Travel with a stoma

TRAVEL WITH A STOMA.



When you travel with a stoma

to Hongkong or Oklahoma.

If you make sure that you’re prepared.

there’s nothing that should make you scared.



Roving with stomas is not hard

so long as you have some safeguards.

Don’t pack your worries or your fear

then they will not interfere.



You’ll be allowed a carry-bag

which makes it much less of a drag.

Here is a nifty little ruse -

take thrice as much of things you use.



Your medical stuff will not count

as part of your allowed amount.

Plus customs cuts you lots of slack

with the type of stuff you pack.



Make sure you take a pocket card

which makes explaining not so hard.

On sites like these folk have researched

what you can do if body’s searched.



So if by a remote perchance

they would like a detailed glance.

Ask for a medic to be there

to treat your stoma with some care.



Scissors are another thing

that most people cannot bring.

But there are some that I have found

That have one end bulbous and round.



Such things are often overlooked

or not thought of once you have booked.

You might not get all things just right

yet you will still enjoy your flight.



B. Withers 2013











My acknowledgements to 'Ewesful'' for her forum post on this subject and to all those who, by responding to that post, provided me with the material needed to compose this rhyming verse.

Nice job as usual putting things in perspective. I have never traveled so far as to take a plane, but even so, it is good to be well prepared wherever you go.

Hello Mrs.A. Thank you for your comment. I'm not taking credit for the ideas as these came directly from comments read on this site on the same subject. I have however, just completed another two poems on 'border control' which are a bit more negative in their approach. This is because I am at present compiling a book on the cognitive-emotional side of having a stoma and a lot of this stuff is likely to reflect the negative feelings and thoughts that go with the package. I will of course try to balance this with some that take a positive view but I think that these will be in the minority. Best wishes Bill

Hi Bill, I enjoy reading your poems and posts, so thank you. The positive view may be the minority in space, but the quality should be the highest. After all, without our stoma, where would we be today... just saying. :)

Hello Mrs.A. Thanks for your support on my posts- it does help a lot to know that there is someone out there who is reading it and also sometimes enjoying it. I have often felt that rhyming verse seems to be at its best when it's inspired and filled with powerful emotions. Hence the negativity - which appears to have more of that emotional energy thab the positives in life. after all, if everything is sailing along in life without causing a problem then we call it 'contentment' or maybe even happiness, which in turn helps us to relax and our emotions are not so energetic and turbulent. Very often I try to capture the turbulence and venom within the bulk of the poem and save the last verse or so for a more counterbalancing, positive viewpoint. This way people may feel that I have captured how they are feeling when life is crap and yet point to that proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. (whenever I use this analogy the usual retort is that the light at the end of the tunnel often turns out to be a train coming in the other direstion!) Anyway, many thanks to you, I now have a concept for my next effort at rhyming verse entitled 'where would we be?' Best wishes Bill

Staying Hydrated with an Ostomy with LeeAnne Hayden | Hollister

Well Bill, I am not a writer but I do understand that most write when they feel they are inspired by something. It would be nice if everyone could be inspired every day. Just look around at the things you cherish most and I am sure they will inspire a warmth in your heart and maybe even a smile. Looking forward to your next verse.

Hello Mrs A. Thanks for the inspiration to write about 'where would we be' - that one is now completed and you have 'inspired' me further to write another on 'inspiration'. I will try to reproduce this below because I don't want to swamp the blogs section with my rhyming verse. Unfortunately the formatting doesn't work for these types of posts so it makes the verses much harder to read. Here goes:-------------INSPIRATION.-------------Inspiration is a notion---springing from some strong emotion.---Like a volcanic geyser spout---suddenly it springs right out.----------Emotions are the driving force---I've yet to figure out the source.---It can appear from anywhere---here and there and everywhere.-----------Inspiration may ignite---emotions that lay out of sight.---It's like emotions have just waited---but they must be stimulated.----------I've had inspiration come---from my stoma and my bum.---Maybe because it touched upon---a place from once a light had shone.----------Maybe a stoma just confirms---by opening up this can of worms---that we are always vulnerable---to anything that's horrible.---------- Stomas with their complications---give to us some revelations---at what we say and feel and think---that may well bring us to the brink.----------It's tough to have the irritation ---but that's the stuff of inspiration.---We need to feel emotions stir---for inspiration to occur.----------I have to say that up to date ---my stoma's made me contemplate.---I know it could be so much worse---than inspiring rhyming verse.----------- B. Withers 2013

Bravo Bill, it is another Withers masterpiece. Looking forward to a book or web page with all your wonderful poems one day....

Hello Mrs A. Thank you for your comments but my biggest thanks must be for the things that you (and others)say to stimulate and inspire me to writing the rhyming verses. Without that stimulation the verses would not be written.As for books, by 2014 I'm hoping to get books two and three on 'My Ostomy World' published. However,they usually do not go on general realease partly because I feel that the best way of reading rhyming verse is one at a time with some time lapse in between. If I had the computer skills I would consider a web page so that people could access them for free, but that skill has eluded me up to now.Best wishesBill

Hello Bill, Books two and three, wow, you surely have been inspired to have accumulated enough to fill so many pages. Though computer skills are wonderful to have, an actual paperback or hardcover book is a treasure to behold. If the world continues on this electronic technology trend, they might just become a thing of history. Scary thought! Looking forward to your next inspiration.

Hello Mrs A. Thanks for your comments. I'm only on books two and three because I was persuaded to enter into a competition and there is a limit on the number of verses allowed in each book. (it works out to be about 30) Normally I don't publish until I have between 50 -100 poems so in this case all three books only amount to the same as one normal sized book. after the competition I'll probably combine them all into one volume. I agree with you about 'proper' hardback books as compared to electronic reading. I have all my own copies in hardback and all looking the same so that they look impressive when lined up on the book shelf. I view them in the same way as I would any other 'work of art'---- to be appreciated as I pass by as well as occasionally when I look into them more closely. Fortunately, I have an old school friend who is a professional bookbinder who renovates and re-covers old books and manuscripts, so he does them to a very high quality and in precisely the way that I ask him to. Personally, I feel that if books do fall completely out of favour there will always be people like myself who will collect them for their value as manuscripts and things of physical attraction as well as for their literary content.Apart from that, there is only so much that can be versified about ostomies so after this trilogy I will probably revert back to my usual topics of people's reactions to emotional stresses in their lives. Best wishes Bill