It’s been over 3 months since I had a New Bum installed and in that short period I’ve learned quite a few things. Here are 10 things I’ve learned from living with a stoma.
Read moreThe Return to Beer Running Club
A running club that involves a 5 or 10k run followed by a free beer, all before lunch? Welcome to the Mikkeller Running Club.
Read moreEleven Weeks With A Stoma
It’s almost three months since surgery and it’s time for a second follow up appointment. I’ve been eagerly awaiting this appointment due to the Ken Butt taking so long to heal. Whilst the nurses I see on a daily basis are doing a fantastic job, a specialist really needed to see them to check everything was ok.
Read moreFirst parkrun Since Surgery
I’ve always been an occasional ‘parkrunner’ with probably only half a dozen or so completed each year. I used to use Saturday morning’s for long runs exploring new areas and routes so would never be able to squeeze in a parkrun. I would tend to complete a parkrun when I had a big race on a Sunday and wanted a short, but well organised run.
Read moreThe Gozo 10K and Running for Colostomy UK
Throughout 2016 and 2017 I had been building up the distances I was running and had completed a number of ultra distance races. The ultra was a type of race that I was enjoying. I enjoyed the challenge of running the distance, the varied scenery that you’d see along the way, the friendliness of the runners and the overall sense of achievement.
Read moreHow Not to Swim with a Colostomy Bag
I’ve been swimming with a colostomy bag for quite a few weeks and have been getting on ‘swimmingly’ with it. After surgery I wanted to start getting fit again and it was the first type of exercising that I started doing. Wearing a colostomy bag in the swimming can come with some risks and it was only inevitable that I would experience one of them.
Read moreFollow Up Appointment With Gastroenterologist
Today I had a post-surgery follow up consultation with my gastroenterologist and the aim was to review how I’d been getting on with the new bum and to review a blood test after restarting Azathioprine.
Read moreNine Weeks With A Stoma
Surgery seems like such a distant memory. In the nine weeks since I had the proctosigmoidectomy having a colostomy bag has become a normal part of my life. Changing it is not an issue, having to clean up poop from around the stoma is not an issue and people seeing it is not an issue. One issue, however, is wind. The stoma is can be quite vocal!
Read moreRunning with a Stoma
I used to love running. I used to love getting out on the trails, running back and forth to work, participating in races, running everything from parkruns to ultra marathons and my favourite of all, running night races! Then Crohn’s Disease, my arch enemy for the best part of two decades, decided to rear its head and cause a big flare up.
I made the decision to have surgery to help sort things out and have a temporary, but hopefully long reprieve from the disease. This would mean that I could return to running but how would I get on running with a stoma?
Eight Weeks With A Stoma
Two months have passed since surgery and I’m feeling great. Everything appears to be falling back into place and I am now returning to doing the things that I enjoyed doing prior to the flare up. And even better, I get to enjoy them without any of the side effects of Crohn’s.
The Ken Butt continues to be the main source of issues at the moment and even though it is very, very slowly healing I have had an infection that needed fixing.
Read more