Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford | Patient Advocacy

Inflammatory bowel disease, ostomy, chronic pain, PTSD, and mental wellbeing.

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Tag: Ostomy

21st Nov 202027th Mar 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Series | How my ulcerative colitis impacted my education

17th Nov 202010th Apr 2024 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

How do you empty your ostomy bag?

16th Nov 202028th Apr 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

What causes a J-pouch to fail?

3rd Nov 20203rd Apr 2024 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

I don’t always like my stoma

23rd Oct 202021st Jun 2026 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Going to a theme park with a stoma

3rd Oct 202024th May 2024 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Why ostomy awareness is important to me

29th Sep 20205th Feb 2024 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

FAQ | Parastomal hernia prevention: Tips and insights

14th Sep 202023rd Nov 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

How and why I got back into exercise after stoma surgery

11th Sep 20201st Nov 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

How I felt when I found out that I needed a stoma

30th Jul 20207th Sep 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Sustaining friendships has been more difficult due to chronic illness

14th Jul 202027th Mar 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

How the lack of open public toilets impacts the ostomy community

7th Jul 202027th Mar 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

FAQ | A stoma can change shape and size!

3rd Jul 202027th Mar 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

FAQ | Dealing with trapped wind

23rd Jun 202027th Mar 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

Ostomy leaks and samples!

19th May 202027th Mar 2023 Sahara Fleetwood-Beresford

#IBDSuperHeroes World IBD Day Challenge

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I’ve spent the last few weeks completely overhauling my home to clear out microplastics. I wrote about how reducing microplastics can benefit people with #IBD and other #ChronicIllness 🔗 https://advocatinghealth.com/2026/09/08/reducing-microplastics-to-benefit-ibd/ First, apologies for the recent irresponsible post! Intestinal blockage aftermath... I’ve switched to an anti-inflammatory Mediterranean diet recently, but adapting it to suit my specific restrictions (intestinal strictures from surgeries) has been a lot to get my head around! 😵‍💫 Life has been a bit chaotic lately! Between the additional tasks of researching and publishing new articles for IBD Science, doing separate dog walks every morning to work on individual behavioural issues (Loki is a barker and Aragorn is a puller!), and a vet visit for Lady’s cheek infection, my energy has been stretched! https://www.instagram.com/p/Db7xtK1sGss/ When living with a #ChronicIllness, we often talk about getting through the flare, recovering from surgery, or managing the daily symptoms. But what happens after the storm clears? It's strange that it's completely normal to me to start a Saturday with movement that helps manage my pain, followed by a catch up with people I only know because of our shared health conditions, whilst organising my meds for the week. Afterwards, I organised and cut my latest #ostomy supply delivery. Only then did I realise that for a "normal healthy person", this is not a standard day 😂 This is the day of a person who's spent so many years adapting to their chronic conditions, that this is MY normal 💜 I'll give you two ✌️ guesses where this peppermint oil ended up after I'd dropped a few drops 💧 in my #ostomy bag whilst on the toilet 🚽... It's ok to ignore the pile of washing 🧺 in favour of rest. It's very likely that the person judging you most for it, is you. If it isn't, kick them to the curb - you don't need that kind of negativity or lack of understanding in your life 👋😂 28°C in the UK today! Hot weather brings extra challenges when you live with an #ostomy: dehydration, baseplate adhesion issues, and skin irritation. Here, I share practical tips to help you navigate heatwaves safely https://advocatinghealth.com/2018/07/07/ostomies-and-hot-weather/ 💜✨ Have you ever been told that your symptoms are all in your head, or left a doctor’s appointment feeling dismissed because tests came back clear? Living with chronic conditions, chronic pain, and emotional exhaustion can leave you feeling really isolated! 💜
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