YOU CAN LOOK THE OTHER WAY, but you won’t be any more successful at making something unpleasant go away than the dumb ostrich sticking its head in the sand. Everyone on this website is aware of that, of course. You know you’re having a bad day when the good news is you’re going to have a bag attached to your belly. But then come the good days, the days of realization and relief, when it dawns on you that perhaps that sound of something whistling past your ear was you dodging a bullet. You walk slow when you first get out of the bed with the bars on the side, but pretty soon you discover that you haven’t lost your singing voice, your imagination, or your memory of good things. Maybe there are some familiar faces around to sustain your recovery of your self-confidence and your personal integrity, those parts of you that perhaps went into hibernation during your detention in a hospital gown. But now your stamina and courage are rewarded with the opportunity to make your own bed again, and you remember that the outside world looks a hell of a lot better when you’re not seeing it through the institutional glass of a hospital window. Few things are better than birdsong in the morning with a cup of your own coffee. Welcome home.

Why Join MeetAnOstoMate?
First off, this is a pretty cool site with 40,260 members.
But, it's not all about ostomy. We talk about everything.
Many come here for advice, others find lasting friendships, and some have even found love.
🔒 Privacy is very important - your profile is not visible to the outside world.
40,260 members
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Hollister
We sat down with two influential people in the ostomy community, to find out how they cope during challenging times.
Read what they had to say.
Read what they had to say.
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Hollister
We conducted a survey to better understand the impact that living with an ostomy has on sleep.
Learn the results of our ostomy sleep survey.
Learn the results of our ostomy sleep survey.