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Where does the bag typically extend down- right thigh or sort of between legs?

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Posted 4/6/2013 12:40 AM (GMT 0)
If a stoma really was below the beltline, and even if not, it just seems to me that having it extend onto the right thigh under ones pants is the perfect way to conceal it and also not interfere with sitting or getting caught between your legs or scrunching onto the bottom on the crotch seam of the pants. I am trying to set up a couple of ostomy nurse visits locally so I can figure this all out well before my day-before-surgery stoma marking, but when I look at adverts for things like ostomy secrets, it seems to me they have the ostomy "pouch" or pocket rught in the middle of the underwear, which would mean it lies right on top of my junk (I'm a male) which would seem rather odd. Again, probably a silly question for some of you but I have yet to see an ostomy other than on youtube.
Posted 4/6/2013 1:29 AM (GMT 0)
I have ostomy secrets underwear (women's) and the pouch actually goes from right seem to left seem (so aka basically from a tshirt seem to a tshirt seem).

As for the the positioning, you can angle the pouch whatever angle you wish. It just matters how you adhere it to your belly (or in the case of a two piece, how you attach it to the flange). It's basically like they've taken the front of one pair underwear and sewed it to the inside front of the other pair to make it double layered. I've arranged my bag down my thigh and then more toward the crotch area before. I've found that down my thigh is more comfortable.

Just a note, the ostomy secrets (at least the women's) actually makes the the pouch fold back upward because there's only so much length in the pouch versus the bag. So it can actually make the bulge seem bigger because the output tends to collect above the fold. I prefer that over having the bag moving aground and rubbing against my skin though.
Posted 4/6/2013 1:33 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks, activeUCer- and I forget- your stoma is below the beltline? Seems a shame that they cant put more room in the underwear to not have to fold the pouch up. Since I am male, I wonder if their boxer version has more length? I happen to be a jockey shorts not boxer guy (to quote Kramer on seinfeld - "my boys need a home") but if that made for more length I'd become a boxer guy in a heartbeat. I would love to just hide the whole thing inside my pants thigh.
Posted 4/6/2013 1:37 AM (GMT 0)
Mine is on my right thigh. Honestly, so far I hardly notice it unless it's getting full.
Posted 4/6/2013 2:44 AM (GMT 0)
Hmm, mine might be just barely below beltline in standard terms. Given the huge variety in women's pants (different rises...low rise, mid rise, and high rise), I can work around it but most of the time it's slightly below the belt line.
Posted 4/6/2013 3:13 AM (GMT 0)
So far, I've had to wear my pants right below my stoma, but I am still VERY new to all of this. When I was wearing the one piece it hung so that it partly touched my right thigh and the rest fell between my legs. With the 2 piece I've been trying out, I like it better angled from right to left so that the bottom part falls between my legs as much as possible. The 1 piece had a clip closure and this 2 piece is a velcro close, so how they feel against the skin is different.
Posted 4/6/2013 3:33 AM (GMT 0)
I'm a male too(if you didn't figure that out lol) and my stoma is right by my belly button. I wear my pants low and tuck my bag into my pants about 2 inches.
Posted 4/6/2013 3:34 AM (GMT 0)
i keep visualizing the movie "the great escape" with steve mcqueen (awesome movie btw) ...... to get rid of the dirt that was being extracted during their tunneling, they had pockets sewn into their pant legs, which they filled with dirt, then as they were out walking around the compound, they would pull a string and empty the dirt from the pant leg pockets - then they would scuff their feet to mix the dirt into the ground ........

hmmmm ........ would take some tweaking but it could work ........

Posted 4/6/2013 12:12 PM (GMT 0)
My husband was marked prior to surgery (he wore his regular jeans and belt to the WOCN office) and the surgeon was also able to position the stoma where it was marked. It is below his belt line on his right side and his pouch hangs downward. The long legged briefs from ostomy secrets with the additional panel inside accomodates the bag very well and keeps it from touching the skin. We live in Florida where it is warm/hot most of the year and this has worked extremely well for him. He has used these since he came home from the hospital.

On a few pairs of the underwear I did hem them for those few pairs of shorts that he has that are a tad shorter than others. Otherwise the longer length is not a problem showing.
Posted 4/6/2013 2:48 PM (GMT 0)
I would think that for a man the boxer briefs would be perfect. That's a longer version of boy shorts for girls and that's what I have always worn and they work great.
Posted 4/6/2013 4:59 PM (GMT 0)
All his life he wore the standard BVDs and on occassion the looser fitting boxer shorts but now that he has the permanent ileostomy he finds that this type is the most comfortable for him. He feels it gives him extra support for the bag and if it ever fell off (which it never has) it will fall into the panel inside the briefs and not on the floor or his foot as he very rarely wears long pants/jeans unless he has to. Just personal preference on his part. It is nice to have different options for whatever makes the difference in feeling comfortable.
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