My stoma is a juvenile delinquent!

Hello ALL!

Well I made it home Saturday about 3pm and have basically been sleeping most of the time since. I was sent home with Vicodin who is my best friend now!   I am doing well. I have had an

in-home-nurse come to see me twice now to observe me changing "the goods" and to inspect my incision. She will take my staples out next Monday-oh that is going to feel so good. I think I have the changing part down, but its the emptying that is difficult for me. My STOMA is a juvenile delinquent!!! I no sooner get it empty and clean and it is going again. Ugh!! It just won't stop going and it won't listen. I feel like I have a newborn baby in the house again.

And how do you empty the bag in a public restroom when it is so thick and won't come out of the bag and you really can't rinse it? I practice at home sitting as far back on the toilet as I can and just squeezing and squeezing but it sticks and if I don't get it all out it is just very heavy and tugs on my sensitive stomach too much??? I seem to be emptying 10-12 times a day and thats at about 1/2 full. Is this normal?

So I need emptying advice please, what's the best method, any tricks, anything to make it easier? How many times do you guys empty a day?

Thanks for the input and prayers and the continued best support EVER!

Hayley,

WOW you sound like you are doing GREAT! My stool was like oatmeal and hard to get out of the bag so I added some juice to my diet and that helped me a lot. When the stuff is thick, I squeeze my bag like a tube of toothpaste and get as much out as I can then I keep a water bottle by my toliet to rinse my bag. I pour a little water into the bottom of my bag and swish it around. When I go out to dinner, go into the handicap stall and put water in my bag using the private sink. However, since I stated drinking more juice, I do not need to add water anymore. I have slow motility so my system is really SLOW. My bag stays empty until 2-3pm. I only empty 2-3 times per day and it only half full. For a while, your bag is going to feel heavy - like a small weight pulling on your stoma and stomach. As you heal, you wont even feel your bag anymore. It took me about 3 weeks to get over that heavy feeling. Also, do not try to get all your stuff out of the bag...you do not have to competely empty your bag. Although, I am still pretty compulsive with my bag and stoma. This process is still very new to me and I am constantly rinsing my bag and cleaning my stoma with wipes. It just feel cleaner when my stoma is not coated with stool.

You have great questions. Keep posting and I will try to help as much as I can.

Mine will go from super thick to completely watery at the next poop. :) I've learned to just not worry if I can't get it all out. At first, I wanted it ALL out, now, I'm happy if I can get most of it out. I am about five weeks out from surgery, and mine still goes and goes. I can't understand it, if I have dinner at 6 o' clock in the evening, and don't eat again, the darn thing can still manage to go, even at 8 AM the following MORNING! I am hoping it slows up soon. People keep telling me it will.

Hayley,

I had a TC 7 years ago but it did not help. I have a perm Ileostomy. I did not have any of my small removed. I do not have a short bowel. I cannot recall, why did you have the surgery? Were you consipated like me or incontenent? My stool is normally always thick no matter what I eat and my bag stays empty for the first 3-5 hours after I eat. I constantly feel very full and I do not eat that much because of that.

I can't remember for sure where I read this hint, and I have to admit that I don't have the thick stool problem - mine is usually pretty watery, but I recall hearing/reading that folks have used a spray coating like PAM sprayed into the tail of the new bag. I have never tried it.

Maybe someone else has heard about this - Judy? Shaz?

I may have read about it as a hint in the UOA Ostomy Quarterly from way back when...

Oh yeah, Hayleybaby, I forgot one other thing I like to do - I use baby wipes to clean just the end of the bag, Sometimes if I use TP, it comes apart and stays in the bag, or I'm a clutz, and I end up with poo on my fingers. Gross. The baby wipes do a better job of cleaning up the end of the bag, and I don't think they hurt anything, because I only use them on the end of the bag, never on my stoma or anything like that. You can get travel packs to keep in your purse. They're good for anykind of clean up necessary!

I use the closed in pouches by Hollister when ever I am running, biking, or teaching my fitness classes. The pros are that they are discreate and comforable. The con is that when you go to empty the bag through the big opening, you get a splash from the toliet and toliet water will get on you....EWWWW. The lower you emplty into a toliet, the less of a splash you get. However, I do not like to get my hands and face that close to a toliet - especially in a public restroom.

Sweet! Thanks Judy! You're awesome.

flchurchlady,

In the midst of all my surgery and medicated days, I forgot to congratulate you on your anniversary. Does this mean we will have the same colectomy anniversary together now---Sept. 24th :)

wow that is quite the regimen! i tried that stuff you are talkign about wasnt' impressed, i just use a little squirty bottle, and if i get soem on the outside i use a little bit of mouthwash on a piece of tp and that usual cleans it off, and if it doesn't get rid of it, it at least kills the germs, lol

Hayley,

Also, the pain killers, though they may be needed, sometimes cause a slow down in output, or thickening of stool.  They can also make ya feel a little down too.  Are you able to move around more each day?  That helps to work those sore, disturbed muscles too.  Are you getting any fresh air, getting outside any?  A change of scenery?  How have you been doing?

If your insurance doesn't cover it all, make sure you call the company (Edgepark, Byram, whoever) and get your balance reduced. They usually charge the insurance companies way over retail pricing. Pay attention to your EOB's, they usually say exactly what the supplier can charge you, and sometimes you can even get them to charge you less than that.

See, if you knew what wasn't covered, or that you maxed out for the year (which the supplier is supposed to know and keep track of, but are always behind) you could look on the internet for the best prices. And let me tell you, you can get some good prices out there. I always argue on the premise that they aren't doing their jobs (which they don't, billing is always months behind) and because of that I shouldn't be punished by being charged exhorbitant amounts. They always come down.

I've found places on the internet that charges less than half of what they charge my insurance company.

Thanks Judy! That is great information to know!

ATTENTION AL NEWBIES...READ JUDY'S MESSAGE ABOVE about SUPPLIES AND INSURANCE.