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help with clothing after ileostomy

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Posted 7/30/2009 9:51 PM (GMT 0)
My husband had surgery last Nov, lots of complitcation still recovering. But thinking ahead to when he is feeling great and taking more of an interest in clothing like he used to what are some tips, do and donts for men' pants and jeans. His stoma is at belt line, how do you deal with that. He is a tall slim man and right now he is using suspenders because his belly is still sensitive from the incision and he doesnt think you should put any pressure on the stoma or bag, is this correct?

How do you wear jeans etc? thanks
Posted 7/31/2009 1:57 AM (GMT 0)
well im a woman, but i just wear the same clothes. I think most of the men on here do also. Most of them just leave their shirts untucked. Which, unless you are wearing a dress shirt thats the style anyway.
He doesnt have to wear loose clothes to keep pressure off. I wear pantyhose and i have even worn like a girdle type thing. I have worn tight jeans. You just have to remember to empty more often. He wont hurt the stoma or the bag by wearing tight clothes though. It was a while before i did that, because of pain from the incision, probably 2 months at least before i wore jeans.
I tape the top of my bag to my stomach so that it doesnt flop over the top of my pants and then i tuck the tail up under my underwear.
I dont know what kind of underwear he wears, but if he were to wear the boxer briefs they would keep the bag next to him and not flopping around. Does that make sense?

anyway, im sure one of the guys will come by and help
Posted 8/1/2009 9:11 PM (GMT 0)
Roliie,

Just wanted to say that it took me like 3-4 months after surgery to finally feel comfortable in my normal clothes (like jeans).

For the first few months, it felt really uncomfortable to wear anything remotely tight, so I just wore sweatpants. I began to worry that "normal" clothes would never be comfortable again. BUT, they are! It just took time. Your husband might take awhile to feel comfortable in regular clothes again also.

Tell him he should not worry about putting some pressure on the stoma, it is not going to hurt it. I wear pants that fit pretty snug, and it is no problem.
Posted 8/2/2009 2:20 AM (GMT 0)
I ditto what littleE said.
It took me also about 4 months post surgery to be able to wear regular pants again. My abdomen was very sore. I thought, this is just the way it will be, But
I finally can wear my regular clothes again. I wear my normal jeans (most ostomies are located right on the belt line- I don't know WHY they do that....). I can wear panty hose and tight clothing too. I even can sleep on my stomach.

just tell him to be patient. He'll have to give his abdomen some time to heal, then all will be normal again (you know, mostly)
Posted 8/7/2009 3:03 PM (GMT 0)
I was happy to read this post because I was thinking I'd never be able to wear my jeans until after my takedown surgery! My abdomen is still sesative so I live in pajama pants, or a pair of loose cargo pants when I go out. My jeans and shorts hit right where my stoma is, so I was afraid of damaging things.

However, my other worry is, if my belt slips below the stoma, will the output still find its way beyond the belt-line or will it get backed-up above the belt-line?

(I hope I'm not highjacking your thread. I just thought it was along the same lines so I would just continue the conversation here.)
Posted 8/7/2009 3:11 PM (GMT 0)
the belt wont matter, just kind of push donw on it.
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