I have double ostomies. I started pole a year ago, and I've just started aerial. For 16 years, I did nothing. I'm due for my 35th operation in October, but I'm not allowing it to stop me anymore. Thank you to those who believe in me every day, even though I don't. I'm so lucky to have a supportive partner who also has an ileostomy. Be bold, believe, and fly

NORMALITY IS A MYTH. We’re all of us outsiders, struggling to get through life as best we are able, given our unique circumstances. Having an ostomy only accentuates the individuality each of us brings to the struggle. The all-encompassing concept of being ‘normal’ is much too general a term to be applicable to people because it means ‘average’ which is a statistical model that co ...

I have been using a bandeau (tube top), but the company changed their design and I could not find a replacement until now. It is called a tummy sleeve found in maternity shops. It is longer than the bandeau I was using and covers my bag completely. It is just what I want.

Just saw this mentioned in someone's reply to a question. Had never heard of a "plug". It sounds like it would be advantageous for intimacy.
Comments?

Has anyone had a colostomy because you couldn't expel stool through the ano-rectal passage due to your pelvic floor muscles contracting rather than relaxing when you wanted to poop? If so, has it worked out for you? Any challenges or complications? Did you get it reversed at some point or do you hope to get it reversed? What are you doing to see if you can reverse it? I know it's a lot of ques ...

3 weeks ago I started feeling very bad, with vomiting after every meal or drink. This was happening 7 months after my colostomy surgery.

After a week of daily vomiting I became so weak that I passed out just before entering the taxi which was going to take me to the ER. Thank God for my wife, who helped me through all that.

I entered the ER with hyponatremia (low sodium in blood, or low e ...

Just reading the latest Ostomy Australia magazine and noticed a letter from Iggie - well done, mate!
A PDF copy of the mag is below for those interested:
https://australianstoma.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Ostomy-Australia-April2025.pdf
and Iggie's letter (might be too small to read, but it's on page 7 of the issue):

Hi to anyone who is interested, but I just got the call...!!!

Was walking into the front door with a bottle of vodka when the phone rang. My surgeon's nurse called with the outstanding news of a reversal date...April 1st...!

I questioned her about April Fools' Day, but she assured me it was no joke.

You have no idea what this means to me...I have been waiting for a long time (I have had ...

So right after I posted my one-year check-in, I ended up in the ER with an obstruction that night. I was in excruciating pain and vomiting. Again, I escaped the NG tube, thank goodness, but the treating physician said that my CT scan showed that the obstruction was in the small intestine and most likely due to scar tissue. The location of the obstruction was where the small intestine got sucke ...

A year, almost to the day, I started a journey I did not know I would be on. On May 22nd, 2024, my husband took me to the emergency department as something did not feel right in my abdomen. I had been dealing with a kidney stone since May 19th, but this felt the same. It felt like what I described to my husband: like a puff of air had been released in my abdomen.
When the CT scan results came ...

Does anyone know of skin cleansing wipes that are good for cleaning and healing irritated skin?
My skin has broken down from poo and I want to try and heal it.