illeostomy bag leaked!...

So its about 3am and I wake up to find my pouch is full. Like FULL, to the point where nothing else could fit in there. So I get up like normal to go and empty it and hear a distinct pffffft and as I sit down to empty I look down and the bag has came away and there is crap all down my front and on my shirt. Had to call for my fiancee to help I honestly have never been more embarrassed. I got home from my surgery just over a week ago and this is the first leak ive had though from what I hear other ostomies saying this is not an uncommon thing. Basically I would just like to know if this has happened to anyone else and what they have done to prevent it. I thought about setting an alarm in the middle of the night to get up and empty but ide rather not have to do that ideally. If anyone can offer any advice it would be greatly appreciated. My email address is [email protected]. I just thank god it didn't leak in bed!..

Try a larger or different type of bag and put a waterproof sheet on the bed. I'm not sure if your ileostomy is temporary or permanent, but this sort of thing is not that uncommon for the first few months after surgery. It's partly because of the bowels not having settled into their new function yet (thus leading to more gas/output) and partly because of not having found the optimal setup. I used to wake up every morning with my bag resembling a zeppelin, although the only time I had a major disaster in bed was in the middle of the night. Took about an hour to strip the sheets, rinse them down etc.

It does get better. It takes up to a year for the bowels to adjust, but once they do you should be able to go through the night without needing to get up to empty the bag. As for the pouching setup, not at all bags are created equal. A convex wafer should be used if your stoma is too short (a more common problem with temporary loop ileostomies). Otherwise it's largely a matter of experimenting with different brands of bags and accessories. I use a 1-piece Coloplast Sensura, change it every 2-3 days, and virtually never have leaks any more. The Coloplast bags aren't perfect, but they stick extremely well and that's by far and away by most important criteria, to be honest. I use them in conjunction with Eakin seals.

Good luck.