welcome to my video where I talk about what it feels like to have an Ostomy. I also talk about what does the ostomy bag feel like, and I also cover what does the actual stoma itself feel like.
Thumbs up for willingness to share. My wife and I have been married for over 20 years and she has always had a bag. It does not stop her from doing everything she wants.
I think many of us who have had chronic illnesses are so happy to have better health post ostomy that we don’t see living with a colostomy or ileostomy as life limiting at all; instead we know it’s so liberating that we may wish that we’d done it sooner. I’m two years post ostomy, and there’s not a single thing that I had to stop doing after surgery. My diet is back to what it was pre surgery, and I do all the same activities I did before. It’s not this awful thing that keeps people housebound or somehow isolates and embarrasses people - if it does, then that person needs to reach out to a skilled ostomy nurse to resolve whatever issues they may have.
I completely agree PinkMonkey. I have had mine coming up five years and it was the decision I made. My life like many others pre ostomy was dreadful. Like you say diet wise I can eat practically anything now. I have always said my ostomy saved my life because it gave me my life back. I have only been in hospital once since having my stoma. Where as before stoma i was in hospital constantly. Yep best decision I made was ostomy surgery.
Spot on 100% agree for me the most liberating thing in my whole life, really has been no more rushing to the toilet or limiting myself to what I can and can’t do. Few weeks ago I got back into the ocean for some body boarding it was like I was 16 again. I would also encourage anyone struggling to reach out to their stoma team or speak to other ostomates
Excellent video Sydney!🥰 I.m suffering bloating at the moment, maybe it's the diet..too much tea and coffee. All the best, you're quite an inspiration 😃
Thanks Andrew kind of you to say I am an inspiration. Caffeine is normally.good at getting things moving. Certainly not working for me at the moment. 😃😬
Hi Mark, thanks again for another informative video. my colostomy surgery was delayed but i am booked into have it done Wednesday next week, ive chosen to have this as my IBS-D has ruled my life for 40 years and i want my freedom back. im very positive and looking forward to take up running again, ive even bought a horse ! My only real worry/concern is blockage. i beleive you had an issue with this sometime ago. have u done a video specifically about this ? i aim to be as carefree as you are regarding our stomas……many thanks
Hi Nicky. Sorry for the delay in replying I have been away for the weekend. I wish you all the best for the surgery and the recovery, with the recovery just take everything slowly. Wow you have bought a horse! That's amazing! Just don't ride the horse straight after surgery! 😂😂 I only get blockages as my intestines are ridiculously slow and barely work. When you first have the surgery your output maybe slow for the first week or so, so don't worry about that. Are your intestines normally slow? I use Movicol to help keep things moving when I feel things are moving super slow.
@@sydneystoma385 hope u had a great weekend, weather was amazing ! i believe my intestines are very quick hence the need to take imodium every day. My surgeon wanted me to see a stoma nurse before i commited to surgery, nurse thinks i will still need to take imodium with the colostomy, which scares me. im going to keep a diary hoping this will help me move forward with regard to food eaten, output etc until ive ‘made friends with Frieda’ ( the closest name i could find to freedom ) love your channel, and i will be patient before i get on my horse 🤗 i will tune in again after my op, thank you for giving your time to help us understand and gain knowledge.
Great video, I've had my colostomy since May 2019, was offered a reversal but as I had a traumatic emergency surgery success rate was very 50-50. But personally I am happy as I am, I have a very positive outlook the way you discuss reminds very much of myself. I must bore people to death trying to raise awareness :-) I have been using the Mio bags from the start, zero issues all precut from coloplast, but have been thinking I would like some black bags to try. Do you know if the Pelican's you have can be precut?
Hi Stuart. Thanks for the comment. I think being open about a stoma is the only way to raise awareness. Having a stoma gave me a life back so it's pretty much all positive for me. Yes pelican can pre cut the bags. They are great company. Very caring.
@K i guess the whole ordeal for me was traumatic I lived with 6+ months of extreme abdominal pain countless tests missed a lot of life and work during that time only to be rushed in 2 weeks before my elective surgery as an emergency case. Surgeon told me I was 24hrs from organ failure(sepsis) and ultimately death. I spent 4 days in intensive care throwing up bile and a further 8 days in hospital. My insides are a mess according to my surgeon therefore reversal success is 50/50 for me I’m happy as I am and can’t miss any more of life. But! Every case is different talk to your surgeon and be sure of option and likely success rates
@K you have diverticulitis? That’s what I had perforated in Dec 18 in and out of hospital until May 19 when the perforation got way worse instead of healing like they thought it would. Only we know how painful this can be and each of us different I guess
@K yep I can relate to that, wish you the best with your reversal end of the day we have to put our trust in the surgeon and they will know best action to take.
Do you have to empty a colostomy bag multiple times a day or is it just when its getting full? An illestomy is 8-12 times a day, online it says you need to change a colostomy every 3-5 days but you do you have to empty it daily or only need to worry about changing a colostomy every 3days ish? Thanks mate👍
The only time I feel my stoma is wind with a ileostomy and if the stoma bag need changing the skin feels sore that's about it as for bags you can buy cool covers on ebay or amazon
Yeah you are right. Sometimes I do feel wind. I have spent so much time scrolling through pictures of bag covers but I have never felt I wanted one. Cheers Mark.
@@sydneystoma385 np i use a bigger bag high output so i use the covers so it just looks like a pieces of clothing saving time to go the bathroom becase i can see it
It really shouldn’t be sore or uncomfortable, Do you mean the skin around the stoma or the actual stoma? I would certainly go and get some medical advice if it is the actual stoma.
