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Comfizz Blog
Helpful Advice

In our blog you will find all kinds of information in relation to living with an ostomy. Tips, tricks and advice as well as other osto-mates experiences can be found within our blog.

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How can colder weather affect my ileostomy?

How can colder weather affect my ileostomy?

Hi lovelies! It's Amy here, or as some of you may know me, ibdwarriorprincess on Instagram.  I hope you all enjoyed Halloween (if you celebrate). I decked our house out with some decorations, we had a pumpkin carving night & really enjoyed it!  Now the weather is getting colder, it can be handy to be aware of the ways that it can affect having an ileostomy, especially when it comes to your equipment and skin etc for your bag to adhere to. Before I get started, I'd like to just remind you that this isn't medical advice. This post is drawn from my own experiences of living with an ileostomy & my own research.  Warm output I'll start with this...

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Podcast Playlist

Podcast Playlist

Podcasts are undoubtably a brilliant form of self care. Putting those headphones in and escaping from the outside world, you can curate what you need in that moment. I listen mostly when I am doing something arduous like making dinner, ironing or running a long distance. In this blog I am sharing some of my favourites, covering a varied spectrum of topics. These topics serve me well through education, mindfulness and laughter. If you have any recommendations don’t hesitate to message me over on Instagram @gutsymum I would love to hear what you listen to! The POODCAST @the_poodcast Now this is one for the drive home where after a long and stressful day, you literally need to laugh out loud....

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Running With A Stoma - The Race Edition

Running With A Stoma - The Race Edition

October was a very special time for me as I entered my first 10K race in Cardiff, South Wales. Whatever possessed me to do it you ask? How many of you who are reading this with a chronic illness have found they can’t be as active as they once were? For me it was like a light switch was flicked and I couldn’t do anything without being in pain anymore. Its debilitating, demoralising and can lead you down a dark path mentally with the mental health benefits you loose over night. My health journey has been quite the fair ground ride. Born with Hirschsprungs Disease, multiple surgeries, 3 stomas and having a child which has the same yet more severely,...

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Recycling Week 2021

Recycling Week 2021

Recycling is something a lot of us do on autopilot with it being part of everyday life. Not one to show my age, but I can remember during my childhood having no recycling boxes outside the house and never seeing adverts or media circulated regarding the climate crisis. Thankfully one of the advantages of our children’s generation, is that they are made much more aware and have greater understanding from a young age, giving them the tools and education to actively be a part of tackling it. It makes me uncomfortable to think of all the packaging we would have thrown mindlessly in the bin for all those years when I see how full our recycling boxes get every week....

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Holidaying as an ostomate

Holidaying as an ostomate

I’m back again guys following a lovely holiday with my family! We have always stayed in the UK since we had our baby ostomate now 5 years old, so current circumstances haven’t made any difference to us choosing to visit the beautiful Exmouth in Devon. Despite a few wet days at the start, parts of the UK entered a heatwave with temperatures entering late 20s/early 30s. This was my first holiday as an ostomate, but going on staycations for five years with my little one Jake meant you would think there wouldn’t be many surprises. I felt pretty organised with the only difference being myself to care for during bag leaks, hoping that Jakes stoma didn’t feel left out and...

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A mothers mental health - the baby ostomate edition

A mothers mental health - the baby ostomate edition

I started blogging about having a little one with a stoma in 2016. I used Instagram as a platform to share my story in the hope of helping in the way many had for me by sharing the highs and the lows of having a baby with Hirschsprungs Disease. The bowel disease which affects 1 in 5000 babies a year in the UK, is caused by the nerve cells in the intestines needed to move stool along into the rectum for toileting (known as ganglion cells) not being present. This causes the body unable to remove its own waste, with the tummy starting to distend and very little to no poo being passed. Surgery is essential with bowel washouts required...

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Navigating the world of after school activities with ALN/SEN children

Navigating the world of after school activities with ALN/SEN children

As soon as your child expresses an interest in going to the same club as their best mate, the search begins to secure a taster session, work out how it will fit around your schedule, and if it is affordable. If your child doesn’t have an additional learning need or special need have you ever stopped to consider the risks in them doing it anyway? Starting such a thing takes a gigantic leap of faith as a parent. The protective instinct for a child you have watched go through multiple health issues and maybe surgeries burns strong, and part of you may not want them to enter such activities. Despite this, deep down you know that if they are at...

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Alex's Story

Alex's Story

My name is Alex Bolton I'm 28. I've had Crohn's Disease since I was 14. I've had every biological medication there is. I chose to have an ileostomy in February 2019 then a sub colectomy in May 2020. After having my surgery in 2020 my Crohn's is gone, I know what good health is again. I wake up every day feeling fantastic; when you're used to feeling so poorly everyday and that's the norm, you forget what feeling good feels like and that's what my stoma "Norma" gave me, I wish I'd had the surgery 10 years ago 😊 My advice to anybody knew or existing ostomates is: Always wear your hernia belt whilst training at the gym or lifting...

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Lectins Good or Bad For Your Bowels?

Lectins Good or Bad For Your Bowels?

  What are lectins? Lectins are a type of protein found in many foods, but which are difficult to digest. One of the Lectins most people have heard of is Gluten. They are a kind of built-in defence system for plants to make themselves less appetising to animals that might eat them. Also, their seeds (due to the lectins in them making them indigestible) can pass through the animal or birds digestive tract unaffected, so the animal/bird can become a good means of dispersing the seeds far and wide. Some would term lectins as an “anti-nutrient” due to the attention they have received through popular media citing lectins as the cause of obesity, chronic inflammation, GI problems, leaky gut syndrome,...

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Stoma surgery expectations versus reality

Stoma surgery expectations versus reality

I had the phone call a few weeks in advance for my ileostomy surgery last Summer during lockdown. We had to isolate as a family for 10 days and I was in no means mentally prepared. With Covid I didn’t expect to have the surgery anytime soon giving us all quite the shock! A few weeks is much more than some people get with many stomas formed as the result of an emergency surgery where patients wake up to find one without even know what a stoma is. Having a son with one already and having one as a baby temporarily meant I was no stranger to stomas.  I went in to surgery thinking I knew exactly what to expect...

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