It is New Year's Eve and I thought I would reflect on 2017 and what it has brought me...

It is hard to put into words how much happier I have been compared to last year. 2016 was extremely difficult both mentally and physically and involved 7 months of the year as an inpatient in Bournemouth Hospital. Last year I roughly had 6 refashion surgeries (8 in a year and a half) for my prolapsed ileostomy that resulted in complications every time. I had sepsis numerous times as well with one time involving a cardiac arrest which added to my time in the hospital.

Hi, I hope everybody had a lovely Christmas!

I cannot believe that this time last year all this was a pipe dream and my blog wasn't even launched yet! So much has happened this year and I have met such awesome, inspiring people on my journey that I am proud to call my friends. A lot of these posts were inspired by you guys and by my own experiences so thank you for contributing :) I have always said If one person can find some identification and hope in my posts then I have done my job.

Hi everybody, I thought I would post a quick 'Merry Christmas' for everybody today before the mad rush over the weekend!

This time of year is the perfect time to reflect and show some appreciation. Christmas is a time of giving, I want to give my love to everyone and say I am truly grateful for all of my readers, family, and friends that have and continued to support me in my journey. Honestly, I could never have done this without you all.

The NHS was created on the 5th July 1948 out of the ideal that good healthcare should be available to all, regardless of wealth. In many ways, it has been a victim of its own success. Improvements in treating disease and illnesses have helped to create an ageing population which means more people than ever need its services.

This, therefore, consequently has put the NHS in financial crisis and is under pressure to reduce its spending deficit by £30 billion in 2020 (NHS England 2014)

One of the areas that have been targeted to try and cut back spending are prescriptions.

The Ostomistic Life is a free online magazine to help ostomates under 40 navigate life with an ostomy. Founded and created by Talya Goding who runs a blog Feeling Ostomistic. Talya strongly felt the need for more relatable content for young ostomates and so the quarterly online magazine was born! 

Today, the 3rd of December is International Day of Persons With Disabilities!!

Disability equals diversity, not disadvantage!!

In the UK alone there are 13.3 million disabled people (SCOPE Figures)

Many of you reading this post have spent a fair amount of time in hospital. It’s  pretty hard not too when you have an ostomy, and everything that can come with that!

Since my urostomy surgery in 2015 when I officially became a ‘double bagger’ I have spent a lot of time in hospital due to complications with my ileostomy prolapse, numerous refashion surgeries, kidney infections and recurrent unknown sepsis. Last year I clocked up a total of 7 months as an inpatient in Bournemouth Hospital mainly on ward 15 and 16 the colorectal and urology surgical wards, which were fantastic and like my second home. This year I have only been admitted 6 times which is a miracle in itself compared to last year. 

Here is a post written by a gentleman with a urostomy for the gentlemen with urostomies about impotency and how you can work around this. Thank you, Trevor Harvey, for your honest and raw account on a subject I would not do it justice

Welcome to my 7^th episode of the #UnderstandingUrostomies series all about urostomy and using a Night drainage system.

I have noticed that not everybody with a urostomy will use a night drainage system at night. In this post, I will explain a bit more about the different types of night drainage systems available and cover some hints and tips.

This is my 6^th post in the #UnderstandingUrostomies series and it is a very important one....

Thank you goes to Louise Pearce (who has just started a blog) for writing this post and helping me out while I have been a bit overwhelmed with my recent hospital visit. 

So for the last 5 weeks every Friday I have been doing the #UnderstandingUrostomies series and I have really enjoyed it. It is lovely having the positive feedback and seeing how many people the series is helping.

If you have seen from my Facebook Blog Page I have been in hospital this week due to a stubborn kidney infection and I haven’t had chance to put anything together in detail so I have decided for today’s post to write about my fantastic weekend at the Urostomy Association (UA) event 3 weeks ago on the 9^th and 10^th September in Staverton Park Hotel Northampton.

With any type of stoma whether it is a Urostomy, Ileostomy or Colostomy...odour is one of the top complaints for an ostomate.

As part of the series #UnderstandingUrostomies, I have decided to focus on ‘Urostomy and Odour’

Please welcome my first guest blogger, very good friend and amazing mum Natalie aka The Spoonie Mummy. As part of Urology Awareness Month Natalie will share her story about her son Riley's Urology problem. Definitely worth a read!

Wow, this is the 4^th segment of the #UnderstandingUrostomy series every Friday and they have seemed to be quite a hit!

So this post is all about Purple Bag Syndrome......

Carrying on from last weeks post on Urinary pH levels I have decided to write about urinary crystals for the 3rd instalment of #UnderstandingUrostomies series.

Welcome to my second segment of #UnderstandingUrostomies Series.

Today I am talking about what your ideal pH urinary level should be with a Urostomy, how we can achieve this and why it is important!

So September is Urology Awareness Month! Can I give a shout out to my Show Girls who actually told me about this because (hand on face) I didn’t realise it was this month!

Welcome to the FIRST of my series #UnderstandingUrostomies which will be every Friday. This series should help educate ALL ostomates about Urostomies and some very unique issues we may have. Please get in touch with me if there is anything specific you would like me to cover. I am having a few problems with my blog atm and my old post about Urostomies and Urinary Diversions is not showing but when this is sorted please check it out if you do not know what a Urostomy is.

In life, some people enter our lives for a reason and can be a catalyst to a new ‘you’ either directly or indirectly. Lauren Henderson the founder of the Purple Wings Charity was definitely one of these people...

I used to love swimming as a child and I was a full on water baby. Taking part in swimming galas (my stroke was breaststroke) and life-saving clubs.

I always felt my true self and at one in the water. Any hard times in my life or stress with exams, I found myself in the pool...swimming. It was the instant stress buster. I felt happy and peaceful in the water and in my true element. Now I have been drawn back to the water and back to the swimming and spas.