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Bathing with Ostomy

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Posted 5/28/2011 6:07 AM (GMT 0)
Hey again. Im sure this has been touched upon but can you bath with an ostomy? Ive had my ileostomy for almost 6 weeks and i dont know how bathing works. I know you would do the same thing obviously... but does bathing reduce the seal of your wafer? I use the convetech moldable wafer with some stoma paste almost all the way around because my stoma is retracted a bit and sits below the skin. I miss having baths. Before surgery i would have 1-2 baths a day. not washing... just sitting there enjoying the hot water and getting warm. I get really cold easily and have really bad j oint pain sometimes to the point where i cant sleep and having a bath would be my way of warming up quick so my muscles would stop spasming. If anyone has any tips or any information about bathing with a ostomy that would be awesome. But if its a pain in the butt i can wait a few more months before bathing. 2-3 months and hopefully ill get this monstrosity reversed. Ever since ive gotten it ive been so depressed and worried about everything. I have a life though. I just recently went back to work. I dont have a hard job so it was very easy for me to pick it up again.

Oh i also wanted to ask about periods after surgery. When i was in the hospital a few days after surgery i ended up getting my period a couple days before schedule (OMG WORST PAIN EVER while recovering from getting cut open let me tell you!) but now im 7 days late and for the last 3 days ive been experiencing stomach cramps and back pain normally associated with my period but it hasnt come yet. I understand that some women have these symtoms up to 2 weeks before their actual period but i dont think ive ever before. And for the last several months ive been a standard 28 day cycle. never been late before (I have an app on my phone that tells me when im gonna get it so im prepared. Silly... i know but its amazing!) Anyway hopefully ill get it soon. because i would HATE for this pain to be my disease returning and not my standard period pains. My doctor wont reverse me if my disease comes back /cry.

Anyway im totally rambling now. Thanks for listening guys. Any input on these two issues will be so awesome. I miss baths SOOOOO much! Im 27 and i feel like im 80 sometimes when my joints get really sore :(

Thanks Guys.

Desaray <3
Posted 5/28/2011 12:49 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Desaray,
Sure you can have a bath, I normally shower rather than bath and either way its the same, you just have to dry your pouch off once you get out. I guess if you sit in the bath for a long period of time the base plate would start to lift as it would if you were swimming. There are products such as salts hydro frame you can use for swimming for added security to keep your pouch on but I wouldn't go to that extreme for a bath. So I guess if you kept your bath reasonably short it would be ok. Just dry it well with a towel and a hair dryer, works really well. As for the periods I can't really comment on that since I have been menopausal for about 5 years now so periods weren't an issue for me as my surgery was 2 years ago. Have you had your joint pain checked out? I think it would be worth talking to your doc about. There really is nothing you can't do with an ileostomy and ostomy, however I do hope it works out for you and you are able to get the reversal done, but if its not to be it truely isn't all that bad. So I say go and relax in the bath :-)
Take care
Doreen
Posted 5/28/2011 1:14 PM (GMT 0)
As long as your incision is healed you can bathe! I always use a Sure Seal over my wafer to extend my wear time...it's waterproof and breathable so it keeps the edges from coming up :-)

As far as your cycle, it will be a little off until you've totally healed. I had just finished mine before my proctocolectomy and a day later got it again mad If you are uncomfortable, take a Tylenol (or Advil, if you don't have Crohn's) to take the pain away. If you continue to have unusual pain/problems, call your Gyno just to make sure it's not something else.
Posted 5/29/2011 2:31 AM (GMT 0)
yep baths, swimming, hottub, whatever all fine. If you dont use sure seals though make sure you get the wafer really dry or you will get the itchies. But the sureseals are the best way to go! I stay in the hottub or the pool for hours, so staying in the bath will be fine. BUT be careful of what soaps or smelly stuff you use in the bath i wouldnt use any of those.
Posted 5/29/2011 3:41 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you all for your replies. Summer you say you sit in there for hours? Do you have to change your wafer after? or does it weaken the seal? Which product do you use? I change mine about every 4-5 days. I live at home so i get my mom to help me so i try to plan it when shes gonna be home. And im a little worried since i use the mouldables... would the water seep into the moldable stuff and make it fat? I use a lot of stoma paste around too because my stome is retracted. Ugh! so annoying. Whenever i shower im so afraid to get it wet lol. Showering is the worst thing in the world for me. I feel like everything is a million times harder since i got this ileostomy. Im not as paranoid anymore about eating anything as i was when i first got out of the hospital. I have no adhesions so i can have whatever i want minus things with lots of fibre of course but ive had crohns for 15 years so i dont eat a lot of fibre anyway.

I have to call my stoma nurse for my supplies on Monday because im running low on a few things so im gonna get a box of those sure seals. i didnt get one last time because my nurse said they were really expensive but yay for Pharmacare covering all the needed supplies. I never however thought of the incision thing that Equestrian Mom had said. Im pretty sure my incision is healed but its only been 6 weeks so i should be careful. But if i could have baths again in a couple weeks that will be so great.


Thank you guys so much!
Posted 5/29/2011 7:13 PM (GMT 0)
I have arthritis as so have very hot baths to help ease pain in the joints and it never affects the seal on the wafer. We also have a hot tub and can spend an hour or so wallowing in there with no problems. Your periods can go a bit up the creek after surgery, it is normal and soon right themselves after a few months.
Posted 5/30/2011 2:43 AM (GMT 0)
sure seals!!!!  Before i had those if i was in the water a lot i would get shorter wear time.  Also, if you are using a skin prep, that shortens wear time, sometimes especially with water.  I did try the moldable, which is probably what i will switch to when i run out of my hollister bags, and i didn't have problems then either.

The only time i have ever had to change from being in the hottub was after we went to a friend's parents mountain house and their hot tub had WAY too much cholorine, and it actually ate away the plastic! 

Other than that, i get about 6-7 days, water time doesnt seem to affect it.

 

Posted 5/30/2011 1:22 PM (GMT 0)
New one -- just wanted to mention that sure seals are pretty much the same as tegaderm, which is the clear stuff nurses use for iv's and covering bandages and the like. If it takes a while to get the sure seals, the nurse might have some extra tegaderm for you to try.

Also, if the sure seals go over pubic hair (depends on stoma location and wafer size) be sure to shave it first. I didn't and my skin got really irritated, so I've had to skip them for a bit. I'm still not having trouble w/baths without them (but I change every 4-5 days anyways, due to the Eakin degrading).
Posted 5/31/2011 2:25 AM (GMT 0)
Where does one get sure seals?
Posted 5/31/2011 2:36 AM (GMT 0)
Here's the website for the company, you can get samples there http://www.alpglobal.com/ . I get mine from Edgepark
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