This is a resource aiming to provide practical information for colostomates, and to a lesser extent ileostomates and urostomates.  It is likely also to  be of interest to their families, and where appropriate, to those who care for ostomates.

One of the difficulties experienced by anyone encountering a stoma for the first time, and particularly a patient facing the prospect of having a stoma, is finding out more about it:  what it is, what attention it requires, and how it affects normal living.  The answers, or at least many of them, are explained in Colostomies and Other -Ostomies, which you may read here, or download to your computer.

Note:  If you cannot read the documents downloaded from this website, you can download Adobe Reader free of charge by clicking here.

This website is maintained by Adrian March, who has been a trustee of the Colostomy Association since its formation, and is now Consultant to the Association.  He has had a colostomy for fourteen years, as a consequence of ano-rectal cancer.  By profession a consultant in engineering research, he has also for many years, as a tutor of the Amateur Swimming Association and of the National Coaching Foundation, taught and trained teachers in swimming, diving, and aqua aerobics, and lectured to sports coaches on anatomy, physiology, and the technique of coaching children.  It will come as no surprise that one of Adrian’s interests is a return to sport and an active life after surgery.

Adrian now lives in the south of France, in Provence, and maintains contact with the Colostomy Association, and with patients who are referred to him, almost entirely via the internet.  Happily, the internet also enables Adrian to telephone any fixed line in Europe at no cost, so if you have a query or would like to discuss a problem, call him on 020 3287 7494 (UK), or call him on +33 (0)494 501 136 and ask him to call you back.  Adrian can also be reached by email at adrian@stomadata.com.  For those who may be interested, most of the header pictures are of Cap Taillat, on the Mediterranean coast, and the adjacent coastline;  the remainder (the rocky ones) are of Les Calanques, near Marseille.

This site will be continuously maintained and enlarged, and the majority of the material is currently being translated into French.  You can check on the progress of this by clicking on the French flag in the header.  A range of Colostomy Association printed leaflets is available for download in .pdf form, and a collection of Technical Notes on other subjects of interest.  The majority of the latter were originally prompted  by enquiries from colostomates,  but have been updated where appropriate.