Hello everyone, the products I find most helpful for my ileostomy are
Hollister flange without the tape to peel off. I also use a skin barrier called Tens Aces. I buy that on Amazon. It is a little pricey but so well worth it. Around $30. Not a covered skin barrier by Medicare but the best product for your skin. I also use a Hollister ring and slim size because my stoma is small and on the bag ...

Hi! I hope everyone is doing well! Just wanted to check in and give an update. I do have daily pain where the hernia used to be when I apply pressure, and sometimes I will get this sharp pain under where the stoma used to be. It goes straight down to the side of my pubic area, but it is only sometimes, and I'm not sure what causes it. I also still have rectal pain, but only sometimes, when I p ...

A year, almost to the day, I started a journey I did not know I would be on. On May 22nd, 2024, my husband took me to the emergency department as something did not feel right in my abdomen. I had been dealing with a kidney stone since May 19th, but this felt the same. It felt like what I described to my husband: like a puff of air had been released in my abdomen.
When the CT scan results came ...

How long should I go between appliance changes? I have a colostomy so I know that differs greatly from having an ileostomy due to frequency and consistency of output. I've heard that the longer you go between full changes the better it is for your skin. Just curious as to how long some of you all wait.

I put together a great stoma emptying device. Works great in my car, hiking, and flying. You all have seen this jar. As a patient, I have two. Hollister disposal bags fit perfectly. I shoved a few extra bags in the bottom. All you need are wipes for the pouch and hands.
Note the red circle. I drilled two tiny holes on either side with my Dremel, so the bag expands in the jar. Hope IGGIE reads ...

It's been a while since I've posted - been on a social media sanity break. When I did check in, I had over 260 unread posts, and instead of trying to reply to them all, I thought I'd say welcome to all the new folks on the site!
You have found yourself in a club nobody wants to be in. But in my case, as with many others here, we would not be alive without our stomas, so here we are.
When I had ...

When told that I have a urostomy, some people's immediate reaction is, "Oh yuck! Fancy peeing into a bag!" My reply is, "Oh yuck! Fancy carrying pee inside your body. How unhygienic is that!"
How do you respond when people act in this way? Apart from telling them to "Foxtrot Oscar."
When you have an ostomy, you have to keep your sense of humor (SOH).

Hi everyone,

I'm almost four months post-ileostomy surgery, and I'm looking to start rebuilding my core strength. I haven't been able to exercise for years, so I'm starting from scratch and want to be really careful.

One of my biggest concerns is overdoing it and increasing my risk of a hernia. I know core strength is important, but I'm not sure what exercises are safe to begin with. ...

The Big Scare
At church today, Mrs. B suffered a terrible calamity. One that rendered her temporarily speechless. A church friend behind me reached over to wish me a happy Easter and shake my hand. I leaned over to bid him holiday wishes too. Mrs. B nudged my leg. She was pointing toward my pants zipper. Hmmmm. Did I forget to pull it up? Nooo.
Then she hissed, "Your thingy is showing." "Thin ...

I just suffered through a severe rash that came up all of a sudden and made it impossible to apply a flange. It's gone now, but I thought I'd pass along a suggestion... I keep pieces of my aloe plant in the freezer. When I could, I would take a piece out and rub it on the rash - very cooling and healing, and the rash healed very quickly. Aloe gel might work, but it also might sting due to othe ...

About 3 months after my ileostomy and ureter repair surgery, I had to start working again and could not do anything strenuous. So, I took on a job working the midnight shift in retail (no customers), bathroom accessible any time I needed, light duty work (mostly). With that said, I'd been there over a year and took on a high volume, high stress position, thinking about higher pay and such. We ...