The Disrespectful Use of "Bag" for Ostomy Pouches

The use of the term "pouch" is encouraged, not to be PC, but to inform the ignorant that an ostomy is a system...a pouching system. The ignorant includes insurers, including Medicare which at one time was threatening the coverage of accessories that some of us need to make our ostomy systems work at a humanly decent level. "Bag" is also very often used in a demeaning way as well by people who get off on mocking ostomates in their so-called "jokes".

Mr. Plod: The original question was, is there anyone that can help him understand his ostomy with regard to clothing to wear in sports. I can tell you about Stealth Belt which was invented by a runner with an ostomy. You can check it out at "stealthbelt.com" - great product.

United States Private Message
Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2018 3:46 pm
Reply reply with quote edit

MrPlod: The original question was, is there anyone that can help him understand his ostomy with regard to clothing to wear in sports. I can tell you about Stealth Belt which was invented by a runner with an ostomy

Yes, however, when you meet someone or you first tell someone you have an ostomy....they always say, "Oh, is that a bag?"....and it really ticks me off.

So, I do think we need to re-educate the public on what is going on with ostomies....they seem to think it is no big deal....it is just some bag you stick on my stomach...LOL.....I explained to one person recently about how my small intestine end is coming out of my abdomen near my belly button.....LOL and they freaked out.....what do they think this "bag" thing is for...???? LOL ....I also always correct people when they use that term...and tell them it is a pouch....I want to educate the general public....so they will be more sensitive to how they talk about ostomates......

Being a Norwegian, this is not a problem at all. We simply don't say bag or pouch at all, but yes, still there are also misinformed and disrespectful attitudes found in countries where the bag-name is not used. At the moment, I live in Germany, and the name bag is not used here either. There is a world outside the English language and even outside the USA.

From this, we can learn it is actually not about a name at all. So we should look elsewhere. And if you say bag or pouch, it does not really change anything.

My private bias is that we should not say bag or pouch in English at all but dress. My Janis has a dress. :-) Please do not insult her by believing it is a pouch or a bag.

Stories of Living Life to the Fullest from Ostomy Advocates I Hollister

I totally understand the wish to have people refer to our appliances as pouches. I have both a urostomy and colostomy (lottery winner) and I have adjusted well. I live a quality life though there are things these pouches prevent me from doing, including staying at other people's houses. Things can get messy and the odor is often gag-worthy. So despite adapting to this situation, I often feel it has robbed me of some dignity - especially when something unexpected sends me flying to the bathroom. Using the word "pouch" feels more dignified. Not as many jokes are made about it. Granted, not everyone has a problem with social perception and has no problem with the dignity factor. All I can say is carry on!

Hello everyone! I just love this thread and wanted to thank you all for actively participating in the discussion.

I have found it educational, instructive, entertaining and, the essence of what you all say, will definitely form part of my stand-up comedy act - if and when I find the time to indulge myself in this particular item on my bucket-list. Interestingly, I don't use any of the terms listed thus far:  " bag, pouch,sack, appliance/accessory, waste disposal unit, sanitary napkin, recipient of waste, daiper, dress, purse or 'BADGE' (which is the concept I like most). Because I irrrigate, I tend to use a 'sleeve' for the actual process, which I fold up to make a temporary receptacle for the waste before flushing it. At nights I wear a sensura-mio device which is still just a small 'sleeve', which I can empty in the same way as the larger 'sleeve'. During the day I use a stoma 'plug' so, whenever anyone makes a comment about me having to wear a bag, I automatically and instinctively inform them that I don't wear a bag, but I wear a plug instead during the day. If appropriate, I then get into a humorous educational introduction to stomas, beginning with how much easier it has been managing the shit from the front, than it was when I was incontinent of faeces through my arse.(when I also had to wear anal plugs - which held it up and then let it all flush out at once down my 'drainpipe' trousers.)  If, by this time, my audience remains with me, I will share some humorous horror stories about embarassing disasters from the past,  which were not funny at the time, but in rerospect, can be laughed at in the same way that some people find 'candid camera' sequences highly humorous.

I find that much of human humour is at the expense of someone else's misfortune and it might be that people who laugh at this stuff are consumed with a complex mixture of emotions which motivate them to express (relieve) themselves by laughing as an alternative to crying, being embarrased or getting angry.

For me, I think that humour directed at myself, seems like an acceptable way of helping people to laugh 'with me' at tragedy, at the same time as being 'educated' into the unfortunate circumstances of their fellow human beings.

Thank you all once again for sharing your thoughts and experiences in this way.

Best wishes

Bill   

I tend to be rather flippant in my terminology. I find a bit of humor helps me to cope. Heck, I'm also a Type 1 diabetic and I've been known to refer to an insulin dose as "shooting up", and my pen as a "warm gun". :)

Honestly, you can call it whatever you like.... I have always called it a bag when meeting someone new, and they know right away what I mean. At the end of the day, "it is what it is," and I call my stoma Ozzy.... For all of us who are on this Ostomy journey, we have to lighten up and be grateful that we are alive. Take care, everyone.

Sincerely,

Angela

Love your attitude, Angela! I am with you!

Have woman living with me! We are very intimate! Having fun at 67!

Thanks, Pickles....take care.

Your life, your choice. You can call it anything you like. In the end, it all comes down to the same thing. It's a bowel on the outside....called mine a bag for 30 years. That's my choice, no one else's.

I agree, it is just a word. A rose by any other name smells as sweet, lol.

Well, Intrepidgent, you may call your personal ostomy items by any name you wish. However, if I didn't have a sense of humor about these things, I would never have been able to make the adjustment. My stoma is called Stomy (and is male), I refer to one-piece appliances as 'onesies' and two-piece as 'twoonies' (you know, like the Canadian two-dollar coin). I agree with many of the opinions already expressed. One more thing, I have found that by airly saying 'oh yes, my cancer did result in my getting a baggie' puts people at ease. Regardless of how fastidious I am about my personal self-care, for those completely uninitiated, it makes things much easier to understand. Using a lot of specific medical language can (and is) an affectation and off-putting to those who don't understand. Not to be rude, but pull your finger out and relax. dls

I've always referred to it as "my appliance" or "my pouch" and that's my personal choice. To me, a bag is a bag which has the connotation of being a bag LOL. Out of respect, I wouldn't refer to another's appliance as a bag... just not me. And I'd likely be offended if anyone called mine a bag.

Coming from a military background, I got a big laugh out of this subject from the very beginning.

Could you please clarify why a military background should create a big laugh here from the very beginning?

, Knut

I was raised by a no-nonsense Navy SEAL who fought in Iwo Jima, was captured, tortured for 6 months, and finally freed.

His standards are old school, and I prefer them to today's world of political correctness, which only strengthens people's biases and adds to the current uneasiness that seems prevalent today. Less sensitive, more outgoing is better.

I didn't think twice when speaking about the plastic bag that adheres to my holy temple.

How do you feel about the bag that we all wear on this site? It reminds me of the money belt I wore when visiting Chiang Rai.

Namaste Donavon

Hello Namaste. Thank you for your reply to Knut's question as I was wondering the same thing. I am currently writing about humour and the reasons why we 'laugh or lament', so a different perspective is most useful.

Best wishes Bill 

Thank you for your reply. I think I understand. To me, this discussion is strange mainly because English is not my first language and we only have one word for the bag in my language. I see it for some is important to say pouch and for others it is okay with bag. Personally, I really do not think it matters at all what we call it if we are concerned by the stigma. I think that is just bias to focus on the one word and exclude the other. And I know some people without stoma smile a little bit about this.

In English, I prefer to call these things a dress because my stoma is named Janis. She has a dress. It is as simple as that and this word I also use when talking with others in the language I then may use. If we want to fight the stigma (which is the reason for the discussion about these two words), I believe it is better to have fun and show people that we have fun calling it different things. That is better than saying we do not like one word but only another.

People actually think that is a little bit nonsense.

Bag, sack, pouch....what difference does it make--- the pouch reminds me of tobacco pouches and I have no use for the word

I think what happens sometimes is that it's easier for people to understand. I remember when I had my ileostomy (reversed now for 6 years), people had no clue when I said ostomy or even pouch but when I said my little poop bag on my side EVERYONE understood. Hopefully now there is more awareness about it and people can understand more when you say "ostomy". This is just my opinion from my own experience of wearing an ostomy for a year.

Hi, with all my due respect to your opinion, I am not worried if my pouch is called a bag or a luggage.

I have a retracted stoma that leaks constantly. I had RC 5 months ago and still trying to find the right pouch AKA bag, appliance. That is what I must concentrate on.

I call mine a "bag". "Appliance" sounds like a refrigerator.

I say pouch too, don't like to say bag

Hmmm, having had a 'bag' for 50 years, it started off as a bag, and only when new more fashionable bags came along they were "poshed-up" to "pouches". I still wear my bag, but now trying out pouches...

Must admit, we're not bothered...

Let's see, it was an appliance then a bag to a pouch. But now I've come to calling it my Bling. Though it may not be gold or silver but it's still hanging from my body.

Just sayin'!

Some posts (and the responses they generate) on this site are absolutely hysterical. To me, this is one of them. I couldn't care less what anyone calls their shit bag. I always wear a clear bag and love showing it to curious onlookers. That grossed out look they get on their face when they realize what it is they're looking at is truly priceless! Reminds me of that once popular saying... don't sweat the small stuff. Lighten up, people.

Regards,

Bob

I am glad someone brought this up. I really don't mind what this thing is called. To me, it is not derogatory. I believe it is a bag. If I were a penguin or kangaroo, why yes, it would be a pouch. Something accessible for things to be put inside. The only thing going into this is my shit. I am respectful if you decide to name it John, Paul, or George. I don't care. I just think that naming it, you ought to be able to give more information on it. Like a social security number or favorite color. Where it likes to go on rainy days. But no, it doesn't bother me one bit. I have a bag. I use a bag. To me, it's that simple. I will never give it character.