February 2023 marks 3 years since I started working with the StomaTips team. I had been in contact with the editor Benjamin Wakefield since I was living in Brazil and started contributing to StomaTips from its very first issues. I joined the team a few months after arriving in the UK, during the COVID-19 outbreak. Despite the many challenges we all faced, it has been a wonderful journey of discovery by having the opportunity to contact other ostomates across the world. As consultant editor, my aim has always been to capture the diverse and inspirational stories of overcoming obstacles and taking charge of a new beginning that ostomates across the world achieve every day. As an ostomate myself, I want to make sure that a wide range of points of view are represented.
Looking back, I can see how much we have grown. Over the years, our magazine has become well known in many countries, not only in Europe, but also in Latin America, North America, Africa, Oceania and Asia. The word of mouth and the power of social media has made StomaTips internationally recognised. Some of the stories we brought here are still alive in my memory. There is Oliver Kaye (@thekidwithbag), who at the age of 16 had his colon removed to create an ileostomy. As a mother of two teenage boys, I can imagine how challenging it must have been, but he decided to inspire other people to raise awareness and funds for invisible bowel diseases. In addition, we are thankful to all the health professionals who provide helpful, practical advice in each of our issues.
Our growing readerships has long been asking for more content, so I am delighted to announce that StomaTips will now be a quarterly magazine, available four times a year, as of spring 2023. If you would like to share your story with the community, please get in touch with us.