It turned out Ramsey had a gastrointestinal perforation, which was a ruptured bowel. Her body was in septic shock, a life-threatening infection.
Ramsey had just arrived home from a long day at Kelly’s Bakery, her donut shop on Hamilton’s westside she started in 2014, named for her daughter. When she arrived home in intense pain, she hoped laying down would help. But stretching out only made it worse. She cried out for her husband, and he found her doubled over and clammy.
“I had not had any prior issues whatsoever at all,” Ramsey said. “Everything went from, ‘I’m fine’ to I’m in excruciating pain.”
She wasn’t sure how long she was in surgery, but when Ramsey woke up, she found out she had a colostomy bag, also known as a stoma bag, which is a small, waterproof pouch that collects waste from the body. She was in the hospital for eight days, and thankfully, she said, there were no complications. But COVID restrictions meant she could only have one visitor each day.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
“Everything went really the way it should have gone,” she said about the first week of recovery.
After the hospital, she stayed home for three months, not trying to go back to work.
Emotions still bubble up four years later when talking about the experience, especially with her support team of friends and family, and her husband, Charlie, who was her at-home nurse.
“Everybody pitched in,” she said. “I always get emotional when I talk about this. Everybody just pitched in, doing things for me. And my daughter was just wonderful.”
Though she had a colostomy bag, it was temporary. Some people could not have the procedure reversed, but she was a candidate. However, she had to wait for her body to heal. That wait was six months, and in December 2020, she was back in the hospital, but this time her stay was seven days. And again, everything went the way it should, Ramsey said.
But while she could have one visitor a day over the summer of 2020, she was not allowed any visitors during the winter of 2020.
“It wasn’t like I was mad at anyone about that,” Ramsey said. “I knew they had to do what they had to do, and I felt bad for the hospital staff.”
Right before the reversal surgery, Charlie had retired.
Four-plus years later, and Ramsey said she’s probably healthier than she was before. Eating better, exercising more, and since she sold the bakery recently to long-time employee Lily Garver, she’s enjoying the retired life.
“Thankful for my life because between the bowel perforation and going septic, there could have been so many complications,” she said, and while she was not depressed or “never really got down” during her recoveries, she admitted, “it was a hard recovery.”
There is a stigma about needing a colostomy, or ostomy, bag, Ramsey said. About 1 in 500 Americans live with the live-saving ostomy, according to the United Ostomy Associations of America.
“But you know, if that is your saving grace, it’s not bad at all,” she said. “It’s not the end of the world. That is your saving grace, and that is to give you life. I’m super thankful for everybody that was around me and thankful for my friends and my family. I was just very, very, very fortunate.”
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