Sleeping Position with Ostomy after Eye Surgery?

Tomorrow a.m. I am scheduled for a surgery to reattach my retina and...well, I should know the name but a mild macular detachment. The dr. scheduled it Friday right at closing for Monday at opening due to it being an emergency surgery, so I did not get to ask questions.

So...asking "Doctor Google" says I must lay face/stomach down for sleep. Ummm....how to do that with an ostomy? Other googling said lay on your side opposite your eye surgery which is....my stoma side. When I lay on that side, I get blowouts or whatever you want to call it. And so stomach sleeping seems to cause the same, I bet. Maybe there are little like....stoma and ostomy bag cradles? Although I don't know how to find that with surgery so soon and I doubt I will be fond of shopping after surgery, head stuck down, and a drive of 2 hours (not counting traffic) ....anyway...

Also, if anyone has ever had this surgery even before their stoma, I would love some feedback. That eye had a vision of 20/1000 (yes, that blind) before it detached. Now it's...nothing...literally. It is 100% black. So will I even get my awful vision back?

I haven't had surgery, but I would think maybe some long body pillows above and below your stoma might help keep you from actually lying on your stoma when you are on your stomach? There are those butt pillows, the kind that have the center taken out so you basically have just a ring, but I would fear I would roll off of it and then end up on the stoma.

As far as your vision, I sure will keep you in prayer that you do get it back. Best wishes with it all!

Thanks for your prayers (trust me, they mean a lot) and easy advice to cradle my stoma.

Hello Gemd.  No advice on sleeping arrangements I'm afraid as I have a special bed for my purposes. I just thought I would wish you the best for your operation, which hopefully will be successful.

Bill

Be sure to empty your bladder right before your surgery. Let the doctor know, and I am sure they will be able to find a suitable solution. Good luck to you!

Getting Support in the Ostomy Community with LeeAnne Hayden | Hollister

Did all go well with your eye surgery? We all want to know. Did you ask your doc about your sleep positions? How are you feeling and did all go according to plan? I had YAG surgery on both eyes (weeks apart, of course), in 2018, after my cancer and resulting stoma creation in 2017. Besides using drops, I found that sleeping on my side or flat back worked the best for me--no leakage and no eye pain. For me, sleeping face down was not an option for a week after each eye surgery.

I sleep face down into a donut-shaped pillow propped up for airflow....and a pillow on my upper torso and waist so the ostomy bag kinda is able to rest in a little nest of sorts. I emptied my bag before surgery and since I couldn't eat or drink before surgery, it stayed rather empty. I didn't have an appetite, so I only had soup for dinner. Three days later, I got my first chemo infusion. My husband had to drive me and walk me around as I could only stare at my feet. Either the chemo, then the head-down position from eye surgery, or both gave me a migraine, but I didn't realize it because I was so tired and disoriented. Finally, three days later, I took some meds for the migraine. I am 10 days post-op and still head down 24/7, which makes my equilibrium weird, so I am constantly dizzy and fighting nausea. I also had two ostomy bag leaks during this time. :( I am hoping to be face up soon so I can join the world again, as face down I just feel miserable.

The good news is that my eye is indeed healing as it should. But I keep it closed because looking through a blurry wiggly gas bubble makes me want to vomit.

Glad to hear your eye is healing.