‘I looked like Kim Kardashian!’: Crohn’s sufferer, 23, told how her bum EXPLODED three weeks before her wedding
Nakisha Jessie Brown told how her dream honeymoon was ruined by her hubby having to tend to her ruptured rear
A WOMAN with Crohn’s disease was devastated after her bum EXPLODED three weeks before her wedding to the man of her dreams.
Nakisha Jessie Brown , from Caerphilly, Wales, told how her plans for a romantic honeymoon in Australia were shattered as her new husband Darren, 28, became her nurse.
On returning home the 23-year-old suffered another rupture in her rear end and ended up needing major surgery to save her life.
Doctors removed her bowel and fitted an ileostomy bag – but Nakisha has refused to let this hold her back and has since launched a career designing stylish covers for her new pouch.
Two years into their relationship, Darren proposed to Nakisha while they were Christmas shopping.
Nakisha recalled: “Darren told me to pick out a ring and I couldn’t believe it. The last thing I had been expecting was a proposal.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better or more supportive partner. He’d been by my side when I was kept in hospital for three months after developing kidney stones, and was my rock when I was eventually diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at the age of 18.
“I’d been placed on steroids and thankfully had led a normal life.”
But in April 2013, just four months before their wedding, Nakisha noticed a painful spot on her bum.
She paid a visit to her GP but was told it was nothing to worry about as it was a common symptom of Crohn’s disease.
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Nakisha explained: “Luckily, once the painkillers kicked in I wasn’t bothered much by the abscess. I was so busy planning the wedding that I had barely any time to focus on anything else.
“I picked myself out a beautiful white gown and we booked our honeymoon to Western Australia. Everything was going swimmingly.”
But three weeks before their big day Nakisha woke up one day in agony.
She said: “I waddled over to the mirror and inspected my bum. The abscess had grown so big, I looked like Kim Kardashian!
“I gasped and collapsed in pain. I was rushed to hospital where doctors told me I needed surgery.”
When she came round from the operation Nakisha was told she had an open wound that had to be packed every day for 10 weeks.
Devastated, Nakisha told how she pictured herself on the beach during her honeymoon wearing a giant nappy.
Despite having to sleep on her stomach and sit awkwardly on her side, Nakisha and Darren’s big day went ahead as planned in September 2013.
Nakisha recalled: “As I walked up the aisle in my fabulous satin dress, no one but those closest to me could guess what was going on underneath it. The day was a complete success.
“By the time we reached the airport the following day however, I was exhausted.
“I hadn’t considered what toll the 20-hour plane journey to Australia might take on my bum but I needn’t have worried.
“As soon as I’d fastened my safety belt I closed my eyes and fell fast asleep. The wedding had taken everything out of me.”
Once the couple arrived, Nakisha said her primary concern was tending to her broken backside – but she needn’t have worried.
She explained: “I shared my fears with Darren, but he said, ‘I’m your husband and I married you in sickness and in health, I’ll do it’.
Darren said, ‘I’m your husband and I married you in sickness and in health, I’ll do it'
“It was hardly the romance that most newlyweds dream of, but Darren wasn’t taking no for an answer. For the next five weeks he was my nurse, cleaning and tending to my bottom every day.
“But our happiness was short-lived when just days after I returned home from our honeymoon, my Kardashian bum came back.
“I was rushed back into hospital, but before surgeons could operate disaster struck. My bum burst, spilling thick pus all over the bed sheets.”
Thankfully, doctors managed to seal her wound, but Nakisha’s nightmare didn’t end there.
In early 2015 she started rapidly losing weight, dropping from nine-and-a-half stone to five stone in a matter of months.
Nakisha admitted: “Darren told me I was wasting away, and he was right.
“I was admitted to hospital for further tests and delivered the shocking news that without major surgery I had just a year to live.
“My Crohn’s was so bad my insides were covered in ulcers and I had a perforated bowel which would eventually explode. I was a ticking time bomb.”
In January this year doctors removed Nakisha’s bowel and fitted her with an ileostomy bag.
She recalled how after coming round from the surgery she “shuddered” on first seeing her stoma.
Nakisha said: “I thought, how am I supposed to live with that? But getting rid of it wasn’t an option, I was going to have to learn to love it.”
Just five days after the operation, Nakisha told how she had her “eureka moment” over a cup of tea with Darren and her mum.
She explained: “I realised I could design stylish covers for my new pouch. That way I could wear what I want and not have to worry about the unsightly bag poking out.
“As soon as I was better, I headed to my nearest fabric shop and bought a collection of awesome designs.
“Luckily I’m quite a creative person, so I pulled out my sewing machine and got to work.
“When I tried on my first creation, I felt a burst of pride.”
Since then Nakisha has set up her own Facebook page and taken orders from across the UK and as far away as Turkey.
She said: “With so many sufferers having to put up with the stigma of stoma bags, I want to help end it with my new invention. After all, a bag is just an accessory!
“I’ve gone through everything from being a burst bum bride to having a bowel removed, but since having major surgery, I’ve felt like I can take on the world.
“I’ve got more energy now than I’ve had since I was a kid and I want to put it all into my new business.
“Now that my traumatic ordeal is behind me, I couldn’t be more excited about the future.”
To read more about Nakisha's business and view her designs, visit her .
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