Moving house with a stoma

Moving house is arguably one of the most stressful things you can do in life. I haven’t had to do it in 10 years, but fast forward to now and we are attempting to do it with young kids. Any move is stressful, but when you have three of four members of the household that have a chronic illness, and multiple prescriptions and appointments, it does create anxiety. We all know too well the strain the NHS is under, and how unfortunately this filters down to us with issues with staffing causing long waits, and mix ups with medications. I can’t remember the last time I put in a request for a repeat prescription for all three of us, and had it sorted for me to simply give our names and have it handed over. This always ends up with me making phone calls to the GP, being in a queue of 15 plus people to speak to anyone, and lots of back and forth before things are sorted. I have come to accept that this is just the way it is, and believe me when I say I have changed GP surgery a few times to find that they are mostly all the same, under the same immense pressure, and we just have to roll with the punches!

If you are moving where you have to change GP, do your research first. Changing GP when you have a chronic illness is something no one wants to do, especially when you have a GP you trust and get solutions from. Ensure as soon as you know you will have to move, to go in and ask that the process is for changing over. I found online community groups helpful with people recommending (or in some cases not), where the best service is and how they differ. Word of mouth and others experiences are a great thing, but don’t rely on it to base your change of GP solely on as everyone’s experiences are different. If almost all are having bad experiences it might be best to keep looking!

How often do you look at your supplies and wish you had the time to go through them all? All the samples and things you have tried over the years that you didn’t end up using or kept just in case. Well now you have no choice but to go through everything. The task filled me with dread, but actually now it’s done I feel so much better about knowing when we unpack the medical supply boxes that it is all things I will definitely use and need. I never think to check expiry dates as I try not to over order, but I found quite a few samples and one off things given to try that were well past it.

Moving will also give you the opportunity to have a re-think of how you store your supplies. Could it be kept in a better place or a more efficient way? As I now have two children with stoma as well as me, I tend to keep supplies wherever I can find the space. I did have a craft trolley for everything, but soon found it wasn’t big enough for all of us. We know where everything is, but anyone else wouldn’t have a clue or find anything! I will definitely be taking the opportunity to keep everything together for each person in designated spaces in the new house. I am guilty for spreading it around in places where it fits instead of having fewer dedicated spaces. With a baby in the house, when the delivery comes it’s a race to get it unpacked and just anywhere that isn’t stacked up on show. Hopefully starting off fresh and being more mindful will save me time on delivery days, and allow me to rotate stock better too. 

Stress is often a trigger for symptoms with bowel diseases to creep in. Being as prepared as possible, and being mindful that things probably won’t go to plan and that’s ok, is the approach I am taking. It was never going to be easy with young kids, but we look forward to the chaos and the next chapter for our family. 

Rach x