Why change the wafer and bag inside when the sun is out all day? I change my wafer in the front yard and sit there getting some sun all day. Don't worry about showing your stoma in public; I do it all the time. I go to the beach and walk down sidewalks without a shirt and love the way people either look away or ask what it is. Have fun with your stoma.
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OOOOHHH MYYYYY!?!?!@ bikerboy I could never do that.
kbd - I have thought about that long and hard. I have been looking into different wafers and using a paste to seal it. I have found a few, none tried yet. My wife is pushing me to try them. One is Bladder pouch by Torbot Group. I have been watching videos of a person who backpacks for days and changes her wafer. I have been studying the habits and systems. Sorry, I'm very obsessive when it comes to my ostomy.
Don't be like me - just get out and live like bikerboy!
If you would like to read this, then
http://www.livingbiggerwithcolostomy.com/2012/06/1938-mabels-ostomy.html
Funny you should bring this topic up. I had my surgery nearly 50 years ago, and I often reflect on how different supplies were "back in those olden days". The flange was reusable, and first rubber and then plastic. They were adhered to the skin using a glue that had to dry, or it would cause burns. The bags were made of rubber, and later vinyl, and were reusable...and would smell. We only had one bathroom, and we were four people, but I took up a lot of time in there when I had to change...which was quite often. I was only 15...
It takes time and self-confidence... but loosening up and "going with the flow"
makes day-to-day life so much more enjoyable.
I don't always know how things will turn out, but I won't miss an adventure out of fear.
I've been white water rafting, sailing, snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef, swimming in the Dead Sea (that was a disaster... bag popped off and I had a mess in the dressing room) but enjoyed and survived it all.
Pregnancy was the biggest challenge. Not that you guys have to worry about that. I couldn't see my ostomy during the last few months and had to change by looking in a mirror.
I've had 49 years with it and only 15 before... Life "with it" has been a blessing.
Marhsa
Very nice, ~jo~. Actually, before I had my ileostomy, I had never heard of Crohn's, never heard of an ostomy, never heard of colon cancer. I was ignorant of many things. It just shows how some medical problems are not talked about and are hidden in the closet. When I lived at home, I had to use an outhouse, or loo as some say, so I say to ~jo~, if that's where you take a crap, that's where you do your business.
Loved the video clip, Jo...
This is also for others... I got sick at 12 and had surgery at 15. That was the blessing that got me back to real life. I wanted to "catch up" with all that my friends had been doing, so I went to camp for a few weeks without knowing how I was going to cope. In the group showers, I wore elastic undies and told everyone I had a hernia. That's when I learned how to get dressed from the top down... a shirt long enough to take off the wet undies and change. Changing I did at night, after lights out... 'nough said about that. I was more afraid of the skunks and bees than I was of being discovered by a human.
That same summer, I had gone to the public beaches and faced the reality of toilets without doors. That's when I discovered emptying while standing up and facing the bowl. Necessity breeds ingenuity... or one can stay home, and I'd had enough of that. I think it's more difficult when one is older. I was lucky to have parents who pretty much let me decide for myself what I wanted to do. And sadly, with both my kids having IBD, I've had to do the same.
