Learn with Comfizz
Lifestyle

Accessibility is something that those with an invisible illness can find challenging. Whether it be accessing a building, funding, benefits or services online, for me it can feel exhausting that you have to prove it constantly. All too many times in the ostomy community, we see stories about ostomates who have been denied access to leisure facilities, or questioned for their use of disabled toilets. 

One of the most common questions as you start to adapt to life with a stoma is "what is the best way to sleep with a stoma?" Especially if you were a stomach sleeper before your surgery, even doing something so natural as sleeping can seem quite the challenge! Add hospital nights with beeping machines and being woken up what seemed like a zillion times to get your blood pressure checked and even getting back into some sort of sleeping routine can often take a good while. 

This month I was lucky enough to win a spa day competition! You know when you get tagged in a million competitions by certain friends, well I can tell you its totally worth it! Its something as an ostomate that can feel quite daunting going to a spa. You may have worries about what swimwear to use, what treatments you would feel comfortable having, and how much you need to disclose.

Hot weather - you either love it or hate it! However, if you have an ostomy, it can cause problems. Hot weather can and does cause problems in ostomy life, but everybody is different and is affected to different extents. Knowing how to handle hot weather with an ostomy and how you may need to adapt your daily routine definitely helps and also enables you to feel more in control. Read on for some tips to help make the heat more bearable!

Having ostomy surgery can, naturally, be so daunting, then you've got all these life elements to think of that increasingly creep back in as you recover, including your sex life. Being concerned about intimacy is normal and you may have questions running through your head such as "will my partner find me attractive any more?", "will my sex life be the same as before surgery?" and "will having sex hurt me?"

It's been 2 years since my second stoma following age 2 1/2 when I had my first reversed as a baby. I went 30 years without one living with a J Pouch to find myself needing a second during the second lockdown. I count myself extremely lucky that I was given that surgery during the times we were living in.

Let's start this post by saying that drinking alcohol with an ostomy is not the same for everybody, as is the case with a lot of things in ostomy life. It is also different depending on which ostomy you have - ileostomy, colostomy or urostomy.

Carers Week (6th-12th June 2022) was something that was never on my radar until I had a poorly baby. Truth be told, I never thought of myself as a carer, just a Mum until I was made aware that such thing as Carers allowance existed when said baby was almost 2!! 

The person who is most aware of your ostomy's smell is you.  Also, it is normal to smell your ostomy output and gas when you are changing your ostomy bag. As you would if you went to the toilet the standard way to poo, it's natural for it to have a smell... After all, it is waste from your digestive system!

When asked by Pelican to be an ambassador I had been sharing our story for 4 years already. I started my page on Instagram @gutsy.mum with the aim of reaching anyone that may stumble on my page and feel like they are the only ones. Being an ambassador has brought with it so many wonderful opportunities, and for that I am so grateful for. I have learnt some lessons along the way too.