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Lifestyle

Have you ever thought about keeping a food diary? This can help with all sorts of issues you may be having when it comes to your output. This is often a really handy tool to keep when you first have your surgery to see how certain foods affect you and how this can change over time. However this is something you can start at anytime especially if you are finding your output is becoming unpredictable. Every food affects us all differently and you could be surprised at what you find out. You may have the need to visit a dietitian at some point for various reasons and keeping a food diary could really be beneficial in pinpointing areas of your...

So as you may know I have two beautiful children – Ra-Ra who was 2 when I had my ileostomy formed and Button who was born after. Both have their own interest in my bag and my stoma, for me it was quite interesting to pay attention to how they both act around it.Ra-Ra (5.5 years old) doesn’t really remember me being sick well as sick as I was before surgery but I remember 00Steve warned her about my tummy after surgery and that it would be sore. She used to bring her doctors bag to my appointments which was super cute especially when asked one day why she brought it she looked at the doctor and said straight faced...

Hopefully we are getting to that time of year again where the weather shows some promise of getting warmer and with that promise I wanted to talk again about hydration and just how important it is for all ostomates. For years we get told to drink more water or to ensure we are drinking enough fluids and whilst that is true as ostomates we have to be very careful about what we are drinking. I believe that it is something we should be aware of all year round to be honest because in winter we have the heating on and that can also affect our hydration, but we are generally speaking less active and notice it less. Then in the...

Are you struggling with your ostomy? Do you feel alone if your stoma wasn’t formed due to Cancer or Inflammatory Bowel Disease? Well did you know that the internet isn’t just full of horror stories and that social media has evolved past just photos of what you had for dinner or what you have been doing during the day? In this post I want to talk about the main three social media types and how they can hopefully benefit you. So we will start off with the one most people maybe familiar with which is Facebook; obviously I have Ulcerative Colitis which is a form of IBD but 20+ years ago the internet wasn’t what it is now and there...

As we all know many different aspects of mental health can affect us all for a number of reasons and may be with us for a short time or forever. It can be something we seek help for or manage on our own, but no matter how, what, where, who or why mental health should be talked about. I myself have struggled for most of my life with a variety of mental health issues some which have been resolved and others that are a constant daily battle. I know as long as I keep fighting through and take each day as it comes when I feel suicidal I will be okay but I live through my husband and my kids....

This week I wanted to share a recipe that goes down well with my family and on the off chance I decide to eat red meat my stoma tolerates. Sadly I couldn’t get a decent picture of the meatballs as 00Steve and the kids tucked in before I get a chance to take a photo! But I guess that means it is just that tasty! Small wins I guess!! Ra-Ra also enjoys helping make the meatballs which is a great way to encourage your kids to eat better or just eat in general. 1 pack of beef mince 1/2 an onion red/white or 3 shallots 3 mushrooms – yes you may be able to eat mushrooms with little worry to your stoma...

Christmas with an ostomy can be a scary thing what with potential visitors, visiting others and the Christmas feast to contend with. However it isn’t something to worry too much over and after your first festive season under your (ostomy) belt you may think to yourself what is all the fuss was about. This is my third Christmas with my ileostomy although the first doesn’t really count as i was three months pregnant and completely off my food. I wanted to share my top tips for “surviving” the festive season with you all – now bare in mind I have an ileostomy so these may not affect you but hopefully at least something is of use! I have in my...

Now you may be wondering why I am writing about cervical smears on an ostomy related blog but you might be surprised to hear that ostomies more often than the others; urostomies can be formed due to radiation damage from having cancer treatment. For instance cervical cancer can be treated by both external and internal radiation in the pelvic area. Last year I had a long over due smear test and they found high grade pre cancerous cells which if were left over time (up to 15 years) could have turned into cervical cancer which is a terrifying thought. It was pretty hard on my dad as he lost his sister when she was 17 to cancer and his dad...

You may have noticed across social media that this week is Crohn’s and Colitis awareness week; both of these are forms of Inflammatory Bowel Disease and make up a substantial amount of the ostomates in the world. I wanted to talk to you a little bit about what each one is according to the medical information you can find on various outlets. Firstly we will start with Colitis as more people on social media seem to have Crohn’s and Colitis isn’t mentioned as much or so I feel – maybe this is because once you have an end ileostomy you can’t have active disease or if you have a Jpouch you may go into remission hopefully long term but not...

There are a lot of mixed feelings when it comes to the flu jab and I just wanted to talk about how I have dealt with the flu jab this week and my reasons for having it. I had my flu jab on Wednesday afternoon after waiting a few weeks to be able to be booked in; which since we are only a small area was quite surprising as when I have had it were I used to live it was quicker to get an appointment and that covered a much wider area. Firstly I wanted to have the flu jab as I suffer really badly when I get a cold and can imagine I would be far worse if...