Swimming

 I know other people have posted about swimming with an ileostomy but I can't remember what was said. I haven't gotton into a pool or a hot tub since my surgery because I feel like it would be like swimming with a diaper. What do you do about keeping the flange attached while in the water? I have an uneasy feeling that things could go wrong while I'm in the water.

I've gone swimming plenty of times without having any issues...I wear a two piece and tuck the pouch into the bottoms (I wear a skirted pair to conceal). I don't do anything special and my wafer has never come off. I do use the Sure Seals now, like summerstorm mentioned, and they keep the wafer dry but are breathable so your skin doesn't suffer. Any time I've done the hot tub thing it's only for a few minutes at a time...I'm paranoid the heat will melt the area right around the stoma...

I teach in the water and have never had a problem with leaking. I teach in the morning and I find
that works better because my out put is a lot less in the morning. I learned not to use the hot tub
because the heat did melt seal around the stoma. the other thing that is important is to dry your
bag with a hair dryer as soon as you can so you don't get an irratation from the moisture. I also
wear a pair of underwear under my swimsuit because I find they help keep my bag from flopping
around when I teach Aqua class.

I checked out whiterosecollection.com a company that sells bathing suits and underwear for
ostomies. There swim suits have a pocket pouch to put your bag in. I am going to order one and
try it out so I will let you know how it works. There company is located in the UK so it may take
awhile to get it. Cymed makes a one piece bag that is suppose to be great for water sports but
I didn't have any luck with it. Before I had my surgery my doctor had me talk to a surfer who has
an ostomy. I thought I would have to give up working in the water but Sandy the surfer proved it
can be done. I went body surfing six weeks after surgery just to see if the waves would knock my
bag off. The bag stayed on but I should have waited because the surf pounded my stoma and the
area around it was sore. Sandy is nuts! He does the big waves in halfmoon bay. we are talking
Mavricks! Big international surfing contest only called when the waves are hugh! They didn't have
it this year. He told me one time he was surfing big waves and he was having a flare. when he got
back to shore he was trying to hide behind some rocks and get the crap out of his wet suit and this
surfer dude came up and said I've heard the big waves can scare the crap out of you but this is the
first time I have really seen it happen! He had his surgery two months later.