October is “Liver Disease Awareness Month,” and a nurse shared intimate details of her journey to new health and becoming a mother.
By IU Health Senior Journalist, TJ Banes, tfender1@iuhealth.org
There is a freedom that Emmy Nix describes that only those who walk in her shoes know.
“It sounds simple but it’s a big deal – to function like everyone else – there’s no need to drink a cup of coffee and think about ‘where’s the nearest bathroom? ”” said Nix, who turns 32 next month. After years of anxiety and uncertainty about her health, Nix is now working as a surgical wound nurse at IU Health North Hospital. It was a role she lived and was able to relate personally to the people in her care.
Since the age of 9, Nix has suffered from colon diseases. It wasn’t until many years later that the problems were related to ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease. At age 19, she was diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), a progressive liver and gallbladder disease. Overtime, PSC can lead to liver failure. In December 2015, Nix was cared for by IU Medical Doctor Bruce Robb. She underwent a mastectomy, a procedure to remove her colon and part of her large intestine, and began work on a liver transplant. In June 2016 she received a new liver under the care of Dr Richard Mangus and Dr Chandrashekhar Kubal of IU Health.
In the same year, she enrolled to study nursing but withdrew due to health problems.
“I am at IUPUI and I am very sick and need to know where all the bathrooms are. I started at Marian University but had to leave to go to the bathroom during the nursing entrance exam. If I had known then, what I know now, and if I had had a hysterectomy in place, I would have finished nursing school a lot sooner,” Nix said.
The American Cancer Society describes a stoma (or stoma) as a “surgical opening” made in the skin that allows waste to pass through the body into a false “pocket”. Her path to nursing didn’t go as planned, but Nix says it got her where she is now.
A graduate of Greenfield Central High School, Nix went on to earn her Associate of Nursing degree from Chamberlain University in December 2019.
“I worked at the bedside with surgical patients for the first time, but since I made it past that stage to earn my nursing degree, my heart has been for surgery/GI patients,” says Nix. ‘ said Nix. She is working on her wound and incision license and in August started working with IU Health wound surgery patients.
“I am a broad advocate and have a lot of patients keep in touch with me. I am an open book and tell patients they can ask me anything,” says Nix. She’s been a big advocate in helping to reduce the stigma that comes with fanfare.
Here are three common questions she receives from patients:
Q: Can I swim with the operating hose?
A: Yes. You may want to wear a t-shirt (or for women) a one-piece bathing suit because of the floating anal pocket.
Q: Can I have sex during a hysterectomy?
A: Yes. The best time to change the bag is in the morning. She’s named her new stomach “Henry” and she says she never knew what he was up to during intimacy.
Q: What about the smell?
A: It is based on the type of food you eat. I tell patients ‘everyone’s poop stinks.’ You can use a spray or use a lubricating deodorant in your pocket. Another tip is that you can slow down stools by eating a marshmallow banana.
Nix encourages patients to have a good support system as they adapt to changes.
For her, it was her husband, Jason. She met him in August 2014 and he has been with her throughout her wellness journey. “Jason is lucky in disguise because his grandfather and uncle have anal stomas. When I met him I was sick and he really loved me at my worst and through it all. He told me I needed to get an anostomy and I thought he was crazy,” Nix said.
They married in 2017. Three years later, on January 17, 2020, Nix took over his nursing board. That same month, they learned that they were going to be parents. Their son, Elijah, was born on January 10, 2020.
They were in the adoption process and on Tuesday their profile was selected and three days later their son was born.
“We met him at 5:30 a.m. a Friday. He’s not even 24 hours yet. We have pictures of us in hospital beds. We are so grateful for the adoption,” said Nix. “In seven days I became a nurse and a mother and that was the most amazing thing that happened to me.”
