I remember the first time that things went wrong with my ostomy and I wondered to myself ‘How am I ever going to feel comfortable with this? How am I ever going to be okay with this?’ I’ve felt similarly when it comes to my IBD, when things didn’t go the way they or myself had hoped or planned they would. The blows were numerous and they hit me hard…
ostomy
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Updated: My Ostomy Appliance Change Routine
Disclaimer: This information is based on my own personal experience since my ostomy surgery in August 2016 and is not intended to replace medical advice from a trained professional. If you are requiring advice regarding your own stoma, routines which might benefit you most, or products that suit your needs best, please contact your stoma care nurse for further assistance. It’s been a whole year since I shared my stoma bag…
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My Love for You, Dear Stoma…
Today we celebrate love. A single day devoting to telling whomever we love, that we love them. We shower them with gifts, affection and kind words. I am doing that today too. But for my stoma. Yes, you read that correctly; my stoma. My stoma used to be that elephant in the room, the alien living under my top, a living and breathing weird little thing. These days, whilst she is…
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Open Letter: Stoma Bag Change
Despite doing my own research prior to my ostomy surgery, nothing really can prepare you for changing your bag for the first time. Let alone the hundredth or whatever. I sat removing my leaky bag earlier on, remembering my first bag change when I felt in control. It must have been a couple months post op when I wasn’t afraid of looking at it or feeling it. I’d gotten use…
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10 Festive Tips for Eating and Enjoying Yourself at Christmas with an Ostomy
Disclaimer: This information is based on my own personal experiences since my ostomy surgery in August 2016. If you are seeking dietary advice regarding your stoma, please contact your stoma nurse, dietician or medical team for further assistance. Christmas 2017 marks my second festive period with my stoma. Last year, I was just four months into my journey of being ostomate and it felt too soon to give any tips. I was seeing…
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Ostomy Blockages: How to Cope
Disclaimer: This information is based on my own personal experience since my ostomy surgery in August 2016 and is not intended to replace medical advice from a trained professional. If you are requiring advice regarding your own stoma, routines which might benefit you most, or products that suit your needs best, please contact your stoma care nurse for further assistance. It is early December and I am sat here dealing…
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“What is a Stoma?” Part IV: Ostomy Appliances
Disclaimer: This information is based on my own research into this particular aspect of stoma care as well as some personal experience and should not be used as medical advice or a diagnostic tool. The suggestions given within are taken from sources laid out in the references header. If you seek advice regarding the things you experience within your own disease, please contact your SCN for medical advice. If you are looking for the other…
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The ‘Return’ to Work
I’ve never really returned to work before. There, its out there, I’ve said it! Pre-surgery IBD days, and here I talk about the period of time from my diagnosis until I was left unemployed four and a half years after that; I had bouts of ‘sickness’ and I never really had a prolonged period of time off work to get ‘better’. And upon my diagnosis, I was told to get…
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“What is a Stoma?” Part III: Living & Coping with a Stoma
Disclaimer: This information is based on my own research into this particular aspect of stoma care as well as some personal experience and should not be used as medical advice or a diagnostic tool. The suggestions given within are taken from sources laid out in the references header. If you seek advice regarding the things you experience within your own disease, please contact your SCN for medical advice. If you are looking for the other…