My first defective pouch

Sorry to hear about your defective pouch, I haven't had that happen...not YET!

I have heard of changing the pouch more often with the wafer, but was never sure why it's done that way sometimes. How often do you change each and what is the benefit of more frequent pouch changes. Also, what Hollister system do you use. I am still sampling ALL sorts of pouches and have found theirs to be my least favorite and the only one that has leaked on me in the night.

Interesting! I use the Hollister two-piece click, not sure what their official name for it is. I really like that it has a floating flange so it's very easy to snap on the pouch -- I never actually tried any other kind but I had a hard enough time snapping the Coloplast pouches onto the wafer when it wasnt on my body that I wasn't super enthusiastic about trying it. I've never had a leak or any kind of product failure (e.g. pouch snapping off flange, etc) until now, and I consider this reasonably minor. I also use the Hollister Adapt rings -- tried the Eakins first since they get so much love here but I find the Adapt works better for me as the Eakin leave SO MUCH GUNK when I try to change that it was impossible to clean and my skin never got a break.

If I weren't getting a new stoma next week I would probably be in the market to start trying a one piece, I'm comfortable enough placing the wafer at this point and I'd like to have the slimmer profile. But 'tis not to be... :)

I change the wafer every 3-4 days. Usually I try to alternate, lately I've been leaning more towards 3 because of the warmer weather and exercising more. I'm sure I could get a LOT more wear time safely. I went as long as five days once and the seal was still totally intact upon removal, I just feel cleaner and more comfortable changing more frequently. I had some nerve damage during surgery, like a small patch of skin near my navel that is now numb, and I think that is why I also sometimes have random twinges and itchy feelings near my stoma that trick me into thinking I'm having a leak. It's NEVER been a real leak but I still don't like to ignore it for too long.

Two reasons I'll sometimes change the pouch but not the wafer:
1) the pouch gets kind of.. well... gross inside. This bothered me a lot more when I used to wear clear pouches. It gets this kind of yellowish buildup (maybe from bile?) all over and just looks gross. I get so much pleasure out of seeing a nice clean bag, I'm not sure exactly why, but I can afford it so if the bag is grody enough and I have the time I'll swap the pouch.

2) I absolutely refuse to use a hair dryer to dry my pouch after a shower. I find it ridiculous and it takes forever. about half the time I can just hang around my apartment with the pouch out doing other things while it dries (e.g. I'll wrap it in a paper towel and sit down to eat breakfast, by the time I'm done eating it's dry), but the rest of the time if I'm in a rush to get out of the house I'll snap off the wet bag and snap on a new one, then get out and get on with my day.

I've had leaks surprisingly occur. My sister's friend once had an entire box give her issues. Make sure what your using isn't expired; you store everything in a cool, dry place. But we don't know how the suppliers store things. If it's just one from the same box, it's questionable. If it's more than one, I'd call and complain. And throw it/them out (whether it's the wafer, seals, or paste.)

Call them and tell them. Last time I had a defective bunch they ended up sending me 3 boxes to make up for the one box! So I paid for one box but got two more free! When I called about my sure seals not being sticky they sent me new ones and told me to keep the old ones in case some of them were still good.