Night Time Skin Care Routine

In the past few months, I've been taking my skin care a lot more seriously and keeping up with doing it every evening and I've really seen a difference in my skin! I've seen redness reduce and I've had hardly any spots. I've honed down my routine to my 3 essential products.

Can Food "Cure" IBD?

In short, no food cannot cure inflammatory bowel disease but I stand by the notion that it can help relieve some of the symptoms of it.

What it's like to be under anaesthetic

A week or so on twitter I saw someone asking what it was like to be under anaesthetic and I replied and had a whole conversation with this girl, making her (hopefully) feel a tiny bit less nervous and it gave me the idea to write a whole post on it.

The thought of been knocked out and put under has always terrified me; the thoughts of not been given enough and waking up half way through surgery or the complete opposite and being given too much had always been at the forefront of my fear (I did ask the anaethasist if this would happen...I was told neither would!). Another thing which freaked me out, and still does, is the fact that there is a few hours (nearly a whole day in my experience) which is completely unaccounted for and a further weekend which is very hazy due to pain medication and the anaesthetic.

For me, I had totally blown out of proportion what going under anaesthetic would be like. Honestly, it was like falling asleep. All I remember is someone saying they were giving me a relaxant and next thing I knew it was six hours later and I was waking up.

Now then, when it comes to waking up, I found it quite surreal. Because of infection control or something (I had CDiff whilst I was in there and under quarantine basically for a week!) I wasn't woken up in the recovery room...instead I was brought round in the actual operating theatre! I was aware of where I was once I'd come round properly and spent two hours talking about god knows what to some nurses whilst I waited for my bed to be ready.

Now, here's for the one piece of advice I'd give anyone who is going for an operation; ask for the anti-sickness medication. I was told this by a nurse a few days before my op but I completely forgot to once I was down there and the first thing I did was throw up...twice. I don't know what it's like with it so if you've had the anti sickness meds whilst having an operation, please let me know in the comments because if it actually works, I'll defiantly remember to ask when I have my next surgery!

If you have any questions about what it's like to be under anaesthetic, just ask them in the comments below and I'll try and answer it (but, disclaimer alert, I'm not in any way a medical professional so don't take my words as gospel! These are just my experiences with it!)

My first time gym experience

Today I started the gym. Yeah, I know...I must be crazy! I've never been a gym person; I didn't really know what cardio was and I most certainly didn't know the first thing about weights (to be fair, I still don't as I've not got to that bit yet!) but after realising how out of shape I was after coming out of hospital (I could hardly walk at first) and seeing how much muscle wastage I had, I knew I had to do something about it.

I was worried about exercising with an stoma however after following a few fitspo intsagrams of girls with stomas I knew it was more than possible (@zoeywright10 and @_kaitb are two of my faves) but I also was aware that my body is still healing and I don't want to hurt myself or get a hernia. Luckily, my doctors works with the local gym to do "exercise on referral"...it's like getting a personal trainer who works with you to improve fitness and help rehabilitate after having surgeries.

I was actually surprised at how much I did enjoy it and I can't wait for my next session. I mainly did cardio as we're slowly building up my muscles (especially my abdomen for obvious reasons!) and worked on the cross trainers, tread mill, bikes, rowing machine and another contraption which I do not know the name of (as you can see, I know lots about the gym...)

My tips for ostomates going to the gym

1. Stay Hydrated
For obvious reasons, make sure you take lots of water with you. It's important for anyone going to the gym but especially important for ostomates because of the extra sweat, you need to replace those fluids. I drank water during my hour session and then opted for a Lucozade Sport and a packet of crisps once I was done (the crisps to replace the salt...plus I love crisps!)

2. Get Help From A Professional
This is a definite must if you've never really been to the gym before and/or are receiving from surgery. By getting help, you've got that extra assurance that you're less likely to hurt yourself and, if you're like me and the thought of exercise makes you cry a little, having sessions with someone gives you a reason to actually go so you can get into a routine for it to become normal.

3. Support That Stoma
This isn't necessarily a must but I find supporting the stoma just makes you feel more comfortable. I opened for support underwear (from Sainsbury's) but there are belts and proper ostomy designed underwear but they can be so expensive!

4. Take It Slow
Rome wasn't built in a day and you're body isn't going to change overnight. Taking it slow will ensure you don't injure yourself and you will start to see improvements gradually.