Introducing Pooey Vuitton: Naming and Embracing My Stoma

May I introduce you all to...... Pooey Vuitton.

I feel more affection towards him immediately.

What did you name your stoma? Did it change your attitude towards it?

LOL! Love the name!

Congratulations.

No, I never felt the need to name my stoma. I've had the little fella for over 30 years now. As with all of us, I hated the sight of it at first, but got over and accepted it quite quickly. I really think it helped me having another patient's mother, sister, and an agency nurse on the ward that they were friends with keep telling me people with those things smell and they would rather die than have one. Mental abuse has never really worked well on me, it did the opposite and brought me back to life fighting. I did the old party trick that we all think we were the first one to ever do it lol. I walked up to them and pulled my top up and said it's full of s##t like you... years later another agency nurse said the same and a nurse that was a staff nurse first time around was the Ward Sister then she had her in her office. Ward Sister came back to see me and said she will never work on this ward again and said she remembered what happened before.

Never named mine.

Great name!

I've named my colostomy Frankie. Because I have scars reminding me of Frankenstein.

Have always named my cars (presently Samantha... Sammy... Subaru) and when I elected to have a colostomy, I knew she had to have an identity. I immediately went for alliteration. I think of my stoma as a "she." Ergo, Stella.

Friends ask me how's Stella. For the most part, she's behaving and I like her for improving the quality of my life.

Pooey Vuitton is very creative.

Hi Clair, love the name! I've always thought of mine as a 'her', not a 'him'. When I was in the hospital, one of the surgeons looked at my new stoma and commented "nice rosebud". Since then I've thought of her as Rosie.

Terry

Daisy. She looks a bit like a flower.

That is an excellent name. I have named mine Demi but not who you think. Mine, when ready to be active, and because it recessed, when ready, looks like the Demogorgon from Stranger Things.

Uh oh, I've got a predicament.

Just when I got used to the name, my husband came up with a possibly better name.

Can I get a vote from you guys please.

Pooey Vuitton (Louis Vuitton)

or

Iggy Poop (Iggy Pop)

Definitely pooey!

The first one, please.

Some of the names I call mine! None of them printable! It is not exactly an object of affection so will go nameless.

Cute name!! What's funny is when I knew I was going to have an ileo, I named it a couple of weeks before surgery and then I found out people name them. I named mine Briella, which means God is my strength.

Pooey V.

I'd go for Iggy myself!

Call mine Cherrybelly looks just like a cherry lol

I named mine Oscar - seemed fitting.

I called my colostomy Arsie (for pain in the arse). In the beginning, but now I call her Lovey because I love her so much!

PooeyV, of course!

Good choice. Keep it. Husband's was okay but..

I named mine Egor which is all-inclusive for my pouch and effluent. So when I tell my wife that Egor is full, there is no miscommunication. And he is attached and is an irritant in my life. But I'm over the embarrassment and awkwardness of letting those people close to me know about Egor. Through my honesty, I found three ostomates within a few miles via friends.

Mine's called Winnie.

That's Winnie the Pooh!

I've since found what they call "Fat Quarters", squares (50 x 55 cm) of fabric printed in various patterns, in Aldi that could be used to make stoma bag covers. And one pattern was Pooh and his friends Piglet, Eeyore etc. One had "Without Pooh, the adventure is impossible!" So far I haven't succeeded with the covers - a tailor friend followed "can't fail" patterns but the result just didn't stay in position, alas.

I'm very grateful to Winnie (and my oncologist, and the wonderful stoma nurses) for keeping me alive.

Mine is named Seymour (long story) but thinking of changing it to "Vesuvius" as in Mt. Vesuvius.

My attitude toward it is "Stay calm, you little shit!" JB

Careful, JB, Vesuvius is subject to unannounced eruptions!

Haha!

I call mine Stomey. If he's behaving, I talk to him calmly and encouragingly. If he acts up, I speak like I'm training a dog. And if he's really acting up, I call him Spuey.

I just call mine either.... Yes ma'am or Yes sir depending on who's by me when it goes off. Everyone thinks I'm so polite.

I have had my ileostomy since the end of October, so my journey is new. In the hospital, I chose the name Toma the Stoma...

But now Baby Stoma is a better fit. Having a stoma to be mindful of and that comes first before all my needs and wants reminds me of having a newborn baby. That's where I learned to truly put my needs second.

Naming my stoma has had a very positive, unexpected effect in two ways: first, I have more compassion for Baby Stoma and think of what it was like when my son, now 21, was a newborn baby... up at all hours of the night, needing attention when I wished I could just eat a hot meal, and the incredible love I never knew existed... and second, when I am a bit unhappy about the whole thing, my stoma with a name gets to be separate from me and who I am for a little while...

Great conversation! I have enjoyed everyone's stories immensely!

For sure!