Day of the Stoma 2023

October 1 is Stoma Day, organized by the Stoma Association.

In this article, we speak with Bjorn Keulers. He has had a colostoma for 2 years. Bjorn is one of the models of the Stoma Association's taboo-breaking campaign. The campaign is dominated by breathtakingly beautiful portraits in words and pictures of powerful, lively people. People who live life to the fullest. Who run businesses, do bodybuilding, love fashion or travel the world in an RV. And they happen to have an ostomy bag on their belly.

Stoma Day is designed to draw more (positive) attention to people with a stoma or pouch. The Stoma Association has been committed to ostomy wearers, people with a pouch and their loved ones since 1966. The strength of the Stoma Association is its expertise by experience: pooling experiences and using them for people with a stoma or pouch. In this, they are unique.

40,000 people

About 40,000 people in the Netherlands have a stoma. About 7,000 are added every year. A stoma is an exit from the intestine on the abdomen. The stool is collected in a bag. Often a stoma is the result of a disease such as colon or bladder cancer, Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. Getting a stoma has manyimpacts, whether you are young or old. With the campaign, the Stoma Association shows that everyone can live the way they want even with a stoma.  

A choice of your own

The stoma was Bjorn's own choice in response to recurrent abscesses, which had no identifiable cause. After 5 years of pain and 15 operations, he decided to get an ostomy. This was a difficult choice and was not made overnight. A step-by-step plan was made and Bjorn gave himself 3 months after the surgery to physically recover. After those 3 months came the grieving process.Bjorn wasn't sad, but he wasn't happy either, he wasn't depressed, but he couldn't enjoy anything either. Getting a stoma affects everything, one's self-confidence, relationships, work, but also fun outings.  

His greatest therapy, then, was the trip they took to America. After his entire 5-year journey in pain, various surgeries and medication, he and his partner stood atop a mountaintop in Yosemite National Park and came to the realization that life does not stop with a stoma! Here they traveled around for a month and covered many miles on foot.

Changing in public

Bjorn indicated that when he is in public, he prefers to change his stoma bag in a wheelchair accessible restroom. This is because of the sink and trash in the restroom itself. He needs wet gauze when changing. In a men's restroom, he is often looked at madly when he first wets his gauze pads, then enters the stall.

It is still common for men's restrooms not to have a trash can. With the advent of hand dryers, there are even fewer trash cans in men's restrooms. Bjorn indicates that not having a trash can is one of the few obstacles of changing in public.

Bjorn has the HogeNood app on his phone and uses it mainly when he needs to change ostomy materials in unfamiliar surroundings.

Trash cans in the HogeNood app

HogeNood has become more aware about the ostomy by talking with former Stoma Association director Anne Braakman in 2014. As a result, we decided to include trash cans in the HogeNood app, for disposing of ostomy materials. In the app, this is indicated by the trash can icon next to the icon for a men's or women's restroom.

Women's toilets often have a trash can for disposing of menstrual products. With men, it is less obvious that there is a trash can. That's why we indicate this precisely in men's toilets as well.