Parastomal hernias

I thought this description was good (from http://www.utsurgery.com/spec_hernia_parastomal.php)

A hernia occurs when the inside layers of the abdominal muscle have weakened, resulting in a bulge or tear. In the same way that an inner tube pushes through a damaged tire, the inner lining of the abdomen pushes through the weakened area of the abdominal wall to form a small balloon-like sac. This can allow a loop of intestine or abdominal tissue to push into the sac. The hernia can cause severe pain and other potentially serious problems that could require emergency surgery.
A parastomal hernia is a special type of incisional hernia that occurs at the site of a stoma.

Basically a stoma is already kind of like a hernia, and if it weakens somehow -- the hole gets a little bigger etc, then a loop of intestine can stick out. That's what happened to me, and that intestine would cause obstructions and then later strangled my bowel so I needed emergency surgery.

I was told that you can't always avoid them, they just are a risk w/a stoma. But certainly lifting your grandson as you are, without extra support, would put you more at risk. You can get a hernia belt to help protect your stoma area when you are lifting him, if you want to keep doing that. At some point, he gets too heavy no matter what, so you could also decide that point is earlier than it might be otherwise. I had my neighbors help me w/the window air conditioners and I don't put a bag in the overhead bin anymore -- just not worth the risk (of course, lifting your grandson is more desirable than these other examples).