I’ve been wearing the Phoenix Ostomy Belt to work for the last 3 days, so I thought I write a review.
I first ordered this a few months ago shortly after surgery, and I ordered a XS/S which goes up to 31 inch waist. At the time, I was about 31 or 32 inch, so I ordered the small, thinking the M/L medium would have too much excess material. The M/L goes up to 40 inch waist.
Boy was I wrong; the small did not even fit around my waist. Not even close. I waited too long to return it so now I have this XS/S extra. If anyone wants it on the cheap, let me know.
Before wearing this belt, I experimented with 2 ways of wearing my bag at work. At first, I tried to dress as before with a belt and my shirt tucked in. My ostomy is just above my belt line and my belt would cut off the bag and create pancaking. I was constantly adjusting and pressing down the contents. Besides ruining the filter faster, it created a bit of that phantom smell – where you’re really not sure if it smells.
Next I tried a method I thought I would never use. Before getting my ostomy, I watched all the videos on Dennis’ web site: (http://ucvlog.com/past-videos). Which is a really great resource for new ostimates. Anyway, one of his videos shows a method of just wearing the bag outside the pants, under a shirt. (http://ucvlog.com/2008/11/04/wearing)
I thought I would never do that, because hey, the pouch is exposed! Well, it’s under a shirt, but still kind of out there. But practicality won over and I started wearing my pouch like that to work. Heck, after work too. Basically the trick is to fold back the tail into your pants waist band and neatly fold the rest of the pouch down. This works well, but there are two problems. One, you must wear your shirt un-tucked. I know, it’s probably a hip look but does look a bit sloppy for work. Two, when the bag gets near emptying time, the tail always slips out of my pants from the weight. It’s a good reminder system, but leaves you pretty exposed if your shirt is not quite long enough to cover the tail.
I read good things about the Phoenix Ostomy Belt and wanted to try that. The stealth belt sounds good too, but that is for another review.
My first impression was, how do I get this thing on? It’s loaded with snaps and adjustments, and not obvious at first. And of course, you must wear your pouch sideways. That is easy to do with my Hollister New Image, but a little messy. When I take my pouch off, there is always some “stuff” to wipe from the flange and pouch. Not a big deal, but needs a moist tissue handy. I recently read someone saying how the Coloplast Assura pouch can rotate on the flange without removing once it is unlocked. That would be ideal. If you wear the Phoenix Belt 24/7, it would not matter, but I like to take it off in the evening.
My next thoughts were that I like it. It wraps up the pouch into a tidy package. It does create a slightly larger bump with the layers of fabric, but I thought that was an ok tradeoff to tuck my shirts in again. I also thought that it made me feel the most “normal” (don’t yell at me).
So off I went to work. My first challenge was to empty. The bag grows and grows into quite a large lump around your waist. If I let it go, it is quite noticeable and looks like I gained a spare tire. If I empty before it gets to that point it’s not too bad. Emptying is trickier because the bag is sideways. I am a water rinser, so you definitely have to be more careful. But overall, it’s not too bad. Also, wearing the bag sideways means more stuff around the stoma, gravity is not going to help move things down. it has not been a problem, but probably clogging my filters faster.
The belt fabric is tight over the pouch and ostomy, so it probably helps a slight bit to muffle noise.
I’m still deciding if I like the total experience. I guess I have no choice if I want to wear shirts tucked in.
I first ordered this a few months ago shortly after surgery, and I ordered a XS/S which goes up to 31 inch waist. At the time, I was about 31 or 32 inch, so I ordered the small, thinking the M/L medium would have too much excess material. The M/L goes up to 40 inch waist.
Boy was I wrong; the small did not even fit around my waist. Not even close. I waited too long to return it so now I have this XS/S extra. If anyone wants it on the cheap, let me know.
Before wearing this belt, I experimented with 2 ways of wearing my bag at work. At first, I tried to dress as before with a belt and my shirt tucked in. My ostomy is just above my belt line and my belt would cut off the bag and create pancaking. I was constantly adjusting and pressing down the contents. Besides ruining the filter faster, it created a bit of that phantom smell – where you’re really not sure if it smells.
Next I tried a method I thought I would never use. Before getting my ostomy, I watched all the videos on Dennis’ web site: (http://ucvlog.com/past-videos). Which is a really great resource for new ostimates. Anyway, one of his videos shows a method of just wearing the bag outside the pants, under a shirt. (http://ucvlog.com/2008/11/04/wearing)
I thought I would never do that, because hey, the pouch is exposed! Well, it’s under a shirt, but still kind of out there. But practicality won over and I started wearing my pouch like that to work. Heck, after work too. Basically the trick is to fold back the tail into your pants waist band and neatly fold the rest of the pouch down. This works well, but there are two problems. One, you must wear your shirt un-tucked. I know, it’s probably a hip look but does look a bit sloppy for work. Two, when the bag gets near emptying time, the tail always slips out of my pants from the weight. It’s a good reminder system, but leaves you pretty exposed if your shirt is not quite long enough to cover the tail.
I read good things about the Phoenix Ostomy Belt and wanted to try that. The stealth belt sounds good too, but that is for another review.
My first impression was, how do I get this thing on? It’s loaded with snaps and adjustments, and not obvious at first. And of course, you must wear your pouch sideways. That is easy to do with my Hollister New Image, but a little messy. When I take my pouch off, there is always some “stuff” to wipe from the flange and pouch. Not a big deal, but needs a moist tissue handy. I recently read someone saying how the Coloplast Assura pouch can rotate on the flange without removing once it is unlocked. That would be ideal. If you wear the Phoenix Belt 24/7, it would not matter, but I like to take it off in the evening.
My next thoughts were that I like it. It wraps up the pouch into a tidy package. It does create a slightly larger bump with the layers of fabric, but I thought that was an ok tradeoff to tuck my shirts in again. I also thought that it made me feel the most “normal” (don’t yell at me).
So off I went to work. My first challenge was to empty. The bag grows and grows into quite a large lump around your waist. If I let it go, it is quite noticeable and looks like I gained a spare tire. If I empty before it gets to that point it’s not too bad. Emptying is trickier because the bag is sideways. I am a water rinser, so you definitely have to be more careful. But overall, it’s not too bad. Also, wearing the bag sideways means more stuff around the stoma, gravity is not going to help move things down. it has not been a problem, but probably clogging my filters faster.
The belt fabric is tight over the pouch and ostomy, so it probably helps a slight bit to muffle noise.
I’m still deciding if I like the total experience. I guess I have no choice if I want to wear shirts tucked in.
