Running with Bob

Wanda Thurston Drews is amazing when it comes to making durable pouch covers for a great price! You get your first two pouches free of charge then 2 pouches for $5, 4 for $10, etc. She also makes masks and hair scrunchies and sells them as a set with a pouch for only $7.50 and everything is great quality and comfortable. Wanda also ships for free, as she has a mission from God to help ostomates, and her Facebook page Sha-Rey Customized Covers, is named after her brother and sister. She and her siblings all had a portion of their colons removed and her brother had to get an ostomy bag. Wanda has such talent and I greatly recommend her products to others. I ordered my two free pouch covers plus a set with mask and scrunchie that I am featuring in this blog post; I love them so much that I ordered another set and will definitely order more in the future. Here is the link to Wanda's Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/352472301950943/ Here I am featuring the set with scrunc

The question most asked when I tell people about my ileostomy is if I can eat normally, and the answer is a big YES! I am able to eat so much more than I could before Bob became a part of me. My diet had become extremely limited as just about everything caused painful obstruction symptoms, especially roughage and fiber which is the stuff I love. Not only is my diet more diverse now, but I have the capacity to eat more which is important for my energy, strength and training. I'm working on gaining more muscle and becoming stronger, carefully weight training in the gym.  I still am gluten intolerant, but now am able to digest dairy and I was convinced before my ileostomy that I had become lactose intolerant. Also, I am back to being able to eat large salads including raw kale! I'm again enjoying kimchi and even raw cabbage slaw, as well as many other raw veggies and fruits, even those with skins. Pretty much everything on the list of "obstruction causing foods" I am abl

  I found out that NuHope makes pouches to fit you according to your stoma measurements, shape, and any necessary convexity. According to the manager I spoke to, this is what they are known for but I only learned about this because I had an issue with the pouches I ordered through my medical supplier. When I had to switch to convex barriers, I ordered the 1 3/8 barrier which is same size I have in flat but what they sent me was too small. Turns out NuHope appliances do not come with the larger size barrier in convex, and my supplier had an incorrect item description for it. In trying to figure this out, I was put in contact with management who said they could make me a customized appliance to suite my needs. I thought it may be helpful to explain this process for others. You must take multiple pictures of your stoma from the front while standing with measuring tape, from the side while standing and the front and side while sitting and laying down. Since my stoma often retracts, I sent

 Finally, after five months of trying just about everything, I have found the right combo to work for me! This is what's worked the best for me so far, as I still have products to try and will be adding to my review pages in the upcoming weeks. Of course, this is my experience but it may work for others who have a stoma that retracts throughout the day/night and are active, sweat a lot, and/or swim. This "perfect" combo has been taking me through my 3 consecutive twelve hour/day work shifts without a single leak, unlike the Hollister bags which leaked several times per day either from barrier leaks due to pancaking (1 piece), leaks from the roll-up end or where the bag attaches to the flange (2 piece). It also makes it through two consecutive swim days before the barrier extenders start to absorb water. This combo not only gets through work and swim days, I also have been working up a sweat daily with yard work, gardening, running, gym workouts, house work and long walks