Today, we're delving into a topic that's close to every ostomate's heart - managing those unexpected ostomy leaks. In collaboration with Hollister Incorporated, I'm excited to share practical insights and advice on handling and preventing leaks.

To complement this blog post, Hollister and I have created an insightful video on managing ostomy leaks. You can watch it right here:

In this blog post, we're discussing something that's essential for everyone but especially crucial for those living with an ostomy - staying hydrated. Water is the elixir of life, making up a significant portion of our bodies and playing a vital role in our overall well-being. However, for individuals with an ostomy, maintaining proper hydration can be even more critical.

wimming can be such a great exercise and you may or may not have done it prior to having your ostomy and you may be a little bit nervous about attempting it for your first time after having your ostomy surgery. I'll tell you before surgery personally, I lived in my bathing suit. I was always in a bikini. I started to feel after surgery, little more self-conscious about having my ostomy.  Can I swim with it? What happens if the bag breaks? What happens if things fill up? I'm not comfortable being in a bikini. You know what if it shows through my one-piece bathing suit there's so many questions about it. And it can be a little nerve racking trying to get through that.

Are you good with taking care of your skin? I know I haven’t been for most of my life and just last year I made a focus to be better at it. This year I will continue to do so. Skin is our largest organ, I never knew that until I got into the health world 11 years ago. To get ready for competitions we used to have to exfoliate our skin a few weeks before the competition so that our tan should go on smoothly. That was about all I ever did.