IT'S A START
Bringing comfort and clarity to the what, why and how of an impending Ostomy surgery.
A stoma shouldn't define you, it's
just a small part of a bigger life.
JOURNEY STAGE
NEW WAY FORWARD
The first 90 days. Helping hand, with you through recovery, adjustment and easing back into being and feeling yourself.
TO A BIGGER LIFE
Settling in. Support, ideas, encouragement and experiences all on offer. Lifetime members welcome!
FEATURED ARTICLES
To a bigger life
Introducing: A Bigger Life Community
We have developed a new ostomy community on abiggerlife.com to create the opportunity to connect with other ostomates, clinical advisors and share experiences about living with a stoma.
A Bigger Life
Video: Living a bigger life with an ostomy
We’re here for anyone around the world whose life has been touched by a stoma, offering support, advice and encouragement. Whether you have impending ostomy surgery or you’ve been an ostomate for 50 years!
Caitlin
Building confidence with your ostomy
I feel like I spend a lot of time talking to other ostomates about feeling confident. It usually takes time to feel that way and you may not always feel good. Surrounding yourself with friends and family that love you no matter what will help. My friends don’t care about it and if I fart or make a noise, we all just start laughing. Laughing makes me feel better and it lightens the mood.
IT'S A START
Pain management after ostomy surgery
Post operatively when you are recovering in hospital from your surgery the nurses and doctors will regularly monitor your pain levels, but it is important that you let them know exactly how you are feeling and if the pain has worsened. There are many different methods for pain management and people come to surgery with different experiences and different medical histories.
Saleem
Tips for having a useful and healthy outlet
I saw myself as the victim for a long time, hated and had bitter thoughts to those that I thought had it better than me. I felt like God was punishing me. This did not help me one bit, my social anxiety got worse as well as my depression (because I was so busy feeling sorry for myself all the time, I’d get lost in my thoughts of how bad I thought things were). I still lost jobs for getting sick too often.
Latest Articles
Clare Mee
Sex & relationships with a stoma
I am lucky that my husband has been amazing and really doesn’t care about my stoma, but I heard about others not so lucky, and we are talking about husbands and wives who have been with their partners a long time, and can’t get over the fact that you have a stoma.
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Andrew
Story behind the name of my stoma
The name of my stoma is Mairead. Yes I know it’s a girl’s name but here is the story behind the name of my stoma!
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Clare Mee
Coping with a stomal fistula
Waking at 5am with a bad leak two days after surgery isn’t much fun, you can’t leap out of bed as quickly. Oh well, onwards and upwards.
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Live Q&A with Sarah our Clincical Advisor – 29th November 7-8pm (GMT)
On Thursday 29th November between 7-8pm (GMT), our clinical advisor will be live on our community to take your questions on managing the skin around your stoma, any concerns you have about your stoma and more. No questions are too silly, please feel free to come and join us!
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Lauraine Clarke
Accessing mental health support following ostomy surgery
I am however fortunate to have some support from family and friends who carried me through the black days, it must be truly awful for those who don’t have that support because my experience of accessing any form of help for this type of condition, virtually non existent.
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Top ten energy boosting foods
Keeping up your energy throughout the day can be a challenge, especially if you are an ostomate
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What’s normal and when to seek help with your stoma
It is important to know when you are experiencing physical changes with your stoma if they are normal for this stage of your journey, or if you need to seek help. It’s also important that you feel well with your new stoma and you are coping emotionally. This handy guide should help keep you right.
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