I’ve had a lot of time – a decade – to think about remission. When my doctors said remission to me back in 2012 – I was less than a year into my official IBD journey – and I honestly thought “great, that’ll make things easier! Welcome back to normal life!” I feel pretty foolish now because nothing about remission then was easy. It was harder than flaring because I…
ostomy
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Things I now Love about Living with a Stoma
If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know I live with an ileostomy – a type of stoma formed from the small bowel – after losing my colon to Crohn’s disease. Read more about my stoma and my journey here. Now having a major organ removed isn’t exactly easy. Nor is it straightforward. The surgeries performed to create stomas aren’t quick or without their complexities. But hopefully the…
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Silicone – Is this the next Frontier in Stoma Products?
Disclaimer: Paid Partnership with Trio Healthcare Do you ever take off your stoma bag and wonder what exactly happens to your skin underneath? There is very little time when the skin directly around your stoma and immediately surrounding it is without something sitting on top of it when you live as an ostomate. But how many of us know what condition our skin is in? Or how our skin responds…
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World Ostomy Day
In all the years I’ve had my ostomy, I think this year has been, by far, the easiest. Why do I say ‘easiest’? What has made me feel this way? Well, even despite a long recovery from my hernia repair, my stoma behaved really well to surgery, Yes, they made me a new one to repair the hole in my abdominal wall, but this one could have been unpredictable, difficult…
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“What happens in a stoma review?”
Take yourself back to your first few weeks with your stoma, did you have regular appointments to see your nurse; to ensure your bag was cut correctly, the products were right and you were okay? If the answer is yes, that was a very basic stoma review. I have covered Appliance User Reviews (AUR’s) previously here, but whereas an AUR is a document that goes to your delivery company (DAC)…
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“How important is hydration with a stoma?”
Summer can be a challenging time for ostomates. The hot weather can cause some issues if you’re not aware of them. Without parts of the bowel to absorb alot of water, ostomates – particularly those with an ileostomy – can be more susceptible to dehydration if they over hydrate with the wrong fluids or go too long without fluids. It’s a balancing act and no one gets it perfect, trust…
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“What do gelling agents do?”
Disclaimer: The information in this post is based on product knowledge from product information direct from the manufacturer and also personal use of products within my own stoma care. All experiences given here are my own and should not be taken as medical advice. If you require advice or support about any aspect of your stoma care, please contact your SCN in the first instance or your GP. Let me…
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Stoma Life – YEAR FOUR
What I’ve Learnt and Achieve in the Last Twelve Months with my Ostomy Year Four with Priscilla has been quiet, compared to other years. She settled down into a new routine after proctectomy surgery and wound day surgery. She even remained calm when I came off my medication and we came into 2020. Then COVID happened and well, I got some bad news. But what did the next twelve months have…
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Has my Bag Improved my IBD?
It is the week before surgery. I knew the closer we got to my date, I would begin pondering things. August has a tendency to bring up some pretty miserable memories, as well as great ones. I’m coming closer to the anniversary of my stoma surgery, a period in which I was the sickest I’ve been since having IBD. The days, weeks and months that followed that surgery, were filled…