The ileostomy and internal pouch support group for Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire

Any serious illness will disrupt a person's normal life-style, especially if it has lasted many years and has led to major surgery resulting in a change to the body function and body-image.

• ia aims to help anyone who has has, or is about to have, their colon removed to return to a fully active and normal life as soon as possible.

• ia aims to help them with all aspects of their rehabilitation including social activities, and relationships with their families, friends, employers, colleagues and members of the general public.

• ia aims to work in close co-operation with the medical authorities as part of a team whose primary aim is the complete rehabilitation of every ileostomy or pouch patient.

• ia aims to promote and co-ordinate research - not only into ways of improving the quality of life with an ileostomy or pouch, but also into the illnesses which lead to these operations.

• ia aims to improve knowledge about the management of ileostomies or pouches and encourage development of new ostomy equipment and skin-care preparations.

To support these aims the ia produce a number of fact sheets on living life with an ileostomy or pouch available to ia members.

For more information see 'Fact Sheets' under the 'Publications' section on
www.the-ia.org.uk.

For an example of the first fact sheet, click here to download a PDF copy.