Ostomy Bags, general discussion

[danman]

I haven't noticed any threads on this subject, and thought it might help newbies to the ostomy experience. (Me for one!!!)

I know some of our regulars have ostomy bags (Pen, Sharon, etc) and they might be able to furnish us with advise on life with our bags.

I have a question on the subject. As some of you know from my story, I got my stoma 1 1/2 weeks ago, last night, all through the night, I had to get up to empty gas out of the bag. it was blown up like a balloon every 2 hours. this is new to me. have any of you found this happening, if so what do you do?

 

[merrywidow]

i dont think pen has a stoma, dan,
severalr reasons thats happening,
1, are you drinking fizzy pop before you go to bed?
2 , do you have filters on your pouch? if not either ask the stoma nurse for some or ask the supplers for a pouc with filters
also food that produces gas needs to be avoided at bedtime, cabbage, lettuce that sort of thing. if you have any more questions ask away. one more thing i did was to name my stoma (fred) i makes it easier for people to ask about your health, espicaillythe older generation.
sharon

 

[danman]

I like the "Fred" idea.

the pouch does have a filter that seems to work fine during the day, it's only the last 2 nights that it seems to fill up like a balloon. It's very odd as I haven't changed any thing in my diet over the last few days.

Do you ever find that perhaps the filter gets blocked at night?

 

[merrywidow]

the filter dont work if its wet, its made from charcoal. so if your waste product is more liquard and you lie down to sleep, then the filter will get wet, to bulk up your stools, you can eat white rice, marsh mellows and bananas,
one word of warning, dont panic when you eat beetroot!!!!!!
sharon xx

 

[danman]

I've heard the beetroot story before. Jeremy Clarkson wrote a very funny column in the Sunday Times about beetroot. He thought he got bowel cancer!!!.

It might be the filter getting wet.
I got little gels to pop into the pouch if the stools are loose. It turns them more into a jelly. I could try those.

 

[merrywidow]

hows it going dan?
sharonxx

 

[danman]

So far, so good Sharon.

It hasn't blown up like a balloon in the last few nights. I'm not doing anything different, so I can't understand how this was happening.

I'm finding the whole experience fine so far. it only takes a few minutes in the morning to change the pouch with the 2 piece system. When I change the base plate, it takes me about 10 to 15 minutes. So it's not really any inconvenience.
I've managed to go 5 days with the same baseplate and I'm aiming for 6 this week.

I've started back at work today, and I have 2 very important meetings tomorrow and Wednesday, so it will be interesting to see how I get on with the fart noises!!! The people I'm meeting will not have a clue about my operation, all they know is that I was in hospital, so I'm hoping Stoma behaves himself and keeps quiet.

 

[ErinDF]

Hey Danman,

Quick note on the ostomy bags (I got mine six weeks ago). They say in the first few weeks after the surgery you'll have more gas. I know this is silly, but I drink alot of water before I go to sleep so that'll I'll at least wake up once to change my bag. I have the bags with the filter, but they pretty much are killed as soon as I sleep with it on. Oh well, at least one day is nice.

In terms of the stoma sounds, wear a couple of layers of clothes and don't eat anything toooo gas inducing and I bet it will be okay (also, for the first couple of weeks after my surgery my stoma made LOTS of noise and now it is much quieter. I meet with people one on one in my office and don't even worry about it much anymore).

If you are looking for TONS of ostomy info, check out the Ostomy Association of America discussion boards. They address issue you could imagine (and I bet alot you can't imagine). As a warning though, there are alot of posts about people problems or disasters with their ostomy bags...they freaked me out the first time I read them but now I've realized they probably post EVERY time they have a problem (so not that much..you know what I mean).

Oh...and I named my stoma George. When he makes noises when its quiet, my boyfriend and I just say...George is grumpy.

Erin

 

[danman]

Thanks for that Erin, I'll check out that site later.

The noise issue was fine at my meetings, he (I'm still thinking of a name, I need to get to know his personality first, and come to think of it, His/Her sex!!!) was very well behaved.

 

[danman]

By the way, I forgot to say, 7 days is too long. After I got up this morning, I noticed a slight burning sensation around my stoma. The baseplate had opened slightly at the bottom and leaked.

It was a good experiment to try and at least I now know the limitations of the baseplate. I can keep it on for 6 days, but I'm better to change after 5 days.

 

[merrywidow]

you beat me too it dan, i was gonna advise you against having the base plate on to long. not only because of soreness, but it loses it adhesion (glue) so could leak.
when i was on my first trip out after i had fred (stoma) i was in the queue at he supemarket when fred decied to make his presence known!!!, my son said "mum fred is being nosy"
i said " he is a little".
the little old lady behind us said to me, "isnt it nice when children have invisible friends"!!!!!!
sharon xx

 

[danman]

That's why I thought I'd try this little experiment.
One of the people in hospital recently had a lot of trouble getting his pouch to stick at all. He tried different types and makes, but couldn't get any of them to stay on for more than a few hours. eventually the stoma nurse found a spray on glue that suited his skin.

Love that story, Children can have no concept of social decorum!!!

 

[merrywidow]

i posted this story on a different thread, but i will repeat it here.
i was in the loo, when a saleman rung the doorbell, my son opened the door, saleman said "is mum or dad in"
son answered "mums in the loo with fred and dads dead"
funnily enough the guy had gone by the time i had got to the door.
sharon xx

 

[merrywidow]

glad you coping ok, dan
anyway it has a new meaning when the shops say "bring your bags when you go shopping"!!!!!
sharon xx

 

[danman]

Just thought of a great name Sharon..... Fergie, after Alex Ferguson... He too churns out the same stuff as my stoma when he talks to the press!!!!

That's decided, Fergie it is.

 

[danman]

I thought I'd bump this thread back up. We have a few more members now with pouches, so it is more relevant.

Question away....!!!!

 

[kello82]

wohoo ostomy thread! thanks for reviving this!

well, no questions atm come to think of it.

i cant decide if i want to name my stoma. in thinking about it, i think i would name her Barbie. whyyy you ask? cause hopefully she will bring me my health back, as well as the generous chest size that i am lucky enough to have when im healthy (juuuuust like Barbie)
LOL!

that got me thinking too...how awesome would it be if we could get Mattel co. to produce an Ostomy Barbie! that would make my day!! i think it would be great for both the young and old set!
like, hey! Barbie is fashionable and fabulous with her ostomy...and you can be too!
seriously.....i am pondering the possibility of this....

 

[Michaelw]

Me Too

Love the idea of naming your stoma!! I have had one since May 2008 and must admit it has been a great benifit although it has alxo caused some minor issues. Leaks and waking up to messes in the bed is just something you learn to accept and be prepared to deal with. Suggestions is to watch what you eat. Was given major warning from stomy nurse to stay away from Pretzels and nuts as it almost turns to hard paste and can block your stomy. My wife changes my wafer for me and we have gotten it down to paper sports tape around the edges of the wafer works great for additional support. I also have two belts for it. One I use in shower and one I wear everyday with it. I leave it lose so as not to put pressure around the stoma but readjust it as needed for things I do. I have also found wearing sweats often allows me to slide pouch into pants for short while and seems to work very well. I do try to stay away from any carbinated drinks as it does produce gas and a balloon attached to your stomach really is no fun. We try to keep a routine of changing the bag in 5 to 6 days. Much longer and I start itching then getting sore around the stoma. I take imodem before every meal and change amount only by the consistantcy of my discharge. Less if its too thick More if its to watery. Funny thing wife noticed was when I have a Crohns flare up my stoma actutally increases in size..not much but noticably. And as the flareup recedes the stoma becomse normal again. I have played golf with this even but still limited in lot of physical stuff and thats ok. Hope some of this helps someone else.

 

[danman]

Cheers for that Michael.

 

[merrywidow]

for those leaks that happen at night i have bed sheets, these are absorbant pads they soak up any waste products. i then put this in my yellow bag for the incinerator chappie to collect.
sharon xx

 

[danman]

Do you have an incinerator chappie, Sharon???

Did your health center organise this for you, I just throw all my equipment out with the general rubbish.

 

[merrywidow]

oh dan how could you throw the waste in with your normal rubbish?
i rung the council and all my pouches and stuff goes into a yellow bag. no sharps are allowed. the chappie comes to collect the yelllow bag on mondays and this bag is then burnt.
the council gives you the yellow bags.
sharon xx

 

[My Butt Hurts]

Dan - how do you drink beer, isn't it too bubbly for your pouch?
(I know you would do ANYThing for your beer, but just wondering.)
My husband's grandma used to leave ginger ale out on the counter until it got flat before she would drink it.

 

[danman]

We don't have that system here Sharon, we have to pay private company to collect our normal rubbish and our recycling bin.

MBH, I don't have any prob's with gas at all. Only sometimes at night time when the filter gets a bit blocked. But even generally, I don't have a problem with gas.
Guinness, which I drink in pubs, doesn't have much gas in it, it's fairly flat. Lager, or pale/summer beer's as they are called over in the States, is much more bubbly and gassey.

 

[danman]

wohoo ostomy thread! thanks for reviving this!

well, no questions atm come to think of it.

i cant decide if i want to name my stoma. in thinking about it, i think i would name her Barbie. whyyy you ask? cause hopefully she will bring me my health back, as well as the generous chest size that i am lucky enough to have when im healthy (juuuuust like Barbie)
LOL!

that got me thinking too...how awesome would it be if we could get Mattel co. to produce an Ostomy Barbie! that would make my day!! i think it would be great for both the young and old set!
like, hey! Barbie is fashionable and fabulous with her ostomy...and you can be too!
seriously.....i am pondering the possibility of this....

But.... would that not make you Barbie....
So your small friend on your abdomen would need to be called.... Ken!!!!:ylol2:

 

[merrywidow]

careful, or the moderators will put this thread in the lounge!!!
sharon xx

 

[Michaelw]

Stoma name

Think i'll name mine Squeaky as thats what it does at the most inconvient times. Funny little story, when I first came home with this I was setting on the couch with my 10 year son. In a quiet moment from the TV, my stoma let out a squeaky noise and my Son gave me one of those looks and hollored at his Mom in the next room..she came in and he said..Dads taking a crap LOL. Where do they come up with that stuff ????

 

[kello82]

But.... would that not make you Barbie....
So your small friend on your abdomen would need to be called.... Ken!!!!:ylol2:

hahaha!!!
nooo i dont wanna BE barbie! and i dont want no ken on my belly!! ken is a slightly strange dude in my mind. slightly creepy.

dont worry merry, we keep it nice nice

 

[danman]

Squeeky... I like it Michael.

Ken is a bit weird... he's been going out with Barbie for 40 years, but no sign of marriage proposal.... commitment phobic me thinks...!!!!