Tag Archives: ostomy

Guest on The IBD & Ostomy Support Show

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The IBD & Ostomy Support Show has been going for about 7 weeks now – I wrote a quick review of the first episode. I am going to be a guest on the next episode this Thursday 11th May at 8pm – you can watch on YouTube.

I’ll be talking about IBDHour and my IBD journey, and the show has two themes – immunosuppressant and then an ‘Ask Anything’ section – you can ask questions in advance via the Facebook page and take part in the survey here.

I’m really looking forward to taking part, and hope you can check it out!

Look mum I’m on the tele!

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Today at work I had to drive to a meeting, and as I was driving my phone started going a bit crazy in my pocket. When I arrived it became apparent I had been featured (well my picture) on ITV daytime show Loose Women who this week launched a campaign about body image using the hashtag #MyBodyMyStory – fellow IBD & Ostomy blogger Shell Lawes (who is hosting #IBDHour this month) spotted this and encouraged those of us in the IBD and ostomy comunity to get invovled, so I sent a tweet last night and then forgot all about it.

So three minutes into todays show, this image graced the nations screens!

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This particular picture is about two years old, and I’ve put on a bit of weight since then, but you can just about see my scar and obviously see my bag.

There are people with IBD and ostomies who would not be comfortable doing this, and there will be people who ‘don’t want to see it’, so by taking part hopefully it normalises ostomy bags – the show has apparently shown at least one ostomy image each day this week. And well done to the Loose Women for allowing so many people to share there bodies and there stories.

You can watch todays show for the next week on the ITV Hub.

Shell has been capturing the images of those people in the IBD & ostomy community and sharing them on her Instagram.

 

The IBD & Ostomy Support Show – a brief review 

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So tonight was the first episode of The IBD & Ostomy Support Show which is a new, weekly online show broadcast via YouTube. It has been put together by Louise who blogs at Crohn’s Fighting, Rachel from Rocking2Stomas, Natalie who is The Spoonie Mummy and Stephie who blogs at Colitis to Ostomy – you can also find them on Twitter and Facebook too.

It’s an hour long show with the four ladies taking it in turns to speak ona variety of topics tonight they spoke about ostomy routine (which led into a discussion about suppliers) epidural and why they started blogging among other things.

Overall it had a relaxed feel, kind of like eavesdropping on a conversation. There were a few technical issues – we had no video of one of them for a while, and all the volumes were different. I also had to refresh the page a few times, but they have been my internet connection. They were able to take questions via the text chat which was useful and made it interactive.

At times it got a bit technical, particularly the conversation about surgical pain relief and rectal sheathes, so in the future it would be good to have someone checking out any jargon and explaining it.

I think it is certainly an interesting development, and will watch to see how it goes – good luck girls!

 

The rise of online

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There are now many, many things we can do online. I order my ostomy supplies online. I make my GP appointments and request repeat prescriptions online. Our gas and electricity is supplied by a company that is online only. I interact with other IBD suffers (many of whom I have never met) via Facebook and the ia forum.

I am able to read the opinions and stories of other IBD sufferers via their blogs, or see there tweets and Instagram posts. And all of that is great.

If we stick with the UK for a moment, there are however a number of groups of people who can’t access the online world in the same way as me. Those living in rural areas for example who don’t have sufficient speed. And some older people (and I’m really not sure here what would count as older) are less confident or competent online. It is now not unheard of for websites to crash – Adele tickets anyone? – due to high demand, leaving the people on the phone very little chance of getting through.

And recently, it is not just websites that replace shops, but online clubs – a subscription service that makes a regular delivery – now seem to be on the rise. I myself have two current subscriptions – the following links will take you to the sites via my ‘recommend a friend’ links. The first is with Cornerstone for shaving supplies – I’ve been using them since November and am very pleased with the shave – and the second is with Flavourly for a monthly box of craft beer. I had a gift of a spicebox subscription for my birthday from the Spicery.

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I also recently tried out Musclefood.com after a friend recommended it – they deliver chilled meats and other high protein products. Because I am a bit of a social media floozy and I started liking these companies on various streams, I then started getting recommendations for other, similar sites. I have seen at least one other shaving club, several beer clubs and another protein/ meat website.

This is on top of gin, cheese, chocolate and charcuterie clubs. As a business model, I guess  it makes sense – cheap premises, easy access (via the net) for your customers. And so far I have not been disappointed. IT does mean that our high street is having to change – if you can order everything online, why would you leave your house? It is a little scary, exciting and – when my mobility was limited post operatively – very useful.

Is there anything you wouldn’t buy online?