Week 3 of #everyhingstomas  and #bagroulette. This week I have been sampling the Pelican Platinum Urostomy Pouch for 7 days I used 2 pouches and the Pelican 1.5 litre night bag at night.

Initially, I was given Ileostomy pouches after requesting urostomy pouches but I called Pelican customer services and they were very apologetic and sent me out the Urostomy Convex pouches the next day.

Part of this month’s challenge for July on “The IBD and Ostomy Support Show” we are reviewing different manufacturer pouches. Last week I reviewed CliniMed Welland Aura Convex Urostomy pouch and night bag which I really liked apart from the 2nd day my skin feeling a bit itchy I would definitely recommend this product.

This has been a long time coming and it's not easy to write about. Like my rare illness and subsequent Ostomies have been a journey of acceptance so has my infertility! I want this to be an honest and open account of how it has affected me and at times how dark it got!

 However, now the universe has put Laurence and Molly, his beautiful 10-year-old daughter, into my path words cannot begin to describe how much she has enriched my life. I truly love this girl and it is pretty amazing that she entered my life when I was struggling with my infertility.

In my previous blog posts last week I explained ‘How to order Ostomy samples and ordered a few samples from a few Companies.

For the first week of July, part of “The IBD and Ostomy Support Show” #bagroulette I am trying out samples for my Urostomy.

As part of “The IBD and Ostomy Support Show” last Thursday, we covered some of the reasons ‘Why some people may have ostomies.’ Stephie (aka colitistoostomy) put a poll out across a group she admins and the results were surprising. Personally, I thought it was amazing because sometimes I used to feel a bit alone and left out due to my stomas not being formed because of Cancer or IBD (Even though I now have IBD because of the IIeostomy). It was good for me to see other Ostomates that have similar complex Neurological Conditions that have left them with an Ostomy. So this got me thinking and I decided to roll the poll in the Urostomy Awareness Group to see ‘Why People have Urinary Diversions’

I am writing this post as part of our theme for the month of July! On “The IBD and Ostomy Support Show” the girls who all have an Ileostomy are taking part in ‘Bag Roulette’ where they send samples of their bags to each other. Unfortunately, I cannot take part due to my Ileostomy prolapse. After trialling many bags and having many leaks I have found the one for me and I do not think it would be a fair review.

I wrote a Facebook post last week about the ‘affirmations’ I am practicing at the moment to help me get through a tough time. I just would like to say a thank you Stephie at colitistoostomy for persuading me to write a proper post about what affirmations are, the science behind them and how they can help people with chronic illness.

Many of you may be aware of a campaign that was launched last week featuring a poster with 24 AMAZINGLY BRAVE men and women who were ROCKING their Urostomy Bags! First off I want to give a huge thank you to everybody who got involved with the poster. For some people, this was their FIRST ever picture with their bag out!

I am currently in Bournemouth hospital due to another kidney infection and stricture. Currently waiting for a catheter to be put into Squirt (Urostomy)

While I was waiting I decided to go for a wonder downstairs and walked past a few stands in the main entrance of different organisation and charities for carers and advocacy.

I have been quite shocked recently by the nurses in my hospital on the Urology and the Colorectal ward's telling patients that you can NEVER have a bath with a stoma. While I was admitted I met an ostomate who had his stoma for 5 years and has never had a bath because of this advice. This frustrated me and after talking to urostomates in the Facebook group  Urostomy Awareness, other people have also experienced this. It makes me sad that there are some ostomates out there who have not had a bath since their surgery.Not everybody has had this advice and I was glad that some Doctors have advised that it is good for the peristomal skin. So here is a post about bathing with an ostomy.

Hi, I’m Laurence and I’m a 43-year-old father of a lovely 10-year-old girl, whom I have full custody of. It has been one of the hardest things I have ever done but also one of the most amazing and rewarding things. There have been lots of learning along the way, then came the most beautiful courageous woman I have ever had come into my life.

This is a detailed account of the 27th July 2015, when I had my bladder removed, an Ileal Conduit (Urostomy) formed and revision on my Ileostomy prolapse. Although I did acquire a few complications I still believe that it was the BEST DECISION I have ever made!

**Disclaimer: - Not everybody will have these complications after surgery. I do not want this post to scare anybody but I felt I needed to write a detailed account of what I experienced, how I overcome it and why I have NEVER regretted making this decision **

This can be a stoma related complication and in my case was caused because the spout was sewn too tightly to avoid Bob (my Ileostomy) prolapsing anymore. This isn’t very common, so I thought I would write some information about Stoma Stenosis and then include my experience of it.

**Disclaimer:  includes a ‘F*** it’ Poem, requested by my GP **

I found out some sad news on Thursday, whilst I was waiting to have my burn looked at and dressed (2^nd degree burn from peppermint tea!) I was bantering with my GP and was guttered, well actually more devastated when he told me the GP Surgery is closing in June and my marvellous GP will be retiring.

So this is another subject very close to my heart.

This post is not meant to scare anybody but includes my recurrent, traumatic experiences of Septicaemia and Septic Shock. It is paramount that everybody knows the Signs and symptoms of Sepsis and how the symptoms can present. Most of us with stomas are immune suppressed and can be at a higher risk of getting Sepsis. 

I have decided to write a blog post about ‘How to Take a Urine Sample with a Urostomy’ after some issues that occurred during my last Hospital admission.

I have had to give urine samples on many occasions and many nurses have told me different ways to obtain this which, can be confusing! So I thought it would be a good idea to write this post about the BEST PRACTISE to obtain this.

*TRIGGER* - prolapse stoma images included

 This is a very rare complication that can occur. I am sharing my experience with you, because it has been a difficult but educating journey and this could happen to any of us! This isn’t aimed to scare you, but to unite and inform ostomates about this issue, and to show that being open and honest is the best way to raise awareness and in my case to live with this prolapse! I'd like to add, that it has taken me a lot of courage to talk about this and post a picture of the naughty one! My urostomy is very cute and small but ‘Bob the knob’ my ileostomy, is the one that causes me endless problems but I need to be open and honest about the complications that have occurred for me. 

In my experience this is ONE of the most challenging and painful questions, that can ever be asked when I meet new people.  

Recently I have joined in on the #ostoMYlove June challenge of June’s Self-love month. Already we are now on Day 5 and I am getting an enormous amount of benefit out of this challenge. The challenge has brought home and has got me thinking about the act of gratitude and how grateful I am for so many people and the circumstances in my life. There is an amazing quote by Melody Beattie that says:

"Gratitude turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity...it makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." Melody Beattie

I feel I need to write a post about how important “CONNECTORS” are for night drainage system.

So briefly what is a connector? Well as mentioned in previous posts, urostmates can have an option to connect up to a night drainage system at night time. This allows for a straight through sleep and to ensure that there is no back-flow to the kidneys. Not every urostomate uses a night bag but personally, I do and they help me not to worry about getting up in the night to empty Squirt. Generally, different manufacturers of the urostomy bag and night bag can be connected by the universal connector. Some night bags can attach without a connector but they may fall off when you move around. Connectors are amazing little things!!