Ileostomy Questions

Ileostomy


The intestine sticking out, should stick out between 3/4 to 1"
at the least. It provides a "spout" for the waste to exit into the
pouch in a way that won't undermine the adhesive that's holding
it to the body.

The "spout" will shrink slightly, and that's why it should be made
longer initially.

The pouch will dangle as it should. Using a two-piece appliance
can allow a change in pouches easily, and whenever necessary
without changing the wafer. A smaller pouch will be less weight,
and help to increase the overall wear time.

Although the intestine doesn't have any nerve endings, it can
and will bleed very, very easily when hit, touched or otherwise
damaged. The bleeding usually stops fairly quickly.

The stoma is formed by puling the end out of the body,
turning it over upon itself, and stitching it to the surrounding
skin. What you are actually looking at that is sticking out, is
actually the inside of the intestine.

Take a trip to www.uoaa.org and go to the general ostomy
forum, they'll give you all the advice you never needed.

Good luck!

John

ileo, help
I think the most important thing for your mom is to find an appliance that works best for her there are several models and an ostomy nuse will have samples of a lot of products , when she leaves the hospital make an appointment to see one for a fitting, also most of the manufatures will send you samples for free, and lots of them also send out care packages with seal, paste, carrying back, sissors etc. This is very nice. I hope her insurance covers the cost, the supplys can be very expensive.

Fit is very important with an Ileo, because even if the stoma does not have feelings ( mine does have feelings) the skin around it does and if it gets juices on it it will burn and be very irritated this will hurt. Most of what the ileo will put out will be liquid.

Usually about anfew hour after she eats and most of the out put will look like the food she ate earlier so getting enough nutrients and liquids can be a problem, expect rapid weight loss and then it will even out as she learns what to eat, protien takes the longest to digest so eat this often, carbos take only minutes and they offer not satisfaction except taste, marshmellows thicken up the out put, so i suggest she eats a few at each meal, .

I hope she had good luck with it.

If she wants to support the bag they make belt holder of such, go on line and look up ostomy sport belts, or swim belts, also i think ebay has some for sale. Just found out i have to keep my ileo for another 6 months so I am looking into one of the belts.

Take care, and PM me if you want to real story of an ileostomy, ( canbe to graffic for most)

Live, Love, Play
Winnie

Stefi said:

Thank you!
Thank you all for the great information! I spent the last few hours on some websites, watched some videos, looked at some different products, and it seems a little better now. This is just all so new and so many things have been thrown at us in the last 5 days I just wasnt sure where to even begin. I just want to help my mom feel as comfortable as possible with all of this. The stoma is on the right side below the belly button. She bought some comfy pj pants from VS before the surgery, so hopefully they will help her out, as she generally wears jeans. One more questions, if she supports the bag with her underwear, will the underwear resrict the bag from filling in any way? I guess my concern is that supporting it with underwear will make it too tight and come loose. I know things will make more sense as time goes on and she gets used to it. I also think it will help if she does not get the see through bags like they have on her in the hospital. Just makes sense for her emotional feelings to get the ones that dont show it all. Thanks again for the info, and if you have any more advice, I am all ears.

Steph

Steph -


I use the Coloplast Assura series two-piece appliances, with their
Extended Wear wafer. That enables the wafer to stay on as
long as possible, while allowing the pouch to be changed when
necessary. The Coloplast pouches I use are fabric covered,
and opaque. They are drainable pouches, using a velcro locking
system at their bottom edge, so there's no clips to lose in
the toilet.

You want to use the absolute minimum of products, since each
one can cause a skin reaction, and these things are designed to work
well all by themselves.

Wash with hot water only; no soap. All soaps leave a residue,
as do some toilet paper, so dry the skin after washing with
paper towels to avoid any residue from skin softening agents
or perfumes.

I use a Hollister "Adapt Ring" between the wafer and skin to
further the wear-time of the wafer. The adhesive sealing ring
keeps any waste from getting to the skin.

The hole in the appliance that fits around the stoma should fit
as snugly around the stoma as possible. No skin should show
between the stoma and the hole in the wafer....... This is where
a two-piece appliance is good, since you can see exactly how
it's fitting around the stoma when you apply it! That seal is
most important, since any waste at all that gets to the skin, will
eat away at the skin and cause rashes and worse.

For any rash, etc under the wafer around the stoma, I use
Convetec's Stomahesive Powder. It will heal a sore overnight.
It is designed to be used alone, under the wafer/appliance. If any
other topical dressing or spray is used with it, it will not work as
it is designed to. I simply put some on a finger, and dab it to
a sore spot, apply the wafer with the "adapt ring" and I'm good
to go. The sore will heal quickly doing things the way the
manufacturer's design things!

One added important thing.......

Make sure water is ingested at least 4oz per hour. Ileostomates
are always bordering on dehydration due to the amount of
liquid lost in the output. When they remove the colon and give
you an Ileostomy, they take the Ileocecal valve out; it's part of
the colon. Without the ileocecal valve, the body loses it's way
to control how long digestive matter stays in the ileum, so the stuff
goes into the bag more quickly, and we lose more water.

The Ileocecal valve has two purposes: It keeps bacteria in the colon
from travelling back into the ileum, and the valve allows the body
to control/regulate the output from the ileum into the colon.

We don't have to drink "more water", just water more often, so
our bods can have a chance to absorb it while it's rushing through us.

I hope some of this helps you & mom. It's a real pain at first,
and I saw the worst of the worst. I got a rash so bad, nothing
would stick. Home nurses couldn't help, nor could a nurse
specializing in ostomy care. I slept in the tub one night, and
had wished I had died instead of having to live with a stoma.

I now change the wafer every two-three weeks, and pouches when
needed. No sores, no problems, and life is.... err.... ok.

So tell mom not to get too frustrated; keep things as simple as
possible, don't use multiples of dressings, etc. Basic is best.
Trust me.

Healthy thoughts to youse both.

John