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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...

When we go to hospital for appointments, procedures or as an inpatient we can sometimes feel scared, vulnerable or anxious (scared and anxious are two different stages of the same emotion!) more often than not I would hope we all are treated professionally, with dignity and respect; there can be one person that ruins it for us as in any situation. But what can you do if you have felt badly done by overall or if that one person has crossed the line? There are a few different options you can do depending on the severity of the occurrence or your own willingness:  You can go directly to the source and tell the person how you feel and what they...

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...

We all know when we have an ostomy we run the risk of becoming easily fatigued due to a few different reasons; you may have thought to get your iron levels checked but what about your B12? This for ileostomates who have had more than one surgery on their small intestine could be the underlying cause for many issues. So having too little B12 in your system can cause it’s own type of anaemia (there are like 6 types! yeah it was news to me too!) where the red blood cells essentially don’t shrink to the right size therefore underdeveloped. B12 is essential for the making of red blood cells, keeping the nervous system healthy and releasing energy from the foods we...

I asked a close friend, confident and someone I highly respect to write a guest post for what it is like to advocate for people rather than just hear it from me! Read on to hear The Spoonie Mummy give her views. Advocate Noun; A person who publicly supports or recommends a particular cause or policy A person who puts a case on someone else’s behalf So now you know what an advocate is, what is it like to be one? My name is Natalie and I have dealt with chronic illness my whole life. Aged just fifteen months I was diagnosed with juvenile (rheumatoid) arthritis. Aged seven, I was also given a diagnosis of chronic iritis, a disease of the...

This week has been national invisible disabilities week and if you have an ostomy you automatically fall into that category as unless you lift your top up it isn’t visible and although you may not view it as a disability it is in fact one as the way you go to the toilet has been changed which can put you at a disadvantage. I believe that although it can be a pain in my redundant bum; I don’t feel that I am disabled as I have more of a life now than I did back then. However that is in no way to say that having a disability means that you can’t live “your best life” as the cool kids...

So you may be thinking what on earth does this topic have to do with a blog about ostomies. Well pregnancy and infant loss is very close to my heart and actually in my mind has a lot to do with my ostomy. Feel free to read on but I understand if this topic maybe too hard for you to read but know that any pain, sorrow or grief you are feeling is completely acceptable and you have every right to feel. So a little bit of background and context first of all; I was told when I had my jpouch surgery I was told my fertility would probably drop by about 25% at the time my ex partner and...

Every year the world comes together to raise awareness for all ostomies, their many diverse reasons, ages groups and hopefully try to remove the stigma one person at a time. We as ostomates aren’t alone in trying to do this; the companies that work within the ostomy sector, charities and bloggers all do something too! Saturday 6th of October is the day where stomas will be everywhere on social media and even out on the streets! The theme this year is “Speaking Out Changes Lives” and it is so true, so many people have this idea people with stomas got them from cancer and are old – which is far from the truth nowadays. I and the many other advocates/bloggers/vloggers...

This month we have Dan from Respond. I met Dan at a Stoma Open day last year before I went to see the Pelican factory in Cardiff, he helped me think of some ideas of questions to ask whilst I was there as Pelican use Respond as their delivery service. What company do you work for?  Pelican Healthcare  What is your job role?  Territory Manager How long have you worked there? 11 years How did you get into this job? I previously worked for Smith & Nephew selling woundcare products. After a break from the industry I wanted to get back into healthcare sales and looking around the opportunity with Pelican came up via a recruitment agency and stoma care looked like it had a...