Show puts glamour back into Donna's life
But next month the 65-year-old will be modelling at a special fashion event at Exeter Racecourse for the very first time.
It is the perfect confidence boost for Donna; like all the other models, she has had an ostomy.
The term describes a surgically created opening connecting an internal organ, normally the intestine or bowel, to the surface of the body.
Ostomies can be temporary or permanent with the most common types being an ileostomy or a colostomy. Less common is a urostomy.
Two years ago Donna, who lives near Exeter, was diagnosed with bowel cancer after complaining to her doctor of bleeding.
She was treated with a colostomy, an operation where a section of the colon is diverted and attached to an opening in the abdominal wall. This opening is known as a stoma.
A pouch is usually attached to the stoma to collect waste products that usually pass through the colon and out of the body.
Adjusting to life with it has taken some getting used to. Luckily Donna's sense of humour has got her through.
She explained: "The stoma is like a strawberry stuck on the outside of your stomach.
"Some people's are slightly bigger.
"I feel very protective towards it as it saved my life. Would I rather have bowel cancer or this little thing on me?
"There are days when you get fed up with the bag and would like to rip it off and throw it away. I also have dreams where I've not got it on.
"Some people are able to reverse the surgery but that means going through it again. If I was 22 and single I would probably consider having it done. But it's all healed up and I feel great.
"At first it can be a bit daunting to look at this alien thing, but you get used to it. It's really all about how you see yourself which is why the after-care is important.
"It's very easy to feel isolated and that it's only happening to you.
"You also feel different to everyone else; gut you're not really, it's just a bit of your anatomy has been rearranged. It still does the same job, but in a different way."
Before she was diagnosed with bowel cancer, it was thought Donna had irritable bowel syndrome or piles.
Donna said: "It is one of the easiest cancers to cure if you catch it in time.
"I was half expecting my results to come back positive. My daughter came with me and she was in more shock than me.
"I asked if it was treatable and they said yes and that it was small enough to remove. That gives you hope.
"I didn't have any pain and had actually never felt better. It was just one tiny little polyp deep inside me causing all that trouble and I didn't even know it was there."
The first operation Donna had was to form an internal pouch.
The operation lasted around five hours. Unfortunately it didn't work so, exactly a week later, Donna found herself back on the operating table again. The hard part of that operation is they have to take all your insides out to get right to the back," she said.
"They open you up from your navel right down to the pubic bone. It's like taking everything out of your wardrobe to get something out which is stuck at the back!
"But after the operation a blood clot formed and the pouch started to break down.
"It was built up again and this time I ended up with a colostomy. I didn't mind because when you're in their hands you trust them."
For Donna, a vital support has been joining the Colostomy Association and the Ileostomy Association.
It is through the latter she became involved in the modelling event, being held on Thursday, December 3.
Donna said: "They have been very informative and supportive. On one of their last leaflets I saw they needed models for an evening of glamour so I thought, 'Give it a go girl'!
"I rang them up and they asked me to go to Debenhams the next day. I had a lovely time sorting out the clothes I will wear.
"What's nice about the show is we're all in the same boat so there's a bond there to start off with. Even though they're total strangers you end up talking about the most personal and private things and you realise it's not so terrible.
"It gives people with ostomy the confidence to know that there are people like that willing to go out and say, 'I've got this different thing going on but I'm still me and I'm still a person'.
"The show will help me get my confidence back and that's very important, as is raising the profile of ostomy."
The Evening of Glamour fashion show is being held from 6pm at Exeter Racecourse on Thursday, December 3 and is organised in partnership with Debenhams. For more details call 01628 785361.
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