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A quick dash across the desert, and Vegas rises like a welcoming mirage on a hot, shimmering day. Have Ostomy, will travel.

At the Venetian after watching the craziest inning in baseball ever. Yankees give up 5 runs on a series of errors rarely witnessed in the World Series.

Tonite it's Foreigner in concert. Mrs B is a huge fan. I'm along for the ride. We saw them on our last 80's ...

I have been just informed that Medicare has reduced the allotment of ostomy deodorant to one 8 0z bottle of ostomy lubricant/ deodorant per month. I have been using Hollister M9 with good results but 8 oz/month will not suffice. On line a bottle sells for ~$27.00.

I am looking to make a substitute deodorant. Has anybody had experience using mouthwash and dilute hydrogen peroxide (an effectiv ...

Hi! I recently had an ostemy, like a month ago. I'm adjusting pretty well for the most part....OK I break down crying at least twice a day in private. This was somewhat unexpected. I'll get in to my fun story later.

For now I have a serious question. Since my surgery I've had several instances of wetting my bed at night. I'm curious if this could be related to my ostemy?

Thanks!!

Angelia

I DON’T HAVE TIME to count the three-day weekends on the calendar. Not that I’m complaining, it’s just that, as a retiree, I’m indifferent. But I’m still happy for people who look forward to these extended breaks in their week of work. These are significant time outs from a sometime hectic schedule. As the great George Carlin once pointed out, even God benefits from this calendar ...

Homo sapiens are not the only ones consuming alcohol. Evidence shows that alcohol occurs in nearly every ecosystem on earth. Animals that feast on sugary fruits and nectar regularly imbibe the intoxicating substance. Ethanol is quite abundant in the natural world. Wild chimpanzees in Guines were caught on camera bingeing on the alcoholic sap of raffia palms. Tales of inebriated animals abound, ...

DONE.

When I explore the theme of ‘done’
it’s not the same for everyone
for, very often, what I find
there’re different things in people’s minds.

Some people think of tasks completed,
others think of when they’re cheated,
whilst some may think of the ‘done thing’
or what their life’s ending might bring.

When something is ‘done with’, we might
get rid of it, or out o ...

I’m always running out of paste. Can we make it? What is the best answer? I hate this!

Yes, that is duct tape and this is the pretty

version.

My name is Fabian. For years I was ruled by a couple of hernias that I was afraid to have operated because surgery scares me. Finally, I took care of the hernias in an outpatient procedure scheduled about two hours…
When I woke up it was a month and half later and my wife and baby, my mom, my siblings from all over were there, telling me I was miracle and how many times they lost me. World s ...

Four months ago, after thinking I had food poisoning, proceeded to get on a cruise ship to celebrate my 50th wedding anniversary. I had. an absess due to diriticulitois, resulting in emergency surgery and woke up with a large, deep wound in my stomach and stoma. i’m told it can be reversed but still in somewhat of a shock. My stoma’s name is ET and so far we are friends. I have my mom ...

HOW CAN YOU NOT FALL IN LOVE with this cow. There she is, staring at you with those trusting eyes. She is a beautiful specimen of a species that doesn’t get the respect it deserves. People often drive past cows in the field without even realizing what special creatures they are. They get less respect than Rodney Dangerfield. Even celebrities, who ought to know better, make fun of them ...

DON(s).

I used to think I could expect
to give the dons their due respect
because of places where they ought
to be the best at what they taught.

My first experience with one
was when my research, not yet done,
was supervised by a don and so
I knew which way I had to go.

This don had a good pedigree
and was fine and kind to me,
guiding me through what to do
so my findings would be true.
...

I'm a 62 year old single gay guy and had a total proctocolectomy in July 2024. I'm having issues dealing with this as being gay is who I am and I feel a loss of a big part of my identity. I'm struggling as I've felt very much alone and trying to find support from other gay guys in similar situations and how they have handled the same thing I am currently. How and where to meet new people for ...

Had a total Colectomy with IRA on July 15, 2024. Originally had planned to have a loop Ileostomy but the surgeon (during the operation) saw no reason to not reconnect my ileum to my rectum. To this day I have been in worse pain than before I sought treatment and the doctor believes the pain is unrelated to the surgery -perhaps imagined? I have terrible pressure, cramping and defecate with the ...

I have had my ileostomy since around 2007 and have managed it well over the years. However, this is not a perfect world and I still have those dreaded middle of the nights blow-outs which frequently result in 3 am showers! I set my alarm to go off every 2 1/2 hours or so to avoid them but . . .

In December I am scheduled to get my right hip replacement surgery and I'm really concerned abo ...

I desperately need a good support belt that can be customized for a double ostomy.

My urostomy is badly recessed and requires extra support. (Due to other health issues I won't be a candidate for revision surgery for some time)

I have a hernia under my colostomy that has lead to multiple leaks caused by bulging. The hernia doesn't require surgery yet and I'd like to keep it that way.

My ...

IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME since I had a piece of pie. I’m at a loss to understand how this unforgivable hiatus in my diet should have occurred. In recent weeks, there have been occasions when I found myself in a grocery market with a bakery, but somehow my hands never latched onto a pie. I picked up cookies, doughnuts, and various other wonderful bad things for me, but somehow neglected to fi ...

Hello everyone,
I am wondering what products are used and how others with a retracted stoma cope with their stoma, and any handy hints and tips would be helpful.
Background:
I had a gallbladder op that went awry. The surgeon perforated my bowel, didn't notice, and I left the hospital. I was in the hospital for ten days, was discharged, only to return a week later to ED with sepsis. Due to the ...

Hi Folks, I recently attended a health and wellness event, where they were offering a 'body composition assessment', which is basically a high tech machine that you stand on and hold a couple of paddles with your hands. It uses 'bioelectrical impedance analysis'. It measures several things, muscle to fat ratio, total body dry lean mass, body fat mass, obesity analysis, segmental lean analy ...

Hello all,
To start with, I am a scientist who works in innovation for a medical device company that sells ostomy products. Since Hollister supports this forum, I'll disclose that I work for them. I have been racking my brain on what approaches, technologies, services, and breakthrough products could help people living with ostomates live the life they want to live, however that is defined.
Th ...

My dog is going thru some health issues..he is diabetic and blind..the vet is still trying the right amount of insulin to give him ..in the meantime he is having lots of pee accidents around the house so I have put a male diaper on him. He pulls it off..anyone with experience on how to keep their dog from pulling off diapers?

Alright so I'm not an ostomy patient just a very concerned husband. My wife just had the surgery, emergent surgery, 3 weeks ago. Nothing we were really prepared for. She spent a month in the hospital before someone competent figured this out. Then a month recovery, 3 blood infusions, and a drainage from an abscess.

Anyways, she's lost between 30 and 40 lbs. And has no appetite. The smell of ...

MY DAUGHTER IS ABOUT TO PAY for her sins. My granddaughter is turning thirteen and entering that zone of existence known in the vernacular as being a teenager. When my two daughters hit puberty, I considered drugging myself into a zombie state. “You can wake me up when it’s over,” I told my wife. Notwithstanding that we had raised them well, I lived in constant fear that they might g ...

DOMINO EFFECT.

The domino effect is such
that if one falls by just a touch,
all of the others in the row
will fall in sequence, that we know.

There have been some great displays
of dominoes falling many ways
to the delight of spectators
and many would-be imitators.

The patience needed for this task
is maybe far too much to ask
of most of those who witness it
and yet, by watching, do thei ...

Hey there everyone. First and foremost I'd like to be honest and admit this is just a shot in the dark and a last resort.

I'm a very new osteomate with a terribly recessed end Ileostomy. I received it unexpectedly from an emergency surgery when I went septic due to a botched total colectomy and waking up to it left me broken.

I always said I'd rather be dead than have one - and here I am. ...

Hi, I have a question. I had surgery 6 weeks ago and there was a complication, and I needed to have an ileostomy. I will be getting a reversal once I am healed. My question is: my abdomen gets tender; is this normal? I don't have a blockage; the tenderness comes and goes. Has anyone experienced this?

Hi, I’m a 67yo male with history of diverticulitis and sepsis surg x’s 3 ending with a non reversible colostomy followed by leukemia & Myeloma and stem cell transplant all in one year, 2020. Currently I have a parastomal hernia and fairly large @ 8 cm prolapse. Looking for information or shared experience from anyone who’s had a hernia or prolapse repair?

Hi All,

It’s been six weeks since I had a colostomy w a permanent bag. I had to go back into the hospital a week later with 104 fever, elevated heart rate, and blood clots around my liver. They never did figure out specifically what was wrong, I responded well to antibiotics so they assumed a bacterial infection which cleared up. I have since then recovered from all that. I was told b ...