Derry stoma cookery class 'great success'

Derry woman Sharron McCormick, founder of ‘Shape Your Life’ has developed and presented the first ever cooking and nutrition course for stoma patients, in the North.

The course was hailed as a “huge success” by everyone who took part - attendees, social workers and the stoma nurse specialists from the multidisciplinary team in Shantallow GP Practice.

According to Sharron, who is passionate about cooking and healthy eating, living with a stoma or ileostomy can be very challenging because “patients have to adapt to a new way of living and often a new way of eating, especially post surgery”.
Mindful of this, Sharron was delighted when she was asked to develop and facilitate a course tailored to the specific requirements of stoma and ileostomy patients.

The stoma group was founded by Shantallow GP Practice Social Workers and Stoma Nurse Specialists from the Shantallow multidisciplinary team.

Speaking to Derry Now, Tara Casey, who heads up the team, said: “The Stoma group was set up to provide support to stoma patients and has included exercise sessions, which are delivered by a personal trainer Mary-Rose who herself is a patient with a stoma. .

“Since setting up the programme, we have been able to provide education and advice - from stoma nurses and social worker Shane Donnelly - and offer peer support. Reps are also brought in to review products and we have established a WhatsApp group.

“The sessions are very much patient-led. We try to arrange support they have asked for and that's how we came to contact Sharron from ‘Shape Your Life’

“Patients had requested support about eating and cooking with a stoma bag and Sharron was my immediate port of call. Having previously run a fantastic and informative programme for our pre-diabetic patients, I knew she would have the knowledge and expertise to deliver exactly what our stoma patients were looking for ,” said Tara.

“The course was hugely successful,” said Tara. “Sharron did not disappoint. She quickly put together tasty and nutritious meals for our patients, adapting recipes to suit their needs and even going the extra mile by incorporating vegan and coeliac friendly dishes so the whole group could enjoy the taster sessions.

“It has been a phenomenal success and something we are already looking to run again and it’s a first for Northern Ireland!”
Sharron, who is a nutrition specialist and an NLP (neuro-linguistic programme) practitioner, said her focus initially was on changing recipes to adapt them for the group.

“I loved every minute of it and I was delighted to be asked to put the course together”, beamed Sharron

“When Tara contacted me, I knew instantly I would be able to help. I did my research, spoke to nurses, social workers and patients to bring together healthy and nutritious recipes, which would mean everyone could enjoy the foods they loved,” she added.

“I was able to adapt recipes to take into account digestion, gut health and other factors specific to their dietary requirements.

“I wanted to create recipes members of the group could easily incorporate into family life. For example, one patient mentioned that they really missed eating mushrooms as these can be troublesome and cause blockages, so I made a mushroom pâté.

“Another couple of patients told me they were coeliac, so I adapted the ingredients, again to also make them gluten free. I love a challenge, so when I found out one lady attending was also vegan, I just created her own special version of what I was making for the group.

“To find out this is the first course of its kind in Northern Ireland was surprising but then again, I suppose I had never thought about it before.

“When I looked online I couldn’t find any similar cooking courses advertised for the UK at all and only found one other listed, which was in America!” said Sharron.

Sharron’s stoma cookery class got some lovely coverage when ITV news reported the story of Stephen Blakely.

The Derry man has been posting videos on Tiktok about himself and how he is coping with a stoma bag.

Sharron added: “To be able to help even more people to improve their lives is an amazing opportunity.

“What’s more, on the back of the ITV report, I have been contacted by a student from Plymouth University who wants to work with us to design and produce a recipe book specifically for stoma and ileostomy patients. It will also be supersized for an exhibition later in the year. How amazing is that?”

Debbie Beckett, a stoma nurse specialist who attended the cookery class said it had been a “valuable resource for our patients”.

She added: “It promotes healthy living and eating for stoma patients, while building relationships with other ostomates. An excellent course.”

Her colleague Fiona Quigley, who is also a stoma nurse specialist, agreed.

Fiona said: “The course was brilliant, resourceful and very interesting. It promoted stoma healthy eating and I loved how Sharron researched and altered recipes and was able to answer any questions.

“And just listening to some of the comments from the patients who attended revealed why it was so successful.

“‘Excellent. I really appreciated the advice and information’; ‘I didn’t think I would enjoy the course as much as I did. I actually bought an air fryer and have already started using it’; and ‘It was a great course, it gave me the confidence to make meals which are stoma friendly’ were just a few of the responses

“‘I found this course gave me confidence with food in a fun way. I would highly recommend this to stoma patients, new and old’; and ‘Great course, cooking made simple and easy’, were two more of the incredibly positive reactions,” said Fiona.

Stephen Blakely, who also attended, said: “I really enjoyed that a lot. It was good to get out with people that have a similar understanding of each other's experience and see how easy cooking actually is. I would definitely attend more.”

Sharron has also recently published a book called: 'Shape Your Life', which covers mindset, positivity, food intolerances, and diabetes. “It has more than 40 recipes,” she added.

If any patient wants to join the group, they can link in with their stoma nurse or GP Practice Social Worker or contact Fiona Quigley, Stoma Nurse Specialist at: fiona.quigley@westerntrust.hscni.net.

To contact Sharron or for more information on Shape Your Life and the courses available including bespoke courses, contact 07519 779345 or email: smcshapeyourlife@gmail.com.