Learn with Comfizz

My beautiful boy, you have a long road ahead. You were born with the strength of a warrior and the fight to overcome more than most do in their whole lives within the first few years of life. You need stoma surgery like Mummy did when she was born. The word stoma is the opening made in the tummy to divert stool out of the intestine. It is like a rose bud sitting proudly on top of your skin. It moves sometimes like a wriggly worm and can be a bit naughty and poop when you don’t want it too.

Having ostomy surgery can understandably be a daunting prospect and it's perfectly normal to feel scared & unsure.  Today, we would like to be myth-busters (move aside, Ghostbusters) and take you through some of the below myths to reassure you.

You are sore and perhaps bloated from surgery, not feeling quite like yourself. You may be relying on medication, and testing your food tolerances with your new accessory to see what you can and can’t tolerate. With all this in mind, what seemed as simple as going out to catch up with a friend over coffee can bring up many questions: What toilet facilities are there? Do I need a radar key if I need disabled toilet facilities? Will I need to empty my bag there? (You may not have done this in public yet) What happens if my bag leaks and needs changing? Can I have caffeine?

Now the weather is getting colder, it can be handy to be aware of ways in which the colder weather can affect ostomy life.  See it as your self-efficient hot water bottle, if you like! Providing it isn't a leak and output stays in the bag, see it as your little winter warmer!

This time of year means switching the clothes in your wardrobe around and putting those summer clothes away and bringing the warm clothes and layers out! Especially if you are new to ostomy life, you may be nervous or unsure about dressing for the colder weather. You may be worried that layers might restrict your ostomy, but we are here to tell you that you can layer up with an ostomy without it stopping it from working and in fact, our garments can definitely help you do that. Scroll down this blog post after Ant's video to find out how.

At the tender age of just over 65 I was diagnosed, through routine screening, as having a large abdominal aorta aneurism (AAA) and given a 16% chance of surviving a year if it was not operated on quite quickly. The proposed operation was to be done under private medical insurance provided by my employer’s group medical insurance. After other tests and a pre-operation assessment some handful of weeks later I was taken by my wife to the area teaching hospital (the local private hospital did not have adequate facilities for this kind of medical work) for elective surgery to have the abdominal aorta aneurism stented to relief the pressure on the aorta walls. It had been thought initially that this could be done using...

It is easy to assume when an ostomy is concerned that it is a messy, dirty situation for those involved! Unless you are not getting on with your ostomy appliance, that simply shouldn’t be the case at all (apart from a leak of course). Keeping your ostomy clean is not only best for you practically whilst you carry on with your day to day life, but as important as your daily hygiene. Your ostomy should be kept clean just as the rest of your body. Put simply, your ostomy is your anus that’s had a visit from Phil and Kirsty and relocated up north!

October's product of the month is the Level 1 20" neutral waistband with silicone. You can get 30% off for this month only & get your hands on this waistband for under £13 (Normally over £18). This is also part of our new Triple Band Bundle, which contains 3 of our Level 1 waistbands (depths 5", 15" and 20" - see below) and if you buy this bundle, you will receive details on how to be entered into a £50 Comfizz gift card prize draw!

It's getting colder in the UK, which means thinking of ways to keep warm and cosy again! One great way to do this, which is also beneficial to your body, is by cooking something warming and nutritious. Like everything in life and especially ostomy life, it's important to remember that everybody is different. The following recipes and blog post should be taken into account with your personal needs and dietary requirements in mind.  

As with most things in ostomy life, exercise is something that needs to be taken on board with the individual in mind. Everybody is different when it comes to how soon they feel comfy to exercise after ostomy surgery, what exercise they want to incorporate into their lives and for how long they want to exercise in their daily lives as they move forward with their recovery. Disclaimer: As always, this post is from our Social Media & Marketing Specialist, Amy's, experience of living with a permanent ileostomy, Crohn's Disease and from what she has researched. Nothing in our blog posts should be taken as medical advice. It's always best to consult a medical professional if you have queries or...