Ostomy Topics

I have never had it, but I guess I was supposed to. I have had my colostomy for 3 years. I can get it reversed, but I am terrified of going back to the hospital. I now have hemorrhoids, I think, because I have feces stuck in my anal tract. I get a pressure every time I have to have a bowel movement in the bag. Has anyone ever heard of this?

The last 2 days I have tried putting the ring right up against my stoma. It lasted the night then at dinner it started to hurt pretty bad. I've tried flat wafers, convex flip because my belly is rounded at my stoma. I'm still struggling.

I know convex is for stomas more flush to the skin, would it hurt to try a regular convex wafer? I fixed the leaking issue on each side by keeping ...

So how much do you use? I put in a couple of squirts. Am I overdoing it? There's a little stink if I just burp the bag.

I switched from one seal manufacturer, Brava, to Eakin early this summer 2024. I recommended both in my profile, which I'm likely going to update.
I am joining the growing percentage of people on here who toss the Eakin to the trash due to skin irritation.
I thought the Eakin was perfect. Soft, moldable, leak preventive worth. Since starting using it, I noticed redness developing until this mo ...

Hi, I'm 33 years old and just here to meet other ostomates like myself. I'm recently new to all of this, having had surgery in October due to stage 1 colorectal cancer. I have a permanent colostomy. I kind of need all the positives I can get, all the encouragement. I've accepted it, but it's still a bit difficult.

I had my loop ileostomy surgery recently, and it went smoothly—pretty much painless, just a bit sore. I didn't need any pain medication. I was discharged yesterday evening since my output looked good and I felt comfortable managing the appliance. The food was terrible, so I didn't eat or drink much yesterday. This morning, I woke up feeling dehydrated, with some liquid output and a slight he ...

Hello, hope you are all okay?
I have had my ileostomy for a few years and it is relatively well-behaved during the day. However, I have noticed it makes quite a bit of noise at night as it releases gas, etc. First of all, does anyone else experience this and if so, what tips would you suggest to help with this?

Which one? Where to begin. On November 27th, I had an end colostomy. I was fitted with Hollister products with little to no training on how to put it on. My husband had to step in and learn through YouTube on how to fit me with the bag. Fast forward, after many leaks and blow-outs later, we are trying to figure out which one would be beneficial to me. Has anyone had Hollister and switched to C ...

I had my ileostomy about six months ago, and as the weather and seasons change, I keep learning. With the season of merriment upon us, I'm really trying to attend different events, see old friends, and catch up on the Christmas season I didn't have last year because I was so sick. Recently, I was at a very fancy cocktail party in a private club in a historic (read old) townhouse in New York Ci ...

So 13 years ago I had my bladder removed along with my prostate and 16 lymph nodes. A urostoma was installed. I was very lucky and for some reason I healed very quickly and was back to work in 3 weeks. Twice I had a nurse show me how to change my bag and I was discharged from the hospital in a week and never saw another nurse.
But I then noticed I never got an erection of any kind. As it turns ...

I had my first colonoscopy Friday after my colostomy surgery a year ago. My GI doctor was very pleased at how everything has healed and how healthy my colon looked. He asked if I had thought about a reversal. When I told him I was not aware I was a candidate he was confused. I have enough colon remaining and everything looks so healthy after having the deceased portion removed. To be hon ...

Having my colostomy reversal early next year. What should I expect? Is the surgery as intense as my first to get a colostomy? Will recovery be similar to my initial surgery? I know I'll have a procedure done beforehand to run a scope down my stoma to see the healing. Is that rough as well?
Sorry for the onslaught of questions, but I figured where better to ask.

Hi can anyone advise I had bowel resection 2023 and ileostomy which went really well

I had reversal this year which was a lot harder than having the ileostomy

but now been 10 mths still have incontinence issues and day were I can go up to 10/12 times a day depending on on what I eat but I’m still getting pain in my belly as they removed my rectum and created a new one by bringin ...

Hi everyone, I have something strange (I think) coming out of my stoma. They look like macaroni, but I haven't eaten any recently. I mentioned it to my ostomy nurse and my doctor, but neither gave me an answer. Has anyone run into this kind of thing? It is so good to have somewhere to go with my many questions. Thank you all.

DOUSE.

When we tend to douse something
it’s water that we ought to bring
to either throw over it, or
plunge it in water galore.

Dousing is a great technique
for cleaning things that are unique
as it’s less likely to damage stuff
because the method is not rough.

I douse my stoma once a day
with a small cup, which has a way
of cleaning it and its surround,
which is quite handy, I have ...