Well, that was the crappiest accident ever

It was 3am (yeah, I go to bed late) and I was gearing up to go to bed - just watching a last YouTube video - when the freaking bag split. I got poop down my trousers, on my duvet, on my bedsheets. Hadn't even undressed; if I'd done at least that much, I'd have saved myself 20-25 minutes of rinsing out poo from my trousers in the shower.

The goddarn poop had even reached through to the mattress, so I cleaned that up as best I could. I left the duvet and bedsheet outside for my mum to find in the morning. She'll love that, but I don't know what else to do with them. Can hardly sleep on them. The entire clean up job, putting on new sheets, etc. must have taken me an hour and a half.

Something like this just really depresses me. It just brings home how utterly dependent I am on these ridiculous bags for the rest of my life. I hate it; I really do hate it. But what can I do, I'm stuck with it now.

What a choice: Crohn's or this. Maybe everyone else may love their stoma, j-pouch or whatever, but to me it's just rubbish. I just wish I'd never had to have this operation. #brokenrecord

Thank you, cookie38, I appreciate it.

At least I got through the night without any more mishaps.

I think the stoma nurse has given up on me among other things and that makes me even more guilty and depressed about my decision to have the operation. I sincerely would never have had it if I thought I'd turned out this way.

The only leaks I have had have been in bed, and it sure is a hassle!! Having clothes to clean up is enough...adding sheets and blankets to the mix is quite a job! I would second the suggestion that there might be a defect in your batch of pouches. I have never hear of one just splitting before and would think it's worth giving the company to call to see if this has happened to anyone else. They will often send freebies in a situation like this.

And, given your last post about visiting your stoma nurse, I would doubt that she has given up on you. She may not have all the right answers to your questions, but I'm sure she does care very much about helping you the best she can. For that matter, so does everyone here! I hope you have a a much better day today! :)

Hey NCOT...if you are going to switch over to Coloplast, ask them about the new line of bags they have coming out next month. I got an email from my WOCN yesterday, encouraging me to look into them. She's never been partial to any one brand/product, but did seem to be VERY excited about the new Coloplast bags. She said they are the new Mio drainable pouch and available as samples. I'm going to call them today :)

I ordered bigger flanges this last time, due to surgery coming up. Didn't know how much bigger my loop ileostomy will be. But I discovered having more surface between the flange and the stoma, they don't leak underneath to my skin anymore. I think it's because there is more adhesive area to keep it secure.

I wear two piece from Hollister and love them.

Hope this helps, sorry about your problems. Hope they get better.

@halo - Yeah, I have come to the same conclusion about flanges. The bags that I'm currently using have rather small flanges, and I think that's part of the problem (more on that in a bit... ¬_¬). I've never tried Hollister; I'm sure I was given a couple of Hollister bags to try a while back, but god knows what happened to them. I don't think I ever used them... :-/

@kazbern - Thanks for the hugs :p I ordered a new mattress today and I would definitely like to get a waterproof cover to protect it. It was an unusually spontaneous decision for me to make, but I was with my mum in John Lewis, testing out different mattresses. My current mattress is a crappy heap of lumpiness, and I've been wanting to replace it for years. Bought a new duvet and duvet cover as well. All I need now is a decent pillow, and I need never leave my bed ever again.

I also had another leak under the wafer when I was out :-/ Luckily it wasn't a bad one and so no mess was made; I just hate changing the bag in a public toilet. I was also relatively lucky that the stoma was quiet and it wasn't too hideously a stressful change. I'm using up the last box of Salts bags, but after that I am changing over to Coloplast.

Oh yeah. I still have not heard back from the stoma nurse. Yeah, I've blown it with her... :-/

Well darn!! I wish I had known to try this larger flange trick before I stocked up on a years worth of supplies at the end of last year! Between that and the new Coloplast bags coming out, I'm getting so tempted to start experimenting with a new set up. I really can't afford to NOT use all the stuff I have though.....oh well!

I have an awesome lady where I buy my supplies and she recommended the larger flange. What a difference. I highly recommend it.

gotta look on the bright side, NCOT- I'd be psyched to get all new bedding, & a new bed to boot! When does it arrive, your luxurious new mattress??? I'm like you- my favorite safe place is my bed- I'd spend 12 hours a day there if possible. To stick on topic- I plan to try a larger flange from the get-go in hopes that it stops any leaks. What a great idea! When you guys say "flange", you're talking about the sticky wafer/baseplate thing, right? Also- NCOT- don't sweat it about that stoma nurse- she'll come around, you'll come around.. I can't imagine the stuff they must hear, basically a therapy session!

@Eva Lou~ The sticky baseplate thing is the wafer. The flange is the circle inside the wafer that has the hole that your stoma goes through. These come in different sizes to accommodate different size stomas. It takes a couple months post surgery for ones stoma to settle down to the size it will always be. Some, like mine, are quite fidgety...moving around and changing size often!

Cheers, guys :p

@UCWhat? - Ah okay. Would it be possible to donate your surplus supplies or store them for a rainy day? A year is a long time to be using stuff that you are not really happy with.

@Eva - The mattress is arriving next Saturday <_<.

@Poucher - Thanks! I didn't know that Coloplast bags/wafers were colour coded for size. I'm slightly anxious now about exactly what my stoma nurse had ordered. And speaking of the stoma nurse, my mum phoned her up on Friday >_>. The one that I had been emailing wasn't in; the other one was, but not right at that moment. She phoned back, I spoke to her and apologised. She rather sweetly said not to worry about it. Anyway, so things have been sorted with one nurse at least, but I suspect I screwed it up more with the other one...

@Crohnielass - Holy crap that sucks :-/ I've been fairly lucky. Considering just how much time I do spend in/on my bed, that's been only the second serious leak I've had in bed so far. It's made me decide to get a waterproof sheet though. If it happens again, it should at least stop it seeping through to the mattress.

I think my Coloplast is green..,60???? Will have to check. I didn't know there was another size up but I think that one would likely cover my belly button.

New bed.....jealous. I washed the beds today and hung the sheets out in the sunshine to dry! Spring has finally hit Eastern Ontario!

Yes, NCOT....I'm sure I could find somewhere to donate my supplies, and definitely could keep them for a rainy day....or many rainy days!! I actually have a bunch of random supplies I should donate, just need to get my lazy butt in gear and find somewhere to take them. I just hate the thought of having to pay for all new supplies when I have so much here already. I'm not at all unhappy with what I have, but do still have overnight leaks from time to time....so if I happened to find a way to solve that, I'd be tempted to get new supplies. We'll see!

I hope you had a good weekend and are feeling well today! :)