Elephant wipes

I'm running low on 2 piece bags so have been trying to use up the one piece bags. But They are not working for me at all! I dont know if it's the heat but they just leak all the time. I'm getting very good at changing in unusual places. Today I had to change at an elephant sanctuary and I was so glad I had bought wet wipes because there was no water there! Always have wet wipes!

Phone got stolen!

I'm sorry I haven't updated for a long time! This is partly because my phone got stolen but mainly because I've been having too much of a good time :)
Every now and then I have been treating myself to a private room rather than staying in shared dorms and I was super lucky the other day when I stayed chatting in the common area even though I knew I had a leak. When I got back to my room to change I had almost blown through the whole thing! It's so much easier to do a change in a proper bathroom at the sink rather than having to change in shared showers and toilet cubicles.
That reminds me; I didn't bring enough dry wipes with me because I thought I could buy them out here but it doesn't seem like you can. So I bought two packets of baby wipes; one for cleaning up and the second I will let them dry out so I can use them for to dry the skin before applying a new bag.
I went on a half day climbing trip on railay beach, that was really good but I also got a leak that day too. It seems to happen when wearing the sensura one piece so I think I just need to always wear the two piece. That reminds me! I was wearing a two piece that was a few days old, I've started this trick of using [medical] tape to patch up the flange after a few days when it starts to unstick in order to get an extra day or two of wear (they are usually lasting about 2 days without this and 3-4 days with this approach). I was on a boat tour in Ao Nang and dived head-first into the water from the long tail boat. My bag almost ripped completely off! I was wearing the under/swimwear from white rose collection which is pretty tight, so I kinda managed to secure if on just using the waistband of those and my swimshorts, and luckily it wasn't long after that when we stopped for dinner and I changed in the toilet cubicle. I was so glad I had a change with me! I've started keeping individual wrapped changing kits so it's super easy to pop one into a day bag or grab one to change in the shared bathrooms that you get in hostels.

One other thing is that I went to a pool party on Koh Phi Phi, I felt pretty self conscious there in case anyone noticed my under-swimwear. I'm the end no one mentioned it so hopefully it wasn't obvious and I met some nice (drunk?) Canadians to hang with for the rest of the night.

On that note, only two people have noticed the under swimwear

 and asked me what it is; the first one came from a tactless Italian guy, who asked loudly in front of everyone on the boat trip and left me a bit flustered (I'm not exactly confident and experienced at explaining at the best of times) the second one was from a nice bloke called Bob.

Bob: what's that? A stoma?
Me: Yep
Bob: really?
Me: Yep. Crohn's disease.

That's it. Easiest explanation ever.

I'm rambled on for long enough so I'll leave you with one last thought; I'm loving the beday thing (bum gun!) you get in every Thai toilet. No need to use TP just rinse the opening and go.

Long tail drama

Did the 7 islands tour of Krabi yesterday, it was one of the most awesome, beautiful things ever. But disaster struck when I confidently dived head first from the long tail boat in order to do some snorkeling - my Sensura Mio 2 piece bag - which I'd already taped up because the flange has started to come away a bit - got almost completely ripped off when I hit the water!

I managed to tie my swimming trunks tight enough to keep the bag roughly in the right place and I was wearing my white Rose Collection black trunks underneath a normal pair of swimming trunks, so it wasn't easy to tell. Luckily it wasn't long until we stopped for dinner and I changed in a toilet stall.

Also one of the guys on the trip asked why I had something on my stomach area. I'm still terrible at explaining it and he asked in front of the whole boat without any discretion, so I found that difficult.

Humira (AKA keeping cool part 3)

It's impossible to keep the medication cold in a place with no refrigerator. I've been regularly topping the medicube up with ice but it always seems to be above 10 degrees, usually over 20°c, when I check it in the morning, and the ice has all melted. I think I've destroyed about £1,500 of medication :(

Full moon party

Full moon party went without a hitch, the toilets were totally acceptable.

I met up with a friend who is able to work remotely and happened to be in Thailand at the same time as me. He is staying in hotels due to his work so it was great to be able to use his private bathroom to change my bag. He knew someone who used to have a stoma so no awkward explaining was necessary.

I've been getting very complacent with these new sensura mio bags, sometimes I've realised that I haven't been bringing a change kit with me on day trips etc. This came around to bite me in the ass when I went on a day trip to the beach and developed a leak, I had to put up with a really uncomfortable itch for the rest of the day and my skin got really sore. Hopefully that is a lesson learned!

Now I'm staying at a muay thai training camp. Will update about how that goes!

Scuba 3

Been Scuba diving yesterday and today, it's great that I can do it but it's more tricky with my ostomy. First of all I can't really empty my bag while out on the boat, as the toilet goes straight into the sea, so I've been taking a loperamide to slow things down a bit.
Secondly all the movement and the weight belt resting around that areas has been causing leaks and now my skin is quite sore. Not fun.

Scuba 2

I got a medical sign off from the local Physician, and did it today, with no problems. Woop!