Gibraltar Stoma Support Group Holds Second Committee Meeting
On Friday 8th November the Gibraltar Stoma Support Group held their second committee meeting.
A statement from the Gibraltar Stoma Support Group follows below:
We are “Stomates“ composed of stoma pouch wearers and their families.
An Ostomy-Stoma is a life-saving surgery used in the final stages of several cancers such as colorectal and bladder. When deadly complications from inflammable bowel disease such as Ulcerative Colitis/ Crohn’s or diverticulitis and other diseases arise, it can give life back. At its most simple, it’s just a new way to go to the bathroom.
A stoma is a medical term used to describe an opening on the abdomen that can be connected to either your digestive or urinary system to allow waste (urine or faeces) to be diverted out of your body. It looks like a small, reddish, circular piece of flesh that is sewn to your body. It may lie fairly flat to your body or protrude out. Over the top of your stoma, you will wear a pouch, which can either be closed or have an opening at the bottom. Your stoma has no nerve endings so you feel no pain from it.
A Stoma can be temporary or permanent, depending on the reason for having a stoma.
Our aim is to create awareness of our hidden disability. Please feel free to ask anything you like and if we can’t help, we will surely find someone who can. We know how isolating and difficult “STOMAS” and the condition that causes us to have them can be, so we are here for you to chat to, to make friends, to help and offer support.
“Stomates “owe our life to this wonderful pouch/bag.
We have to thank the GHA who recently started hired a Stoma nurse. They can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Since our first get together as a support group in June 2019 we have come a long way and we are very pleased with the recent announcement from the Department of Equality and Government of Gibraltar on the Invisible Disability card scheme and the radar key for Accessible Public Toilets.
We need the different public services involved with security to recognize our needs, our aim is to create awareness around this topic and educate the relevant authorities and general public to make life easier for us and alleviate the sometimes embarrassing situations we find ourselves in.
They can be contacted by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or mobile +350 56849000.
Facebook page: Ostomy (Stoma) Gibraltar
