Where are the shelves in public restrooms?

Who in their right minds figured that the best design for a public restroom was to have no horizontal surfaces at all!!

Even in the hospital, there are no shelves at all. No place to lay out your supplies you're going to need. No place to lay your purse (no place to hang it, either). And especially, no place to set the full pouch while you clean up around the stoma and prepare to put everything in a nice little baggie to throw away - except on the edge of the sink (truly a disaster waiting to happen). As for putting down the lid over the seat - there aren't any any more! Just open seats.

It used to be bad when my kids were tiny babies and I was trying to nurse them in the bathroom (back then, you did not do so in public in the restaurant, even with a blanket covering everything). It's gotten progressively more horizontally challenged since then.

I do love baby changing tables, though.

Dana,

Yeah, public restrooms are not too ostomate friendly. It's surprising what you can come up with on the fly though. Perhaps there is a mobile changing kit out there for ostomates? If not, perhaps invent one? Just a thought.

Bain

Interestingly, I have just replied to a different post on the same subject. I like the idea of inventing a portable changing kit but feel quite strongly that it should not be necessary. Toilets designed for disabled people should definitely cater for people like us and other toilets should at least have shelves. The best toilets I have found that are suitable for our needs are the ones to be found in day centres catering for the elderly and disabled. Obviously, this group of people have the same sorts of problems as us on a regular basis, so they are well catered for. However, I suspect that even in these places, the 'catering' is not so much for the benefit of the clients - but for the staff, who have to do the clean up.

Best wishes

Bill

Agreed. The staff of public facilities is more worried about the mess than the individual. If someone cared about dignity and independence, a change would be implemented at least on some level. Take care.

People would be much better able to clean up after themselves if there were shelves, so if they want to pay somebody to clean up after you, whatever. They will wise up sooner or later. Hopefully.

Words of Encouragement from Ostomy Advocates I Hollister

Hey Dana,

Check out this link to Vegan Ostomy Blogger, he has a bag that holds everything he needs and then some. Maybe it will give you an idea. If you purchase from his site it helps him out too! The way he has it set up, it looks as though you can use it as a shelf and with some thought, maybe you can make some improvements about how to hang it up over the door of the stall.

https://www.veganostomy.ca/my-ostomy-travel-kit-march-2015/

Hi all,

This is going to sound like I'm an "old fogie", and I guess I am. I'm 68 and have had my ostomy since I'm 15.... Believe me, back then, there was nothing disposable....so flat surfaces weren't an issue. When I was 17, I spent some weekends at a camp and used the public stalls, no water, no surface, and sometimes, no light. I had to rinse out my pouch and reuse it.....Waiting for the "glue" to dry was a challenge. As supplies changed and became disposable, I didn't take advantage of that fact. I never change when I'm out. I just empty.....clean the spout, and off I go. I do have a friend who always carries a cup with her so she can take water into the stall, swish it around in the pouch before emptying. On most daily outings in the neighborhood, I don't even carry an emergency pack, although if I'm going out of town, I'll leave some supplies in the car. I do carry tape with me wherever I go, so if I have a leak, I can clean up and tape it up. It would never occur to me to change a pouch in a public stall and get rid of a full one. That's what the spouts are for......Just grew up at a different time.....Best regards, Marsha

Marsha. You are amazing. Thank you for fielding the first generation of our supplies, we're a little better now but not totally...

Just a product for us people with ostomies, that I came across on the web! It's called a Riksack and it's used while changing your ostomy pouch, which looks really cool! I haven't tried it but thought I'd share this info, hope this info helps make someone's life a little easier!! www.stomaworks.co.uk Grandma64

I bought the same kind of bag the guy from Vegan Ostomy has. It's very nicely made, and honestly not overly expensive. I take it with me every day to work, being that I'm gone from the house for roughly 12 hours. Short excursions I don't bother to take it with me. I've only needed it a couple of times, and those times were when I was still a newbie at this.

Hi everyone, just thought I would share my recent experience in an airport restroom. I was catching a plane and thought that I should empty before boarding. Well, each stall was pretty dirty and I did not want to sit to empty. Sitting is usually the way that I do things. Here it goes....I decided to stand. Things progressed slowly but I was completing the task. I learned to set up everything in the stall prior to emptying if I stand. I flushed the toilet several times to avoid a clog....well, my efforts were in vain because I clogged the toilet. What could I do....I finished up, left the restroom, and alerted a housekeeper that a toilet was clogged. So the adventure continues.... my husband and I check in to our hotel. Again, I use the bathroom to take care of my ostomy but the hotel is concerned with water conservation. The toilets use less water so there isn't a big swish when they flush. You guessed it.... I clogged the hotel room restroom too. I contacted the staff again for a plunger to unclog the toilet. What a learning experience for me (and my husband) ;Ahhh the joys of being away from home. Thanks for letting me share. Take care. Have a nice Wednesday. LH