Ostomy Awareness Day

7th October 2023

Community Editorial
Bladder & Bowel Team

Each year Ostomy Awareness Day offers an opportunity to raise awareness and educate people of the impact of living with a stoma – this year’s event took place on 7th October. Everyone has their own stoma story, whether your stoma saved your life and you celebrate your stoma friend, to struggling with acceptance at this new change to your life. Every story is as individual as the person who shares it.

Ostomy Patient Stories

We’re grateful to the many community members who have shared their stories with us in the past, and who have been able to offer context to what can be a very personal subject.

Ostomy awareness day

INSPIRING PATIENT STORIES

My Stoma gave me Freedom

Amy Davidson tells her incredible story of how she grew up with Hirschsprung's Disease and never let it stop her from living the life she'd always wanted. Despite the many challenges including ileostomy surgery, she has gained the ability…

Fitness gave me confidence after stoma surgery

After years of suffering uncontrolled Ulcerative Colitis, Dan Callaghan underwent stoma surgery in the hope of getting his health back on track. Exercise and fitness had always been a big part of Dan’s life and this wasn’t something he…

The trick to living life well with a stoma is to educate yourself and others around you about the intricacies of stoma life. This could be everything from helping family and friends to understand what a stoma is and how it works to learning how to take care of your peristomal skin. It could include what to do if you experience complications, or finding out what you need to know when travelling with a stoma.

At Bladder & Bowel Community we believe in unlocking those doors to enable you to deal with anything that comes your way.

STOMA CARE INFORMATION

What Is A Stoma?

A stoma is an opening on the abdomen that can be connected to either your digestive or urinary system to allow waste (urine or faeces) to be diverted out of your body. It looks like a small, pinkish, circular piece of flesh that is sewn to…

Stoma Skincare

Looking after your peristomal skin (the ring of your skin that sits under your bag) is a vital part of your stoma care routine. It is important to avoid faeces or urine from coming into contact with your skin otherwise this can cause sore…

Travelling With A Stoma

Having a stoma shouldn’t limit your ability to travel in the UK or abroad. It may just take a little more forward planning. The Colostomy Association have developed a useful guide on travelling with a stoma. Here are our top tips. Make…

Throughout October we will celebrate stoma awareness by sharing stories from our community and tips on how to care for and live with a stoma.

We would love to hear your experiences on living with a stoma and you can contact us by email at [email protected] or you can drop us a DM on our social channels @bladderandbowel on Instagram or Bladder and Bowel Community page on Facebook.

We have lots of information about all things stoma over on our stoma hub right here on the Bladder and Bowel Community website. It’s well worth a read!