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My J Pouch Story

June 22, 2021

Hey! My name is Charlie, I am 28 and have been part of the Comfizz Team for over 10 years and this is my J-pouch story. I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis (UC) in 2009 which resulted in me having my colon removed and having a temporary ileostomy (for about 18 months) I will not go into too much detail about this as I am here to speak about my J-pouch. I had three surgeries in total, first one to remove my colon, second one to create the J-pouch and the third one to connect everything together. It was not a difficult decision for me to agree to the J-pouch surgery. I was only 16 at the time and felt...

Tags: Colon Ileostomy j pouch j pouch surgery Stoma stoma reversal Story Ulcerative Colitis

Men's Health Week: Living with IBD and/or a stoma

June 20, 2021

Men's Health Week has nearly come to an end (14th - 20th June). Obviously from my blog posts here with Comfizz, you read a lot about how life is for me as a female with IBD and a stoma. It's widely known that women often seem to be a lot more forthcoming in talking our their struggles & experiences in general, let alone with something so personal, so it's been really nice to hear from Neil, Andy, Lee, Sean & Keith about their experiences. Thank you so much guys for being so open & sharing your stories & tips.

Tags: Body Confidence Health Stories IBD IBD Tips Inflammatory Bowel Disease Living with IBD Men & IBD Mental Health Ostomy Stoma Stoma Life Stoma Tips

My J Pouch Story

June 9, 2021

Having a J Pouch can be the result of a bowel condition such as Colitis, Cancer or in my case Hirschsprungs Disease. If you know what a J Pouch is, it will probably be from either having one yourself or knowing someone that does. The surgery (restorative proctocolectomy), involves the removal of the entire colon and rectum. A J Pouch (ileo-anal pouch) is created from small intestine which is folded up along side itself giving it the ‘J’ shape.

Tags: Helpful Advice Hirschsprungs disease Rach's Blogs

Warmer weather and an ostomy

June 4, 2021

If I am being completely honest, I am not the biggest lover of the summer I’m sure many people would be shocked at that as summer tends to be everyone’s favourite but I like autumn best! Sure, I like the longer days and the days out are far more enjoyable (or at least the kids whine less!) I am also more aware of my ileostomy as I wear less layers, I can’t say more dresses because I pretty much live in them all year round. No, it is because I notice my bag being damper from sweat, which has led to skin irritations and rashes and then the base plate being gummier. I generally find this is when it moves...

Hirschsprungs Disease Awareness

June 2, 2021

When you think of reasons for a stoma bag what comes to mind? IBD, Crohn’s or Colitis are some of the first, but have you heard of Hirschsprungs Disease? Presenting in 1 in 5000 babies a year in the UK, this rare bowel disease is a birth defect that can occur with no family history of the disease. The nerve cells that line the intestines that are needed to move stool along into the rectum for toileting (known as ganglion cells), are not present. Your intestines should rhythmically move stool along in a wave-like contraction which when failing to do so cause tummy distention and constipation.

Tags: Hirschsprungs disease Rach's Blogs

How does Crohn's Disease affect the digestive system?

May 26, 2021

Crohn’s Disease can affect anywhere in the digestive system, from the mouth to the anus. It causes inflammation which can then lead to symptoms such as abdominal pain, fatigue, blood and mucus in your stool, diarrhoea or constipation, weight loss & mouth ulcers.

Tags: Crohn's Disease IBD

Eating out

May 14, 2021

Eating out for someone with a stoma can be a stressful or anxious time on it’s own; couple this with going out with someone who either doesn’t know about your stoma or even what one is! I mean until I was sat in a room hearing about surgery at 14 I had no idea what one was, and even then it was only because I was the person the stoma was being considered for! Then we have the current situation where there is the fear of; are you going to be questioned for just using the toilet as we weren’t allowed to just enter the restaurant! Roll on the 17th I can say! I went out for tea with my...

National Teen Self-Esteem Month - Living with IBD as a teenager

May 6, 2021

May is National Teen Self Esteem month. As I'm sure many of you can unfortunately relate to, having Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) as anyone of any age, let alone being a teenager, definitely can come with impacts on self esteem to varying extents. That being said, there is thankfully a lot of treatments for IBD and coping mechanisms to put in place to help that, but still, it can be quite the minefield to work through when you're right in the midst of it.

Tags: Crohn's Disease IBD Mental Health

How can you tell the difference between IBS & IBD?

April 15, 2021

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) & Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) are two different conditions and it is vital that the right diagnosis is made in order to have the best chance of managing and treating either condition.

Tags: Crohn's Disease Health IBD

Medical Exemption Cards

April 7, 2021

Living in the United Kingdom I have to say hand on heart that I feel so lucky and appreciative of the NHS and the varied services it provides either free or at a lower cost. Having a “bag for life” in so many countries around the world is incredibly costly and many don’t have the choice in what products they use. I am aware that over the last couple of years we had a roll out where unless absolutely necessary items were being swapped to cheaper alternatives to bring the cost down around ostomy products. I have talked about this numerous times on different platforms about how certain products aren’t essential but are just nice to have; these items should...

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