With less than a month before Ride London-Surrey 100, plans are being made for the big day, sponsorship is being pushed for and I have now ridden 1000 miles this year.
This month’s 203 miles took me to exactly 1000 for the year so far and I’m now looking at resting up before the big day. I say resting up, but that will include taking part in the cycling part of a sprint triathlon (which is a hill climb x3), cycling with the children at school as part of a ‘purple day’ to raise money and awareness as well as continuing to commute 3 days a week. However, in all seriousness, I think my body does need rest, especially in this heat.
I’ve always been proud of my Coloplast stoma bags: they look good, have a decent filter and have a good adhesive, but recently this is not the case. I have been experiencing regular leaks with the adhesive falling away from my skin. The last straw was after I organised a big Cornish ride with the ‘Titanium Legs’ boys and 2 good friends.
We met up on the south coast before heading up to Tintagel via Wadebridge for a coffee.
Pasty stop in Tintagel
After lunch I headed to the toilet to ensure I was ready for the return journey. This was when I realised, to my horror, that my bag had started to detach from my skin…
Bodge job with plasters
Thinking of a short term solution I went to the owner of the cafe and asked for his 1st aid kit. After explaining my situation, they gave me a few plasters and I tried to do a quick bodge job. Luckily, this held up until the 3rd stop and then back home.
A line of five fine machines
My stoma bag hanging on for dear life
After this, I decided that a change was needed. After searching around, a few bodybuilders recommend I try the brand Hollister. Although the bags are not as nice to look at, their plaster like baseplate is said to be more effective in the heat and exercise.
A Hollister baseplate adhesive is like a plaster
I therefore requested a sample set of 2 piece bags and baseplates and after speaking to the helpful Jackie on their samples line, I am going to have a longer term trial to see if this is the bag for me.
The sponsorship total is slowly creeping up, please help me out in raising money for Crohn’s and Colitis UK who helped me understand what was happening to my body after my diagnosis of Ulcerative Colitis in May 2016. Please visit my just giving page below.
My life with a stoma bag 