holland (46:32.97)
Hahaha
Coralie (46:48.816)
to and and it's just made me more convinced that it's not just sex it's sex and body and it's also made it you know before I was like okay I'm gonna launch I'm gonna go independent do my own business and I want it to do like blah blah blah you know all these numbers and now I'm like
Teri Holland (46:50.499)
Yeah.
Teri Holland (47:01.4)
Mm-hmm.
Coralie (47:14.714)
As long as, like of course I would not turn down any sales, but my focus isn't sales in that way. My focus is helping women see that everything they're concerned about is normal. Everything they're concerned about, everyone else is concerned about. And that's something I learned long before this happened because I can't tell you how many conversations I've had with women.
Teri Holland (47:19.224)
Right.
Teri Holland (47:30.742)
you
Coralie (47:38.946)
where they think, you know, for example, I don't orgasm during sex. And then they they don't know that hardly anyone else does either. It's like 20 percent, you know, and they sit there and carry it and think something's wrong with them or they think, my God, it takes me 45 minutes of stimulation to have an orgasm. A lot of women are like that. And then it's because of that. Like, but if you do it more, you're going to get your body fat. You know what I mean? You kind of got to like train it to happen. And so more what's more important to me now is that
Teri Holland (47:49.634)
Yeah.
Teri Holland (48:03.544)
Yeah.
Coralie (48:08.57)
Everyone just feels more normal about like if me sharing my story, whether it's I mean, I don't share my personal sex life because my husband cares, you know, and I respect his boundaries. But I talk about sex so openly and now I talk about poop so openly. I just want if if my business, which is selling sex toys, that is that is the only way I make a profit. If they connect with what I'm trying to say and it makes them feel better.
Teri Holland (48:16.846)
Alright. Yeah.
Coralie (48:38.502)
then and then they refer me to their friends and and that like that means more to me than I want to get it this big and and blah blah blah. There's a million big companies out there like I don't care I'm niche and I'm more like happy with that niche now you know I felt like I had to break out and like be all the things and like no I talk about sex I talk about shit I just don't talk about them at the same time.
Teri Holland (48:47.427)
Yeah.
Teri Holland (48:52.322)
Yeah.
Teri Holland (48:55.842)
Good.
Teri Holland (49:04.909)
Fair enough, fair enough. yeah, okay. And I have some lightning round questions for you if you're game for it. Okay, yeah, get ready. Okay, what's one thing you wish people stopped saying to people with illness?
Coralie (49:12.848)
Okay, let me take a drink. Okay.
Coralie (49:24.048)
You got this. I'm hate that. You got this. You're so strong. No. Yeah. Like, you're so strong. I don't want to be. I don't want to be. I want to be weak and just cry. And you can't like, the reason that annoys me so much is because you can't get to a better place until you accept the shitty place.
Teri Holland (49:26.476)
Yep, yeah.
I hate that. Yeah.
Teri Holland (49:37.336)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah. Yeah.
Teri Holland (49:50.52)
Totally.
Coralie (49:50.724)
So you're just telling them to skip all the shit and then it's just going to build up and resent? No, let people feel their pain. Don't tell them they got this. Wait until they actually feel like they might got this. And then you get to the encouragement. Just sit with them.
Teri Holland (50:02.06)
I love that. Yep. Yeah. What was the most unexpected silver lining in all of this?
Coralie (50:13.598)
Coralie (50:18.342)
The most unexpected silver lining is...
I mean, there's some big ones, there's trivial ones, but one trivial one is I stop biting my nails. I've been a nail biter my whole life. I turned 50 this year, 50 years of biting, probably 49 years of biting my nails. And once I had to touch my own poop that often, I'm a germaphobe. Okay. So yeah, I don't bite my nails anymore. that was very unexpected. Didn't expect it. I'm also more comfortable with poop like
Teri Holland (50:29.422)
Teri Holland (50:43.49)
yeah.
Teri Holland (50:48.93)
I bet.
Coralie (50:52.04)
I like anyone who knew me, not even closely, like just loosely knew me would be like, I'm sorry that you are the one that has to deal with that because I'm like that. I don't look at stuff. I'm going to pass out. I don't like blood. I'm not a doctor. I'm not a nurse for that reason. Maybe like you have to deal with that. Really? I know. I still don't want to see other people's poop. But I am inspecting mine every day still like.
Teri Holland (51:05.058)
Wow.
Teri Holland (51:09.251)
Yeah.
Teri Holland (51:16.77)
Yeah, fair. Fair enough.
Wow.
Coralie (51:21.828)
you know, didn't expect either of those.
Teri Holland (51:23.342)
Yeah. What's something that you now refuse to tolerate?
Coralie (51:33.576)
Coralie (51:39.496)
you
Coralie (51:43.624)
I refuse to tolerate when someone says, I just have IBS, or oh, I'm just lactose intolerant, or oh, it's just me, it's just who I am. Have you gone to the doctor? Have you talked to them about it? Were you satisfied? Did you keep going back if you weren't? I used to be very tolerant of that, because I was the same way. And we feel that, I think that's a lot of things with women. We don't want to be a burden. We're fine. And so yeah, I wasn't.
Teri Holland (51:48.206)
you
Teri Holland (51:57.624)
Yeah.
Teri Holland (52:06.146)
Yep. Yep.
Coralie (52:10.758)
Yeah, I wouldn't say I was intolerant to it before, I was, or like, yeah, that just doesn't fly. Not at all.
Teri Holland (52:17.454)
Nice, good. And what's one word that describes this chapter of your life?
Coralie (52:25.81)
Well, I have two words.
Teri Holland (52:27.458)
Okay.
Coralie (52:29.358)
lucky shit. That's what I've been saying. Like I'm a lucky shit.
Teri Holland (52:30.943)
Hahaha!
Teri Holland (52:36.334)
Yep, yep agreed. And if someone listening to this is you know in the hospital bed right now recovering with an ostomy for the first time, what do think they need to hear right now?
Coralie (52:53.074)
my gosh, what I wish someone would have said to me, and maybe they did, again, hydromorphone was a lot, was that this is going to be really hard and things might change along the way, but there will be light eventually.
I didn't think there would be but there is. And if they wanted me to sit there with them I would sit there with them. I wish at that time that I knew someone who had an ostomy like closely that could have come and sat with me. And there's actually a really great organization the Ostomy Society of Canada. I just learned you know the first weekend of October it's Ostomy Awareness Day and I learned about it like October 1st and there was this walk October 4th.
Teri Holland (53:28.749)
Yeah.
Coralie (53:46.396)
And so I raised $300 and I went and did this walk and I met so many wonderful people and I just wish that I would have been connected with them from the start because I think it would have been so helpful. So I'm staying involved in that organization and even though I don't have an ostomy anymore because I had a successful reversal if I can help anyone who's in who's sitting in that to say like hey it might not be forever.
Teri Holland (53:46.766)
Yeah.
Teri Holland (53:56.759)
Yeah.
Coralie (54:15.258)
It might, but it might not. And here I'm, I've done it. I can hold your hand. Like I would be so happy to be there for that person because it was, it's something I think would have helped me more than you got this.
Teri Holland (54:15.33)
Yeah.
Teri Holland (54:24.898)
Yeah.
Teri Holland (54:30.05)
Yeah, definitely, definitely. Well, thank you so much for coming on today and for sharing so openly. And if anyone listening is interested in learning more about the Cheeky Boutique or your community, where are the best places to connect with you?
Coralie (54:38.002)
Thank you.
Coralie (54:43.72)
That's right.
Coralie (54:49.218)
So I'm all over social media. I'm on Instagram. I'm on TikTok. I have a personal account and a business account. I talk about shit and business on my personal account, but I only talk about business on my business account. So some of the stuff is cross-posted, but my business is the cheeky boo, like the cheeky B-O-O. And then my personal is just CoralieTV.
because it rhymes and makes me feel like I'm a TV show. So it's Quirly TV. And then I also have a private community on Facebook for my lady clients. But there's not a public link to that. But if anyone is a woman, identifies as a woman who wants in, just shoot me a DM on TikTok, Instagram, or I'm on Facebook. You can follow me on Facebook just under my regular name. I don't post on my business page on Facebook because it keeps putting me in jail. I don't know why.
Teri Holland (55:15.064)
Yeah. Yeah. Why not? Why not?
Teri Holland (55:40.362)
yeah, yeah, I bet. All right, well thank you so much and I will post those links in the show notes for people to connect with you. Thanks for, yeah.
Coralie (55:43.826)
Yeah. Yeah.
Coralie (55:49.18)
Yeah. Can I add one more? I'm sorry, I totally forgot. I have a podcast. I do. I have a podcast. It's called Not Safe for Brunch. And so that's the podcast name. It's everywhere. And we're on all the social medias under Not Safe for Brunch. It's me and two of my close friends that we've been in the same industry for 20 years. And we talk about all the things.
Teri Holland (55:54.193)
yeah, you have a podcast. Talk about your podcast.
Teri Holland (56:06.189)
Yeah.
Coralie (56:15.14)
on that podcast. So sex, we talk about sex, poop, bodies, just anything really. It's sort of like midlife, midlife podcast. So it's fun. Definitely not safe for work or brunch unless you're cool people. Yeah.
Teri Holland (56:17.453)
Nice.
Teri Holland (56:24.715)
Awesome.
Awesome. Or brunch. Yeah. Perfect. I will link that in the show notes as well. Thank you so much.
Coralie (56:34.8)
Okay, thank you so much. Thanks for having me.
