Shaz032

I'm not sure if you saw my question to you in one of my previous posts or if it got buried, so thought I'd post a separate thread .....

As someone who has had a stoma for so long, I am wondering if you experienced any problems during that period? How did you avoid some of the common complications like blockages and hernia? Perhaps good luck but perhaps good management too?

Apart from the occasional sore skin due to leaks (which are mostly my fault - ie I'm lazy and haven't changed when I know I should have), nothing much at all. There was one time a few years back when I had bronchitis and was coughing a lot and I think I pulled a stomach muscle causing my stoma to double in size but I just cut the wafer hole quite a bit bigger to accommodate it and it went back to it's normal size within a few days.

I haven't had to see a doctor or stoma nurse regarding it since a year after my surgery.

The best advice I was given was CHEW, CHEW, CHEW! In those days, there was no dietary advice except to eat bland food for 6 - 8 weeks until you healed then slowly introduce new foods to your diet. I was never given a list of 'no-no' foods for which I'm eternally greatful as it meant I wasn't scared to try new foods.

I tend not to spend a lot of time worrying about my stoma, I just go and do/eat/drink whatever I want to and my stoma just comes along for the ride :)

So do you eat literally anything, e.g. mushrooms, sweetcorn?

And do you really chew, chew, chew? I hate chewing my food to death - I'm more of a chomp twice and gulp kind of eater :/ I largely got away with it when I had an ileostomy, but I did have a few mild partial obstruction issues.

I eat everything too. That is the exact advice my surgeon gave me...CHEW, CHEW, CHEW! He also told me to always have a water bottle handy. That advice fell on deaf ears though and I had to be hospitalized four times for dehydration. I just forget to drink the water. The last few years I've been better though.

"When it comes to leaks, how do they manifest themselves? For instance, is a trickle down your thigh the first sign or the smell? Do they manifest as embarrassing wet spots on your clothes?"

Usually, my leaks happen whilst I'm asleep in bed because I've been too lazy to change my bag before going bed thinking it will last just 'one more night' and then I'm proven wrong :P You think I'd learn after all these years lol

Other leaks are few and far between but usually my first sign is the smell and/or a tickle under my wafer as the poo seeks an escape route. My bag tucks neatly into my underwear (I wear my bag at an angle pointed towards my inner thigh so it all fits neatly into 'granny pants' - I hate it hanging loose or down the side of my leg) so if I do get wet spots it's usually just on my underwear and doesn't have time to reach my outer clothes by the time I discover it.

I do eat everything and anything and yes I do CHEW, CHEW, CHEW. I've been doing it for nearly 40 years now so it's second nature to me.

"What is the difference with the watery stools with a permanent ileostomy? Isn't everything moving just as fast as with UC, meaning weight loss and lack of nutrients?"

Your large intestine absorbs mainly salts and water, it's the small intestine that absorbs the vast majority of the nutrients so you're still absorbing them either with UC or an ileostomy., With UC however, simply put, your body is very busy fighting the disease and uses up all the nutrients faster in helping to fight it, which can result in the weight loss. With an ileostomy, it no longer has to fight it so those nutrients are put to much better use, ie strengthening (and fattening) your body. Most ileostomates tend to gain weight (some of us more than others!) after we have healed and started eating better.