Happy Birthday Ostomyland! We are 12 today, and without the support of our wonderful members and readers we would never have made it this far. So, thank you very, very much everyone.

As promised today is the day I’m launching v2.0 of the wiki. The links on the menu on the left hand side have been updated, and you can also click here to go to it. As with all wiki’s this is a project that is a continual work in progress, it isnt an exhaustaive Ostomy encyclodpaedia… yet. And also like other wiki’s YOU (yes you, the one reading this!) can add and edit pages. Full instructions are on the wiki homepage. If you do create a page, dont worry over the formatting, I’ll tidy it all up if anything goes wrong. Just have fun playing with it.

v2.0 of the wiki contains almost 250 pages of ostomy related health and product related information. Thats over 100 pages more than it’s previous incarnation.

On January 21st 2010, Ostomyland will be celebrating it’s 12th birthday. To celebrate this event, I’ll be launching version 2 of the Ostomyland Wicked Wiki. The original Ostomyland wiki launched approximately 3 years ago, and was the first and only wiki dedicated to Ostomy subjects (I believe this is still the only one!), and just like all wiki’s content could be added and edited by you, the Oland readers.

Version 2 of the Wiki brings a software upgrade with lots of new features and ease of use-updates included, and  a brand new graphical design which makes the whole wiki far more appealing to look at, and less clinical than the current one. Also, there is a major content update which will see v2 of the wiki launching with over 250 pages of ostomy-related material which is an increase of approximately 75 pages over the current wiki.

The new wiki is now in final testing and the last few pages of new content is being added and edited. But even with the launch, the wiki will be an ever evolving feature with new content forever being added to it. In the meantime you can find the existing wiki here, and as a sneak peak of the new wiki, here’s a few screen shots to whet your appetite…

Fig1	Fig2

Fig3

Key:
Fig. 1 = The new wiki’s homepage
Fig. 2 = A sample page from the new wiki
Fig. 3 = The content categories covered in the wiki

I’d just like to take this opportunity to wish all our members and visitors a very Merry Christmas and a happy, prosperous and a hopefully as-healthy-as-possible New Year.

As a special thank you to all our members for their support and friendship over the last year, I’d like to offer you this Christmas gift of an Ostomyland Christmas screensaver. It’s a 1.15MB download, and works on Windows (unfortunately I dont have the system or software to create Linux or Mac screensavers). It comes with an uninstall system too if you should wish to remove it after it’s been installed, and it also has a built in RSS Reader to bring you the latest Oland website and board postings direct to your screensaver.

You can download the screensaver from here:
http://www.ostomyland.org/xmas2009ss/oland_xmas2009.exe

And if you wish to preview the SS before downloading you can see a video of it running here:
http://www.screentoaster.com/watch/stU0NdREBIR19fQ1pfWV9dU1ZX

Merry Christmas one and all. I look forward to seeing you all in the New Year.

Best Christmas Wishes,

Jason.

I’ve just added a new page to the Ostomyland website. It’s in the Manufacturers: Ostomy Products category, and it’s for BAGBAG Ostomy Pouch Covers.

Stephen Carmichael, from BAGBAG Ostomy Pouch Covers says:
“Ever felt a little embarrassed because your ostomy bag was on show and looked a little clinical. We at BAGBAG have designed a range of covers to exactly fit your ostomy pouch. Handmade from a range of quality fabrics, and made to order using the latest technology, a BAGBAG ostomy cover can help make you that little bit more confident.”

For more details about BAGBAG Ostomy Pouch Covers please check out their new page on Ostomyland, or visit their website.

Useful Links:
BAGBAG Ostomy Pouch Covers Website
BAGBAG’s page on Ostomyland

NB: Ostomyland is not responsible for content or services outside of it’s own domain name, and any services/products featured on Ostomyland are listed for informational purposes only and is not being endorsed by Ostomyland.

Ostomy pouch covers can be quite useful at times. They can be used to help prevent chaffing during hot days, or used to hide the pouch during intimate moments, and they can also be useful to help children adjust to their pouches appearance by using fabric featuring their favourite cartoon characters.

Little Green Monster is a small UK company that specialises in making bespoke, custom made pouch covers to jazz up your pouch. And unlike most pouch covers which are made in a general “one size fits all” format that’s usually too big, the Little Green Monster covers are made using your own pouch style as the template.

For more information on their pouch covers service check out their page in our manufacturers/ostomy companies section.

Useful Links:
Little Green Monster Website
Little Green Monster’s Feature Page on Ostomyland

NB: Ostomyland is not responsible for content or services outside of it’s own domain name, and any services/products featured on Ostomyland is listed for informational purposes only and is not necessarily a recommendation of their services/products.

Hi everyone, Fuzzbutt here again. I’m Ostomyland’s furry mascot and I often like to bring you my ostomy top tips, and my pick of the message board posts. And now, I’m pleased to be able to say I’ve got a whole new feature – my favourite member blogs! Although the blogs have only been active for a couple of weeks now, we already have some excellent Ostomy related blogs developing, and there’s one in particular I’d like to tell you about.

Janet Mitchell is posting a blog about her daughter Charlene’s journey through Crohns and her new diverting Ileostomy that was performed on September 11th 2009. To date their blog has featured stories about dealing with the highs such as successful showering; positive appointments with doctors; her first journey on the school bus for many years, and more … But she also talks about the lows too such as nighttime nausea and so on.

12 year old Charlene is an inspiration to us all, but her Mom is equally as important in this story, as the blog also focuses on the trials and tribulations of being a parent to a child with an Ileostomy.

Useful Links:
Janet & Charlene’s Blog
Ostomyland Member Blogs Section
How to create your own blog on the board
NB: You need to be logged into our message board to access the blogs. If you aren’t already a member registration is free and easy.

Read the rest of this entry »

Pelican Healthcare have been in touch and have told us that their products are now available worldwide thanks to a new distrubution deal with it’s parent company Eakin! So if you are interested in their products but live outside the UK, don’t worry, as you can now get hold of them too!

Pelican also has a new ostomy product available. The Pelican Perform Solidifying Agent is designed for those with high output stomas and can help minimise the risk of leaks, especially at night, reduces odour and improves filter performance for ostomates.

Samples are available by phoning them down in Cardiff on Freephone 0800 052 7471 and I’ve updated their page on Ostomyland to include the new product and the great news that their products are now available worldwide instead of UK Only.

Useful Links:
Pelican Healthcare Website
Eakin Website
Oland’s Pelican Page

I’m delighted to be able to announce that the new Ostomyland Community message board is now live. You can access it via the links on the left hand side menu, or by visiting us directly at the new link of http://www.ostomyland.org/ostomyboardipb/

Thanks to everyone for their patience over the last 48 hour during our message board downtime. I hope you enjoy the new board with it’s many new features such as free blogs, integrated chat and integrated photo galleries. And of course we’ve not forgotten the Ostomy Support forums which are still there as always to offer advice and support from ostomates for ostomates.

The new blogs feature is going to be a great resource for ostomates to chart their progress since the operation, and to let future ostomates read what to expect pre-and-post op. And of course the blogs can be used for off topic blogging as well, I’m not limiting the use of them to ostomy-only content.

The galleries will feature all our members photos that they want to share with us, and will help future ostomates see how life goes on post op, and that having an Ostomy is not the end of the world.

The integrated chat room access link is a great boon to the board, giving members a simple one click access into the channel. When you are logged in you just need click on the Chat Room tab on the message board, and you’ll be taken directly into the room, with your board username as your chat room nickname.

There’s a lot of new features to the board, and I appreciate it’s a lot to get used to. To try and help members adjust to the new features I’ve created a series of “How-To” help videos, showing you how to use the new features of the board. You’ll find the videos in the board’s “New Board Tech Help” forum, the link to which is here:
http://www.ostomyland.org/ostomyboardipb/index.php?/forum/2-new-board-techie-help/

As members of our community will already be aware, we have some new message board/community software in the works. I’m pleased to be able to announce that the Ostomyland Message Board will be upgraded to the Invision Power Board system during the weekend of September 12/13/14th. During this time our message board will be unavailable to allow us to work on the database and website.

The new software will give us lots of new features that will help make Ostomyland more streamlined in it’s use as well as offering new services such as free blogs for all members, integrated one-click access to our chat room, facebook connect features and free photo gallery service.

We are asking all members whom have stored private messages on our message board to make copies of them, as these will not be converted over to the new board. We hope to be able to convert about 99% of all member accounts and current threads/posts, but there is always the chance of corruption during the conversion process so we are also advising members that if they have any favourite threads to make back ups of them just in case they do get lost in transit – so to speak. Full details of how to do this can be found in the full announcement linked to below.

Message Board Downtime and Upgrade Announcement:
http://www.ostomyland.org/ostomyboard/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=8840

We’re busy giving our message board community and chat room a recamp. In the near future you’ll be able to log into the chat room via the message board, making connection and chatting considerably easier.

In the meantime we’ve just launched our newly updated Chatroom Stats page. Automatically updated by Pooh (the channel bot) every ten minutes, the stats page shows the top 25 chatters usage statistics along with photos of them, random quotes for each of the 25 (which can often be hilarious when taken out of context), and lots of fun facts such as most used words, who said the most along with charts and graphs of chat room usage.

It’s a really fun page and a firm chatter favourite, so even if you dont join in the chat room why not check out our new stats page. You can find it at:

http://www.ostomyland.com/olandstats/

Want your picture on the stats?
If you are a chat user, and want your picture added to the script ready for when you break into the top 25 users, then please email the photo to me as an attachment, or preferably a URL to its location on the internet. I also need your channel nickname and any reserve names you may have (such as away nicks etc)  and I’ll do the rest!

Dont forget though that you have to be in the top 25 chatters for the photo to show, so thats as good an excuse as ever to join todays weekly support chat meeting (8pm UK / 3pm EST ish)  and have a good ol’ chat! Chat room is also open 24/7 for off topic chat or impromptu support chats.