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New Content: The Stoma-Stifler
Ostomyland is delighted to announce that another accessory company has agreed to be be part of our Manufacturer’s listing, so we’d like to take this opportunity to welcome Stoma-Stifler to our website community.
Stoma Stifler is a stoma guard with built in noise suppressant. It was developed in collaboration with ostomy support groups and the medical community to meet unique needs and expectations. It is a lightweight, discreet and easily removable stoma noise suppressor and guard that allows its users the freedom of mind to engage in social situations with confidence. Its 2-pc magnetic-clasp design and flexible polyurethane foam cup provide comfort, conformance to individual body curves, robust stoma protection and excellent acoustic dampening. Our customers use it for many applications: noise suppression in the office, worship services, restaurants, and other social settings. It also provides stoma protection from seatbelts, enthusiastic grandchildren & pets, sports, gardening, and housework.
For full details and on this product, which is available internationally, please visit the Stoma-Stifler page on Ostomyland (it’s located under the Manufacturer: Accessory sub-heading in the menu), or by visiting their website. The links are below.
Useful Links:
The Stoma-Stifler page on Ostomyland:
http://ostomyland.com/mainsite/manufacturers-accessory-stoma-stifler/
The Stoma-Stifler company/product website:
http://www.stomastifler.com/
Stoma-Stifler on You Tube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/BeammLLC
This content has been Digiproved © 2012 Ostomyland
Stomawise – A UK Support Network for Ostomates
Stomawise is a UK based support network website for all ostomates. Featuring detailed guides, member stories, lifestyle section, news, stomawise store and lots more its well worth a look if you are facing an ostomy and wanting information, or had a stoma and need peer to peer support, or if you just want to be part of an ostomy community to help out others.
To visit the site please click the link below.
External Links:
The Stomawise website – http://www.stomawise.co.uk
This content has been Digiproved © 2012 Ostomyland
New Content: Opus Healthcare (Manufacturers: Accessory)
Opus Healthcare
We’re delighted to announce that another company has agreed to have an entry in our manufacturers listings. Opus Healthcare is a UK based who produce ostomy accessories, many of which are highly regarded in the market.
Opus Healthcare’s products include the fantastic pancaking-busting product Clear Way Stoma Bridge, which we recently featured in our Combating Leakage: Some Products You May Not Be Aware Of editorial.
We’d like to thank Opus Healthcare for allowing us to feature them on Ostomyland, and we hope that their inclusion will bring their products attention to UK ostomates and in turn that it helps them more effectively manage any stoma management issues they have.
Useful Links:
The Opus Healthcare page on Ostomyland:
http://ostomyland.com/mainsite/manufacturers-opus-healthcare/
The Opus Healthcare website (External Site):
http://www.opus-healthcare.co.uk
This content has been Digiproved © 2012 Ostomyland
Updated Content: C&S Ostomy Pouch Covers
C&S Ostomy Pouch Covers
C&S Ostomy Pouch Covers have very kindly given us some new and updated content for their manufacturer’s page on Ostomyland. The content shows the various new ranges they have available for purchase, including daily wear covers, quick dry covers as well as some new covers with fun quotes on them.
We all know that for some people, having an ostomy can be a difficult experience both physically and emotionally, and I often say that the most important step of living with an ostomy is acceptance. You dont have to love the stoma, but once you’ve accepted the fact you have a stoma you can start to move on, and continue with your life.
And, one things is for sure, whatever the cover’s pattern – be it just a plain cover, tartan cover, spotty cover, or even one with the slogan Shit Happens or Does This Cover Make My Stoma Look Big? on it – an ostomy pouch cover can help with your self confidence [with clothes or without 
] and keep you drier in hot summer days when your pouch may normally cause your skin to sweat where it rubs against it.
C&S Ostomy Pouch Covers now despatch internationally too, so why not take a peak at their newly updated Oland page, and see if any covers tickle your fancy.
Useful Links:
The C&S Ostomy Pouch Covers page on Ostomyland:
http://ostomyland.com/mainsite/manufacturers_cs_ostomy_pouch_covers/
The C&S Ostomy Pouch Covers website & store:
http://www.cspouchcovers.com/
This content has been Digiproved © 2012 Ostomyland
Help fund new, exciting medical projects with your ostomy product prescription!
Neil Basil, founder of the UK charity Ostomy Lifestyle recently stepped down as Chief Executive of the charity to start a new project; Patient Choice. Whilst the new project has not launched yet, there is now a website online announcing Neil’s new business.
Taken from the Patient Choice website:
- Patient Choice Business is a new type of healthcare company; profits go to charity, and it only provides products and services that enhance [the] quality of life for patients.
- Patient Choice earns its income from the NHS through its appliance prescription service, Patient Choice Delivery. In addition we also supply natural rubber ostomy bags through Ward Surgical.
- The pharmaceutical industry has always attracted controversy, and with the supply of critical treatments and essential medical products providing unprecedented margins, it is often difficult to know who to trust. All trading profits of Patient Choice Delivery go to funding projects to support patients in the UK and abroad. To see some of our work please see the Patient Choice Foundation.
It certainly sounds a novel idea to us. There are so many medical services which have great ideas but end up sinking because of lack of money. And there are many Ostomates out there who are keen to give back to the medical community but maybe do not have the finances to allow a monetary donation, especially in this current era of austerity. Patient Choice brings those two areas together to the benefit of both.
It works by the Ostomate sending their NHS prescription to Patient Choice Delivery, who will dispatch them their prescription to the ostomates specific specifications, but with one crucial difference – profits from the prescription are funnelled into the Patient Choice Foundation award fund, which in turn is then invested in deserving medical projects.
Its a win-win situation for all involved and helps UK ostomates contribute to charity without having to dig out their cheque books.
More information on the Patient Choice Foundation will be made available very soon when the individual services officially launch, but in the meantime you can learn a lot more about Patient Choice and their services via their website, linked below, and Patient Choice Delivery is available right now. They would also like to hear from any Ostomates who have suggestions for which projects should benefit from an award.
External Links:
Patient Choice Foundation: http://www.patientchoiceuk.org/
This content has been Digiproved © 2012 Ostomyland
Happy 14th Birthday Ostomyland
This week Ostomyland will be having a birthday. On Saturday 21st of January we will be 14 years old. It seems only yesterday on New Years Day 1998 that I was bored and picked up a .net magazine (UK internet computer magazine) which had a feature on creating your own homepage. 21 days later my little ostomy site went online – all three pages of it, mixed in with a few personal homesite pages. Eventually what became known as Living with a Colostomy (the site’s original title) grew around those few ugly pages of very dubiously constructed code.
It’s been a busy year for us, with some new features coming to the site, and our community member base continuing to grow. If you are interested in what we accomplished this year, why not have a read of our “State of the Community” blog, which is a bi-annual round up of what each part of the site has achieved, and the plans we have for the 6 months ahead. You can find that over in our community blogs section. Or directly from this link: http://www.ostomyland.org/ostomyboardipb/index.php?/blog/15-ostomyland-state-of-the-community/ (* Requires free community member account to read. Register here.)
But what can you expect from us in 2012? The short answer is “more”. More peer-to-peer support, more ostomy news and reviews and features, but the two big projects I have lined up for this year is the introduction of a ticket-based support system for account and website related help as at the moment it is not always clear who should be emailed for what problem etc. This system will allow both Kathy and myself to staff the support desk to sort out any account queries whereas at the moment the speed of reply depends who the member has emailed and their own personal health problems at the time (because, dont forget, we’re all patients ourselves with health problems too).
The second big project is a total overhaul and buff up of the Wiki system. There is a wealth of information on there but very little member interaction on it. I’m looking into ways to improve this, and more than likely I will replace the Wiki software to the industry standard MediaWiki (very similar to Wikipedia’s software).
So that’s the two big projects for this year. But on top of that there will no doubt be improvements and feature-additions to our community software suite written by Invision Power. They are continually improving and revamping their Invision Power Board (IPB) and add ons such as the blog, gallery and chat systems. There is a big 3.3 update due within the next month which is introducing some new features to the reputation system that we use, and you can read more on that on the Invision Power website itself.
Anyway, thank you one and all for your support over the last 14 years. Reading other forum based communities online I realise just how lucky I have been with the quality and friendliness of the member base which has grown here on Ostomyland and cannot say just how large a part of my life you have all become. So here is to looking ahead to 2012 – it just wouldnt be the same without you all.
Thanks everyone, and Happy Birthday Ostomyland!
Jason D.
Founder/Webmaster/Senior Admin/Coffee Maker, Chief Cook and Bottle Washer
Ostomyland.com
This content has been Digiproved © 2012 Ostomyland
The Bad Tummy Foundation
The Bad Tummy Foundation is a non-profit organization creating public awareness regarding all stomach diseases. They are advocating for research to find a cure and also provide positive support systems for all who live with these diseases.
The Bad Tummy Foundation has also recently partnered with the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America!
The organization is honor of founder Marci Baron Flatt‘s Father as he fought Crohn’s Disease his whole life and died from the complications of the disease. Sadly, Marci too has the disease, and says:
[...] without this support system, I wouldn’t know how to deal with the everyday battles of the chronic pain. A support system is so important when dealing with these diseases.
If you suffer from any stomach or digestive disease such as Crohn’s Disease or Ulcerative Colitis to name but just a few, why not pay a visit to the Bad Tummy Foundation‘s website or Facebook group.
External Links:
Bad Tummy Foundation Website: http://www.badtummy.org
Bad Tummy Foundation Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/BadTummyFoundation
This content has been Digiproved © 2012 Ostomyland
Colostomy Association Facebook Group Moving Monday!
The Colostomy Association (UK) will be creating a new Facebook group to complete it’s current group to provide privacy for it’s members. The move will be Monday, 16th January at 12-Noon GMT. To continue being part of the CA‘s Facebook group you will need to ask to join the new group.
The group’s new group address is:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/colostomyassociation2011/
The full news announcement from the CA reads as follows:
REMINDER, Group move on Monday
A date for your diary – Monday 16th January, 2012 at 12 o’clock.
This is the day and the time that we will be moving.
You see, you may or not be aware that our CA group is an ‘open’ group. That means anyone can read what we are posting. Some of us will be showing posts and links to the CA Group in the right hand side of our Facebook pages which all our friends can see. Now, not everyone on the CA Group wants everyone to know what we are saying to each other. So we have decided to make the CA Group a ‘closed’ group. That way, what we write to each other will remain private.
Colostomy Assoc. (UK) Tidings #24 Out Now
Issue #24 (Winter 2011) of the Colostomy Association‘s excellent Tidings member magazine is out now. If you’ve not got a copy on it’s way and you live in the UK then contact the CA and they will happily send you one.
Inside this issue:
- CA News
- Latest Stoma Care Products & Services
- Mary’s Story
- Pathways to a Colostomy (Faye’s Journey)
- Breakaway Latest News
- Betty’s Story
- Open Day Report
- Diet… About Constipation
- Irrigation and You
- Disposal – Readers Reactions
For your copy contact the CA via their website, or phone them on 0118 939 1537
External Links:
Colostomy Association UK Website: http://www.colostomyassociation.org.uk
This content has been Digiproved © 2012 Ostomyland
Tidy-Pal, the answer to the lack of hooks in public toilets
Tidy Pal - the safe and hygienic temporary storage solution
Have you found yourself needing to change your appliance in a public toilet, or a bathroom outside your home, only to find that there are no hooks for you to hang your belongings or your change-kit? If so, Tidy-Pal might be for you. Although its not being marketed exclusively for the ostomy market, it was nevertheless designed by Ileostomate Michael Wood with the aim of meeting the needs of almost all ostomates who find themselves changing their pouch in the outside world.
The Tidy-Pal hooks over the top of any door, and provides you with an assortment of hooks and loops for you to hang your possessions and means you no longer need to worry about leaving your possessions on a potentially unhygienic toilet or changing room floors or your possessions being left dumped on beds or chairs.
For more information or to purchase the Tidy-Pal, please visit the product website. Tidy-Pal is available worldwide with shipping by UK Royal Mail.
External Links:
The Tidy-Pal Website: http://www.tidy-pal.com
This content has been Digiproved © 2012 Ostomyland
