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Stoma Tips

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.

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!

There is a lot of criteria based on each individual in question going into ostomy surgery, such as your condition/reason for needing surgery. Other factors will play a part in this such as likely quality of life outcomes of surgery, age, chances of complications in surgery and/or recovery, whether the body may just need a rest to heal such as with some Inflammatory Bowel Disease cases where an ostomy may be reversed and whether other health problems may not make a patient a good candidate for future surgery. Every case is different, just as each illness and/or need for surgery is very personal and unique to that patient.

Unless you have had an operation to form a urostomy (where a stoma is formed to divert urine out of the body via the abdomen), you will pee as normal with an ileostomy & the same goes with a colostomy.  Both surgeries to form an ileostomy or colostomy divert bowel waste from the body, not urine. It is also possible for people to have stomas for both urine (urostomy) and bowel waste (ileostomy or colostomy) at once. 

What we eat before and after can change dramatically however for some people that just isn’t the case and they are most definitely the lucky ones! Over the past six years of having my ileostomy my diet has had to change a few times due to either intolerances or learning that certain foods I could eat now give me blockages or are more prone to allowing my stoma bag to leak. There sadly isn’t a one diet fits all which I often think is a particular shame because it would certainly make my life a heck of a lot easier.  Some people have the added issues of being diabetic, celiac or have a lactose intolerance then there are those who are...

January 20th is #GetToKnowYourCustomersDay. As a long-standing Comfizz customer myself, I’m sure you have read by now how much I love Comfizz products. In this post, I wanted to talk to other Comfizz customers, get to know a bit about them & what their favourite Comfizz product is & why. Thank you to those of you who reached out to me over on Instagram to get involved in this blog post.

I wanted to start the year off by sharing a few of my 2021 outfits with you & tips on stoma fashion. You can view many more outfits, as well as mind & body tips and so much more over on my Instagram. 

Because Comfizz supportwear come in different levels, there is a product level perfect for varying levels of activity. I wear level 1(light support) as you can find here most days under my outfits. This gives me that added peace of mind that my abdomen is more supported as I go about my day to day life.

Hi lovelies! It's Amy here, or as some of you may know me, ibdwarriorprincess on Instagram.  I hope you all enjoyed Halloween (if you celebrate). I decked our house out with some decorations, we had a pumpkin carving night & really enjoyed it!  Now the weather is getting colder, it can be handy to be aware of the ways that it can affect having an ileostomy, especially when it comes to your equipment and skin etc for your bag to adhere to. Before I get started, I'd like to just remind you that this isn't medical advice. This post is drawn from my own experiences of living with an ileostomy & my own research.  Warm output I'll start with this...