Advice for Ostomates on Active Living and Hernias

Adrian March MA PhD has been a trustee of the Colostomy Association since its formation, and has now become Consultant to the Association.

He has had a colostomy for ten years, as a consequence of ano-rectal cancer. Adrian now lives in the south of France, in Provence, and maintains contact with the Colostomy Association, and with patients who are referred to him, almost entirely via the internet.

By profession a consultant in engineering research, he has also for many years, as a tutor of the Amateur Swimming Association and of the National Coaching Foundation, taught and trained teachers in swimming, diving, and aqua aerobics, and lectured to sports coaches on anatomy, physiology, and the technique of coaching children. His own sport may be a unique one for an ostomate: powerlifting.

Adrian writes and maintains two websites, both dedicated to providing practical advice to ostomates through a range of Technical Notes, but particularly angled towards physical activity, participation in sport, and the problems of hernias. The principal site for the English speaking world is stomadata.com, which includes also some simple healthy eating recipes and a Young Ostomates page, but there is a sister site, stoma.fr, which contains much of the same content, but is slowly being developed into a bilingual site in English and French, because French speaking ostomates do not appear to be as well provided with information as the English. Both sites offer users the opportunity to email Adrian with questions regarding their problems, and to suggest additional subjects which they would like to see treated.