Body image and a colostomy

I had a temporary colostomy for about 3 months. Of course, I'm glad it was temporary, but after a lot of trials and errors, I finally got a good fit with the best equipment for my body -- everyone is different and there is no one correct answer for everyone -- and learned to adjust. If I didn't tell anyone, no one would have known I had a bag. The best advice I can give is to keep trying until you get a good ostomy nurse. The nurse in the hospital was a waste of time. The first visiting nurse wasn't too much better. But finally, after complaining a lot, I had a nurse who hooked me up with the best equipment for my body. Try out as many sample bags as possible until you find what works best for you. I learned that my new nurse had a colostomy for about 20 years -- and if she hadn't mentioned it to me, I would have never known. You will look the same after surgery. Good Luck!

I had a tempy colostomy for over 2 years. I was "fortunate" to be able to have it reversed in January of this year or so I thought. I guess I got used to looking at myself with it because when I first looked at myself without it I was stunned.

Since then, getting used to the new plumbing is very humbling. I'm not sure what I am trying to tell you other then take each and every day one at a time. Trust me, you will be enlightened and disappointed almost daily. It all boils down to how you chose to deal with it all.

I had an accident tonight and was angry at myself at first but then I laughed for thinking watching the weather report was more important then running to the bathroom. I am so fortunate to be dealing with any of this!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please try not to stress over it just yet. There are always so many what ifs.

Lisa P.

I had an ileostomy for 9 months while my j-pouch healed. When I was told that this was happening, I was 25 years old, I had just got married, and had never even heard of a stoma let alone knew how one functioned.

I actually handled the idea of the bag reasonably well, and despite much urging from the stoma nurse I decided that I did not need to watch videos of old people dancing along the beach with their external appliances, or read testimonials from grannies about which undies to wear with a bag.

In retrospect, it would have been a very good idea to have made use of these materials. I had an absolute crisis of confidence and my body image hit the floor after the surgery, which I think I could have avoided if I had known what to expect. For example, I would have found it helpful to have seen pictures of what a stoma actually looked like (nothing like I thought by the way).

The advice you can get from the stoma nurse and other websites (the best being www.ostomates.org) about diet in the early stages, underwear to help keep the appliance in place, and general info about what you will actually need to change a bag is invaluable.

I found the first few weeks quite a trial (although most of the dramas I could have avoided by taking my head out the sand) and after about a month I actually forgot about the bag for the most part. I went back to wearing skirts and shorts and all the rest of it (tracksuit pants are mandatory for the first few weeks after surgery..). I also went to pilates classes with no problems at all, and went swimming with the dolphins in my swimsuit 10 weeks later.

So what I am trying to say (in a very roundabout way) is that body image is a very important part of the process, but I really believe that if you know what to expect, and you have available to you the resources that you need (the absolute neccesity being a good stoma nurse) then the transition is much easier.

I found after a few months that I could eat the same foods as before, wear the same clothes as before, take part in the same activities as before, and work just the same as before. I just wish I had known (or believed) that in the couple of weeks after surgery!

Cal