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Ostomies
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Posted 4/27/2010 1:53 PM (GMT 0)
So I've had my ileostomy about four weeks now and I'm still at a loss as to what to wear. I have some long tops that hide the bag pretty well but I only have one or two pairs of pants that will work. I feel like I'm dressing pretty frumpy these days wearing long t-shirts and athletic pants. All of my pants that button up bother my stoma. And it seems like all of the elastic pants I've seen in stores are so matronly looking. Has anyone found any cute ones? Thanks. 
Posted 4/27/2010 3:00 PM (GMT 0)
your stomach is still swollen and tender so stuff is going to be uncomfortable right now.
It took me about 6 weeks before i could wear jeans (well jean shorts it was summer) comfortable.
And i wear the kinds i wore before, i like the stamp 10 brand, which sadly is out of business but you may be able to find some on ebay.
And the apt 9 brand from kohls. But others work fine too.
Just tape the top of the bag to your stomach then it wont balloon over!
Posted 4/27/2010 3:07 PM (GMT 0)
I wore the Lee Riders jeans. They are not real expensive - got them at Wal Mart and very comfortable. Best wishes to you.
Posted 4/27/2010 3:22 PM (GMT 0)
I wore dresses as much as possible. loose, jersey knits are the best- and you can dress them up or go casual. And either way they are comfortable!
Posted 4/27/2010 8:03 PM (GMT 0)
I don't have a stoma, but I like to wear yoga pants (they come in different colors). If you feel like you need to dress up more - try a skirt with a little elastic around the waist. As for regular pants/shorts, maybe try on some that are a larger size. I've seen a "wrap" that goes around your waist to kind of keep it intact. Maybe that will help you feel like it isn't sticking out so much.

Summer is almost here - summer dresses!

Good luck!
Posted 4/27/2010 10:20 PM (GMT 0)
I ditto summerstorm's comment about being swollen/tender...it does get better!

As far as what to wear...you should be able to wear anything you want!!!! I wear jeans, dress pants, shorts, capris, skirts and yoga pants without issues. I find that the tighter fitting the clothes ~ the better I feel:) I think the trick is to keep your output on the thicker side (you can use Imodium or the gel-tabs in your ostomy pouch).

I always suggest going to a large department store and trying on every style and type of pants in different sizes...you'll find one or two that you prefer and can go from there! I have found that the Dockers, Levi's and Lee's that you can buy at Kohl's are comfortable and have a small amount of spandex that hold things in place!

And always remember that ~ just because you have an ostomy ~ you don't have to lose STYLE!!
Posted 4/28/2010 2:59 PM (GMT 0)
So how long does the swollen belly last? I noticed mine has got larger since surgery but I just assumed it was because I've been eating quite a bit more. As far as clothes go, I do love knits so I need to look for some knit pants. My stoma sticks out a good inch and a half and maybe more so I feel like it's hard to hide.

Posted 4/28/2010 4:48 PM (GMT 0)
Can you post a photograph of yourself?

We can play "What Not to Wear" :)

Point to your stoma if you're wearing a shirt.  (make sure the shirt isn't too frumpy)

Posted 4/28/2010 6:22 PM (GMT 0)
JCPenney makes a jean legging that is really nice- they look like skinny jeans when you wear an overtop and have a high stretch waist to cover the stoma and pouch- I shove the waist down when I am home.
Posted 4/29/2010 3:54 AM (GMT 0)
It will take 6-8 weeks before the swelling goes down. My tummy is acutally smaller now, but I seem to be ballooning everywhere else! LOL. We should put together a blog of "where's the ostomy?" pictures. I think everyone will be totally surprised!!!!!!!

I've been wearing just about every jean American Eagle makes. They fit really well.

-Allie

Posted 4/29/2010 1:32 PM (GMT 0)
if you go to
photobucket.com
and sign in as
crohnsdisease
pw is
6mp3asa

there are some pictures of people on there, i actually havea picture up called, can you tell? and its two pics side by side, one where i have a bag, and the other before hand. the reason its only of that area and not the rest of the pic is because my son is in it and it would be easy to tell by his age, lol.

But yall can see what others of us are wearing, or post your own pictures there.
Posted 4/30/2010 12:40 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks everyone for the suggestions!

Posted 5/1/2010 11:34 AM (GMT 0)
What works well for me is to wear a tank top tucked into whatever bottoms I'm wearing (jeans, capris, skirts, etc) and then wear another top over it. The tank top keeps the top of the pouch flat against my skin, so it doesn't show. If I don't wear another top over the tank, darker colors, like black and brown, are better at hiding the top of the pouch than lighter colors, like white or pink.

I tend to empty every time I pee, which keeps the pouch from getting full. Plus, I've noticed that people look at my face, not my stomach, so nobody's looking there anyway! :-)
Posted 5/2/2010 3:39 AM (GMT 0)

Hi there! 

I agree, your stoma and belly will remain swollen for awhile...I'd actually give it another month or so, and even then you may find your tummy is still sensative with where your pants and all fit. 

I do a few things to help keep conceal my accessory all the while looking fairly fashionable.  I first wear the tight, stretchy camisoles.  I get mine at Wal-Mart, but I know they're sold just about everywhere.  I wear both the ones with lace on the top and the ones with the bra added in.  I keep them tucked down and in my pants just to smooth my tummy and accessory. 

I also wear the control top panties.  However, I would highly recommend you get them at least 2-3 sizes bigger than what you would need for "smoothing" because you need to maintain room for you accessory to fill.  I actually purchase 2-3X control top panties and sometimes they're a little tight for Penelope (my stoma). 

Then I also wear jeans and pants that normally are higher waisted b/c the lower ones tend to put too much pressure under Penelope and my bags either bust at the seam (as I wear a 1-piece) or they just pull right off...and I am not fan of surprise leakages while out and about.  I can, however, pull off the lower waisted pants when I wear the control top panty, but cannot when relying solely on the cami. 

I also got rid of almost every pair of pajama pant and sweat pant I owned b/c they ended up hitting me at a funky place with Penelope.  When I'm relaxing the last thing I was is a restricted tummy, so when I go with nothing to keep my accessory in place I wear yoga pants and a pair of tighter fitting gauchos...remember this is when I'm relaxing at home, the tight gauchos are not worn in public! ; )

There are tons of tricks to conceal your accessory.  I learned that after about 8-10 months of wearing my panties and all that Penelope aims downward and is flatter to my body.  She's about an inch or so long as well, but not nearly as noticable as when I first got her.

I've had Penelope for almost 15 months and there are few things that I find limiting to my wardrobe.  I think I'm more self-conscious about how clothes fit my tummy, so I do tend to purchase tops that are not extremely tight fitting.  You would never know I have an accessory by looking at me.  I need to add pictures to the photobucket albums as well...I haven't even thought of doing that yet.  It's really not my tummy I'm concerned with when having whole body shots, but my bootie! : ) 

I'm glad you asked about the clothing issue...I learned a lot of great tips of the gals on here too. 

Good luck and let us know how things go!

smurf  

Posted 5/3/2010 1:54 AM (GMT 0)
I continued to wear almost all the clothes that I had from before during my 3 step process. Partly because I'm lazy and partly because I wasn't willing to spend a lot of $$ on clothes for my temporary ileo life. I am low-waisted so as long as my pants weren't too tight preventing my output from falling into the bag it wasn't a problem. My stoma "Arnold" was above my belt line for some pants and below for others. I just had to remember to make sure that my output was dropping into the bag when he was above my belt line.

I also wore a tank top below my clothes which helped to hold the bag to me so that the top didn't flop and it helped hold the appliance to me. I didn't wear belly baring shirts before so all my shirts worked just fine for me. I also was an oddball in that I went back to wearing my thong underwear rather than going for the granny panties because I didn't tuck my bag into my underwear. The tank tucked in was more than enough support for me.

Just to keep things in perspective, I wore the same clothes as I went from 165lbs to 113 (post surgery #1 - 123 when I went back to work) and am still wearing them at my current 130-140lbs (6 weeks post takedown). I love stretch jeans!! smilewinkgrin My end ileo Arnold changed size from 1 1/4" to 7/8" in the 4 months between #1 and #2 and as the skin around him healed the fit and pain of the weight of clothes and other things pulling on him was basically eliminated.

I did wear my comfy pajama pants, dance and yoga pants, and sweats while at home but I did before surgery and still do now that all 3 are over. I found ones with strings that I could tie above Arnold or hang off my hips (low-rise style) made him happiest because the weight of the pants wasn't on him pulling on my stitches and healing skin.

Good luck! You will find clothes that are a comfortable fit for you and it will be easier as you become more accustomed to having the appliance and learning how (if at all) your normal movements in your clothes are affected by having it.
Posted 5/4/2010 1:19 PM (GMT 0)
You're definately pushing the jean thing - wait a couple of more months. After that, I've found that the jeans that "sit just below the waist" are fine with where my stoma is. Of course I was never infactuated with the pubic grazing jeans that are in style anyway - I'm not in my 20s anyway! If you think you need some more support with the ostomy bag cut the legs off of a pair of pantyhose and try it - it doesn't need to be a pair of support pantyhose either to make you feel more secure.
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