shower, bag change, yay!

I took everything off this AM, had a nice hot shower, put on a new wafer & bag.... I feel like a new person! Things look really good too- no skin breakdown, irritation, etc. I think that's the way I'm going to do changes from now on- shower, clean up, then do my business. I got 5 days wear time out of the last wafer, & hope to get 4-5 days between changes. I'm happy!

congratulations eva
see how it all just becomes so easy and quick.
I know that thought of the unknown is overwhelming... but once you are through it.. you see how little extra time this ostomy stuff takes.
congrats again eva.
now go out and do some crazy thing today.. that people think people with ostomies can't do... like swimming!

Rabbit, do you still have an end ileo now or are you now with a loop ileo? Anyway, aith my end ileo, assuming I didnt pig out on a late night desert or snack, then after I empty in the morning, there is no output until early afternoon usually. So a shower before breakfast for me will usually be completely outputless. That said, I occasionally have changed when it is active and no problems-- in the shower I just let it all go down the drain. Then, I have about a dozen (or just one ir two, depending on how active) paper towels ready and i just crumple them up into a wad onto the stoma and swap them out every minute or every few minutes depending on how active. (even with an active stoma my wafer change usually only takes about one minute though). Typically, if my stoma is active i may go through about 4 or 5 paper towels this way while I dab and dry the skin around the stoma, attach the wafer, etc. Finally I will remove the wad and snap on the pouch onto the flange swiftly, and i have never had issues. Of course, if you eat something that is generating high outout, wg sugary foods for a while, it may take a few more paper towels but i never end up with a mess. Heidi aka Blueheron, who has her Ostomy outdoors forum, has some technique whereby she rolls up a paper towel into a "hat" to secure the stoma while she does the wafer stuff, but I have never been able to figure that technique out and I di fine with a few crumpled paper towel wads balled onto my stoma. That's assuming my stima is active when I change, which as i say it usually is not.

yup, even though it's early days for me with an ostomy, my output is next to nothing after I mepty in the AM. SO I had coffee & half a banana today, then just took it all of & hopped in the shower. I was a little concerned that it would start spitting while I dired off, but nope. And I was pretty quick- dried my abdomen first, blow-dryed it on low for a few mintues, then sprayed some barrier spray & slapped on the new wafer. Not one bit of output. I did have some washcloths handy, becasue in the hospital, during the first change, it did output. I'm using those stretch-to-fit wafers, no cutting necessary. I LOVE them. I figure if it spits in the shower, no big deal- just clean the shower when I'm done. And as long as I stay off the bathmat, same deal on the bathroom floor. The WOCN nurse I've been working with is awesome- she said "It will spit out on the floor, in the sink, etc- it's just poop, it's not going to hurt anything." She suggested edging right up to the bathroom sink, sort of hang the stoma over it, but our vanity top is too wide to do that. ddd, I'd love to go out & do something wacky, but jeeez- I am still TIRED! And still taking pain meds a few times a day... My wackiness has to wait! I am relieved that so far, one doesn't really need too much in terms of supplies- that was a concern of mine, all the lotions & potions... now I think back & laugh!

There are people who put their undies on and then tuck a plastic bag in the band so that if the stoma decides to work it drops in the bag.

I have had some showers where Lily is spitting out all over the place, I didn't even get out of the shower until it stopped. Once I got out and did my change I bleached the shower. No big deal.

Eva Lou, I'm so happy for you!!! And good to be aware of the stoma caps!


Soystud, I love the idea of a shower cap for the stoma! I have the funniest picture in my head right now!

Stoma caps are NOT safe for ileostomies. Sorry. Colostomies only.

I did the garbage bag tucked into the waistband thing and I highly recommend it! I have really long hair so post-shower changes did not work for me (my hair would be dripping all over the place) and was usually wearing pants or shorts by the time I did my change