Two years ago, on August 7th, 2013, I decided to start the VeganOstomy blog.  Little did I know that it would explode to be the site that it is today, and I look forward to watching it grow each and every week.

But the site would be nothing without all the loyal followers who have encouraged me, sent me thank you emails, and shared their stories with me over the years.

Just to give you an idea about how fast the site has grown, over the past several months I get about as many unique visitors every two weeks as I did all of last year!  Not only that, but I’m seeing more visitors month-over-month, which is awesome!

One thing that I’ve been proud of, is the fact that over the past two years, I’ve kept the site ad, annoying pop-up, and sponsor-free.  I believe that this not only provides you guys with a clean and distraction-free experience, but it also gives me the freedom to post what I want, and it keeps my reviews as objective as possible.  I hope this is appreciated :)

Of course, the downside to this is that the site still costs money to run and maintain.  The software/hosting/online service end of it costs me about CDN$63 per month, and that doesn’t include any of the money spent on video equipment or products purchased for review (ostomy accessories aren’t covered by insurance).

I’m not mentioning this so I can ask for money, or to tell you that you’ll find annoying ads in the sidebar or in the body of these articles tomorrow, but I do want to make it known what’s involved with running this site.

Maybe one day, when I have something useful to sell you, the site will be self-supporting, but today is not that day (not even tomorrow).

My plans for the site are to continue to offer in-depth product reviews and useful articles. While I’d love to have a video to go along with everything I post, my house is too small and too loud to make that happen; I will have more videos though, so don’t you worry.

The top 10 posts during the site’s second year are:

1. Dressing with an Ostomy: A Clothing Guide for Men
2. Stealth Belt – REVIEW (in the top 10 last year)
3. The Stuff You Don’t Hear About IBD (WARNING: graphic content)
4. Dealing With Ostomy Pouch Odors
5. Ostomy Resolutions Stoma Guard – REVIEW
6. Of Mice, Men and IBD: Why Misleading Headlines Are Harmful
7. Coloplast Sensura Mio 1pc #10471 – REVIEW (in the top 10 last year)
8. Ostomy Diet:What to Eat in the First Six Weeks
9. Hollister CeraPlus Skin Barrier and New Image Ostomy Pouch – REVIEW (in the top 10 last year)
10. What’s in your stoma powder? (in the top 10 last year)

Enjoy the content, share it if you think others could benefit, and keep smiling.

With gratitude,

Eric

GIVEAWAY

To show my appreciation, I’ll be offering up an Amazon gift card worth CDN$50 to one lucky winner.

I don’t like giveaways that ask for too much, and I don’t need you to follow all my social media accounts, spam your friends and family, or even share this with anyone in order to win; if you like the content on this site, and feel like subscribing to my newsletter, the option is completely yours, and I will not send you spam simply for entering this contest (I only need an email address it to get in touch with the winner).