About OstomyFan

I'm İlkay Demiralay, a university lecturer and technologist from Türkiye with decades of experience teaching web technologies, networking, and information security.

I'm also an ostomate. I lived with ulcerative colitis for 25 years. In February 2018 I had a total colectomy, and I have lived with a permanent ileostomy ever since. The questions this site answers are the questions I once asked myself, in hospital corridors, in the middle of the night, and through the long months of learning a new normal. I know these questions because I have lived every one of them.

OstomyFan is a one-person project. I designed the publishing pipeline, I built it, and I run it. Every published piece passes a human review before it goes live. No exceptions.

Reliable ostomy and IBD information is often locked in clinical language, scattered across journals and hospital pages. People living with a stoma, and the people who care for them, deserve clear, honest, source-cited explanations they can actually use.

I know that gap firsthand, because I lived it as a patient. OstomyFan exists to close it: plain language, named sources, no fear-mongering, no miracle cures. Just information you can trust.

Articles are curated with AI assistance from trusted sources such as the NHS, Mayo Clinic, PubMed, and peer-reviewed research, then reviewed before publishing. Every medical claim links back to its source.

Nothing on this website is medical advice. For your own situation, please consult your own clinician. They know your case best.

If you're a brand or organization serving the ostomy and IBD community and you'd like consistent, on-brand, source-respecting content for your own channels, get in touch. The same engine and editorial care behind OstomyFan is available as a service.

You can find my other work at ilk.ai.

Email ostomyfan@gmail.com or send a direct message to our Instagram, @ostomyfan.