Hi Joe, I'm sorry to hear about your wife, however I can certainly relate. I had surgery for endometriosis and ended up (surprise!) with an ileostomy. 5 procedures later I'd had the ileostomy...
Hi All - I've been off in the world but I wanted to check in with all my friends and fellow ostomates. I started irrigating a fw months ago after getting directed by Shaz and others to resources and...
Hi Bennie, i'm 28 (Just turned) and I got my ostomy last year. I sincerely wish the option had been given to me years ago. Around 17 or 18 when it started to feel like I was passing razors and I sat...
Yaaay for moving on! Happy for you donut. Congratulations and i wish you the very best. It's impossible to love life when you're sick. It's great not to be sick. Great. Great. Great....
i don't know if this will help, but there are several websites by people in your son's peer group who have opted for life with an ostomy. they are pretty funny blogs, actually, and i think they lend...
i ordered my kiddie bags! and my irrigation supplies. woooo-hoooo! i think my kiddie bags have ducks on them too. that's a real step up from staring at my stoma. LOL. Stoma-gazing does keep me...
hi Cecilia, so glad you're out of the hospital! rest well and know our prayers are with you. camille...
Has anyone tried this? I'm between insurers and buying my irrigation kit. I want a short bag in case I don't like irrigation and I was looking through my catalog and noticed the bags for Pediatrics...
BEQ, one more thought, with the j-pouch don't you have to start at an ileostomy anyway? So, you know that whatever you choose, you're getting an ileostomy? is is possible - and i don't know as i...
BEQ: Quote of the day: "I think my surgeon was quietly going ballistic when I told him what the GI doc said." yes, probably! I had to think a bit, but I have a friend who has a j-pouch as a result of...
Viking, I'm sure Sue is going to answer, but to add an additional pov - I never stopped working through ileostomy, ileostomy takedown and colostomy. The worst period was after the takedown when it...
Thanks Peggy! Thanks Shaz! I went over to ostomyland last night and read a really good, detailed account, so I'm all for it now. It will involve a learning curve, just like everything else, so that...
Hi All, So, I've gotten curious about irrigation again. I'm running low on bags and since I have to re-up and order something, I thought I might get an irrigation set. I've talked to my Stoma Nurses...
Hi prayer, You should talk to your stoma nurse. What type of coating do the capsules have? If there is any kind of coating, or if they are gel-tabs, your stoma will spit them right back out the same...
Eva, with cereal your stoma nurse will tell you that rice crispies and other white rice or white flour based cereals are best. grape nuts are not a good idea and you may be courting discomfort with...
Headphones, Congratulations on little Jonas and thank you so much for posting a bit about your journey. I clapped and laughed out loud with the "score one for the ostomates!" Can't wait to see little...
Hi Janie, What an ordeal! Did your doctor say anything about an ostomy? I'm familiar with the tests you've taken - I am studiously avoiding them at the moment - but not familiar with the STARR...
congrats on your bag change! it's so weird, but there is nothing like a leak to make the process easier. i did lots of bag changes, but it wasn't until i got a leak that i got alright with doing...
Thanks guys! Ash83 I really appreciate your input (it's especially heartening because you're weighing one of the options i'm contemplating at this point, though I appreciate everyone taking the time...
Congrats on your ileostomy. Have you considered diarrhea? Your symptoms sound like how I feel when I have an episode. With the ileostomy it's harder to tell just because your output is liquid anyway,...
I've been away from the forum for a couple of months, laying low, adjusting to my newest stoma Stella (as in Stellar, but female and sassy). We definitely have a love/hate relationship. Now my gyn *i...
I will pick up tic-tacs tonight. sounds weird...but hey, i'm game!...
Thanks for the great suggestions justjenjen and summerstorm. I like the mouthwash effect, I've not had a single moment of "is that me?" since i started adding last night. I like the breathspray idea,...
Any suggestions? With my ileostomy I just added a capful of hydrogen peroxide 2% and never smelled a thing. I've tried that with the colostomy and it didn't seem to take. I intend to start using baby...
another thought: temp agencies. If you're facing losing your job due to illness and surgery now, go ahead and start scoping out temp agencies. Let them know you'll be looking for work in 6-8 weeks...
hey guys, try www.ehealthinsurance.com for personal policies (short and long term). only thing is, as an individual they can deny you coverage for specific issues, but i used them and just paid out...
Hi guys, this is off-topic of money(prayer i just saw your response, been sleeping a few days as i recover and wasn't cruising the chats like usual) but I created an Ostomy or - " A little of my...
:smurf: Hi Amey, We just keep on running into one another here! :tongue: In response to your post, I've not taken the "life-coping" pharmaceuticals, but I have taken Xanax (when I started my series...
Vette Guy & Amey, Yeah, colostomy is louder but i'm pretty good at masking sounds and i take bean-o which i've noticed in the past 24 hourse significantly reduces the amount of gas and noisiness even...
Erin, Good for you! We're here for you and we will keep on cheering and encouraging and answering any questions that you can come up with. Be as careful as possible and take vitamins and build your...
Hi All! Oh gosh, you guys made me cry! Joyful tears, but tears nonetheless because I know no one understands like the people on this forum. a few questions I'll try to answer in reverse order:...
Humor break: this is one of my faves. You know when you're talking to someone and they playfully say "you're full of crap (or sh*t)?" you can with a perfectly straight face say "no I'm not." Cause...
Praying, I work as a small-business manager. I've been out of the office for months, but I work from home as much as possible and I still have a job and health benefits. I think it's important to...
Praying, Hi There! So glad this forum is helping you feel at ease with making a decision. Just think of how when you and your friends consider "quarter-life crises" you will totally trump EVERYONE....
Hi All, Happy New Year to my Ostomates! I wanted to thank everyone who has been kind and read my week-by-week Reversal Ostomy stories, especially as they worsened. 90 days to the day of my reversal I...
:smurf: Ran_Man Sorry to hear what you're going through. I never applied for SSDI although I found out after a slew of surgeries that I was more than eligible. Go through the process. I had to give...
Oh....kay. Well, here we are. Week 9. I spent last week begging for a colostomy and my colorectal surgeon watched me attempt to have a BM and walked out saying "this is miserable, I'm on board." Then...
Great good luck with your reversal!!!! Wishing you all the best and many weeks of seamless recovery! Congratulations!...
Thank you everyone. I have doctors appointments tomorrow. I am asking to be hospitalized for bowel rest throughout the weekend and a temporary colostomy next week then to be treated as a colo-rectal...
Hi Everyone, Thank you for the replies. They have been so heartenening. I wrote my message at 6 am and around 1:00 pm my boyfriend (a surgeon) and I began a enema process to empty my rectum. It was...
oooh, this burns me up! I am an office manager of a surgical practice and I live on both sides of the fence: I am a chronic pain sufferer and a medical professional. 1. The phrase "are you refusing...
Hi Dan, Thanks for sharing. Like you said: this discussion board saved my sanity. I ended up here after an emergency ileostomy after reproductive surgery complications (it started in my uterus and...
Well, since i've been posting my terrible times i thought i would be even-handed and post my not-so-terrible times too. I'm 3 days from m y 8 week anniversary. I should point out that I didn't get my...
Hi Leea! So sorry you're facing this, but believe me, you'd rather have that diagnosis than the time-honored response to young women with endo: "it's all in your head." I, too, was stage 4/5 at 20,...
Hi Nina, Fantastic question. I'm 29 *since two days ago* and have worked in office environments with chronic pain due to invasive endometriosis for 10-12 years now. I just had 6 surgeries to fix...
hi guys i posted just after my ileostomy reversal. i'm about 6 weeks out and i'm having a lot of problems wtih bowel movements. i had rivers of diarrhea and a GI doc friend agreed with the Immodium...
Hi Everyone! Thank SO VERY MUCH for the advice. I spent last night getting up and applying heaping amounts of Preparation H oitment, which I think helped the swelling just enough for me to have...
Hi Everyone, I'm about 3 1/2 weeks past my ileostomy reversal and I've developed hemorroids so painful that I cry to have my ileostomy back. I'm going to the doctor tomorrow (it's been 24 hours of...
:smurf: Hi Luvdogs, So sorry for the slow reply, I needed to take a few days to keep on recovering from the last surgery. In terms of symptoms I experienced: Pain. I experienced a great deal of bowel...
Hi Marrie! So great to hear from you! I knew i was not the only 'younger' woman to battle for my health like this. Thank you for drawing attention to minimally invasive techniques such as laprascopy...