Petrified of colostomy bag

z said:

golilly
So sorry for what your going through with the passing of your mom. I am going to bump up a post with a survivor who is having treatment other that the colostomy which was recommended to her. She has had a recurrence also and her drs have a different treatment plan and not colostomy. Of course, I don't know your circumstances but wanted you to see the post. Also, there are anal cancer survivors who have adjusted well to the colostomy and are able to do anything they want. I wish you well. Lori

Brachytherapy by pjs62, I bumped it up, please read.

Ann_i_ said:

Not so bad, honest
Just a few notes to hopefully ease the way.

I don't mean to contradict anyone, but, I never found the need to carry or use air fresheners.

Most of what I do with my ostomy takes place in the bathroom. (Though, as time moves on, shoot, I'll burp the darn thing just about anywhere. As long as I can maintain my modesty, I ain't flashing no one my breasts but my hubby. And since my ostomy is high, that's what would happen.)

Anywho, yeah, it can smell, but if it is reaching your nose and you aren't doing anything with it (say, like cleaning or burping it) then you've got a leaky seal and need to think about taking it back down to skin and redoing it.

You should smell NOTHING unless you are actually in the process of cleaning and maintaining it. (In the beginning, this can be very helpful to let you know when a change might be coming earlier than you thought it would.) Meaning you need to change it out soon. (Like if you can smell it, change it out.) Although this might be mental and not physical at first, I kept thinking EVERYONE could tell, and smell me. It took me weeks of asking my hubby and kids if they could smell me before I finally accepted that they really couldn't. (And I'd tell them, tell me the truth because if I go out in public and I smell, I'm going to be ticked at you!!)

I never used the liquid deodorant thing that is optional to add to the bag, the only time you can smell it is when cleaning or burping and really, it isn't really any worse then going to the bathroom use to be. (Aside from it is way closer to your nose then it ever was before, due to the direction the bag is facing as you clean and maintain.) OK, maybe a bit worse, because seriously, who has ever been THAT close to it? (Baby diapers aside. And that's a whole other smell.)

The hard part is the beginning, getting use to it, cleaning it, adjusting to your stoma size and shape and the direction your stoma opening faces. Finding a comfortable position to relax in (Yeah, you can eventually relax) while changing it out. (I found laying on a towel the best bet due to my body at times with all the movement deciding that me laying down was the perfect time to release waste.) Nothing like starting over when you haven't even finished yet. lol

For cleaning it, I've never had a skin infection or anything. (I do however have an allergy to adhesives and psoriasis to boot, so I have a bit of a problem with mine staying stuck to my skin. The adhesives cause a blistering reaction, my psoriasis rears its head and skin cells multiple under the wafer and suddenly it's not fully seated against my skin anymore so out comes the surgical tape to help maintain the seal to prolong the wafer to its normal almost a week life.) I use a squirt bottle filled with warm water and a wet wash cloth, and a mild disinfectant soap and dry thoroughly.

I put a towel over top of my fuzzy comfortable bath mat and all my supplies on the lip of the tub, an extra large towel under my head, one wet washrag and one dry one at my waist, and I'm ready to start the application process of the change.

I lay there for about 5 or 10 minutes, rise, check the seal with a mirror so I can see all the way around the wafer (apply the surgical tape, nothing like getting a jump on 'my' problem.) and dress and off I go.