Hello Friends,

     I’m sitting in the calm of a sleeping house all prepped and ready for surgery. It’s currently 1am here in Washington state. We’re a tad behind the rest of the world.

     I’m not sure if a bowel prep is better with or without an ostomy. I had the grand pleasure of putting 2 Liters of soapy (go figure ‍️) water into my stoma. I have a loop ileostomy, so t...

HERE’S A TRITE TRUISM:  There’s no such thing as a stupid question.  They wouldn’t be asking if they didn’t want to know, and wanting to know is a good thing.  That’s how we learn; that’s how we grow; that’s how we survive.  As magnificent an instrument as is the human brain, we only use part of it, after all, and learning is an active, adventurous, two-way street that require...

Evening all, I’m from upstate New York and winter is coming!!  Just got an ostomy bag a week ago and was wondering if anyone has hiked in cold weather with their bag. I mean cold, like 30 degrees below zero!  Worried it may freeze?

ONE SUMMER WE WERE DRIVING in the Appalachians, enjoying the rural atmosphere and the beauty of the curvy roads through green hills, when we ended up behind a medium-sized flatbed truck loaded with cages, all strapped down and secured.  The cages were filled with live chickens and the speed of the truck was enough to cause thousands of white feathers to come flying out of the cages, filling th...

If you have an ostomy and you decide to eat this……your output looks exactly like it did going in, minus the pink middle. 🫣 I did not know there was 11,457 little pieces of peanuts or nuts or whatever is mixed in the chocolate, I know now. So, I warn all ostomates, beware a Twin Bing. Messiest thing I’ve had come out so far. You’re welcome, enjoy your Thursday.

Well, last night after letting my surgeon have it for listening but not hearing me I felt two very sharp pains a few inches to my left of the ileostomy. They went away and I thought nothing more of it.

I have alarms set overnight to remind me that I’m on TPN and need to empty usually 3 times overnight. Last night I only had to empty once. The alarms still went off I just wasn’t having any ...

Dec 17th I flew to calgary to get to Palm Springs. Going through security they pulled me over. I showed them the ileostomy card. They looked at mr like I robbed a bank. Pasted me down,lifted up my shit and tested my hands. Then in my carry-on they took out my stoma powder.  

I get to calgary go through security.  Same dam thing.    

Going home from Palm Springs  I forgot my card, which...

Since Henry meets/knows all these celebrities, I figured let’s find out who everyone’s celebrity crush is. Here’s mine….Mariska Hargitay

We have survived Ian here in SW Florida and so very grateful.  Lots and lots of people with heartbreaking stories and  destruction.  Today we have both water and electricity back in service so onward and upward.  Our community is new and was built...

My friend and caretaker Rick wants to get out of the house, I do too honestly. 
Taking a medium sized (for me) road trip to Worcester to see the “Woo Sox” AAA baseball game and bundling up since its close to fall in New England. It’s a nice one year old ballpark, Polar Park. When I was feeling better in summer of 21, I was able to take my niece to a game and we had a great time!

Easier t...

Hey everyone, happy Halloween!  

I just wanted to share this article I just read, it was linked from the r/ostomy subreddit, it was written by a fellow ostomate for The Daily Beast, and it’s in response to Matthew Perry’s now-infamous article:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/keanu-reeves-isnt-th e-only-one-matthew-perry-offended-recently-those-w ith-ostomy-bags-are-upset 

We saw some pretty cute dogs on here recently so I thought it might be fun to show our pets.

RECTAL STUMP MUCUS.

If there’s one thing’ gives me the hump.
It’s mucus from my rectal stump.
They did not tell me this would be.
A side–effect of ostomy.

With no faeces coming through.
No way did I expect this goo.
It is so...

                       ODE TO AGING

 

This aging business isn’t fun; it’s weighty;

It hits me upside the head today, as I turn eighty.

The aches and pains, the medicines; I once felt fine

Back in my recent youth, when I was seventy-nine.

 

One knee is weak, my chronic kidneys balk.

At young attractive women I no longer gawk.

My doctor tells me how I’m doing great;

...

Hey Osty Friends. So I am a African American woman from PA USA. I am I guess you would say new to this (April 2021) and I am social with my circle which I never thought I would be so open and honest even though with my friends but hey they know this saved me (radiation from Anal Cancer Treatment burnt my colon) so it is what it is. I am separated (he couldn't handle it and I don't hate him he t...

FREEDOM OF SPEECH, that sacred 1st Amendment right that sits upon a marble pedestal, polished into a brilliant sheen by the courts, has taken on a less honorable meaning these days.  Freedom of speech is all-inclusive, like a cruise to the Bahamas.  It includes freedom to lie, to dissemble, to exaggerate, to spew disinformation with not one whit of effort to verify validity.  Freedom of spee...

Hi all,

Just wondering if there are any ostomates who have travelled to Israel and swam in the Dead Sea. I know they warn people not to open their eyes under the water there because it is so concentrated with salt. 

I wanted to know if anyone has swam in the water and felt any pain/severe stinging around their stoma due to the strong salt? I'm planning to swim/float there on my trip to Israe...

JUST BECAUSE WE NEEDED TO DO SOMETHING that felt good, we went out to dinner Saturday night. We usually save that sort of extravagance for special occasions but, I guess, we just decided to manufacture a special occasion. So off we went to our favorite mom & pop Italian restaurant. “We won’t need those menus,” I told the waitress. We always get the same thing. Why experiment when you know...

Well, my daughter,her boyfriend and I celebrated our Thanksgiving today (as I worked yesterday). I spent the day cleaning (as I work so many hours a week, it is genuinely hard to keep up with the housework-especially with 5 cats), anyway, I made 2 pumpkin pies from scratch (only because my daughter loves them so), did a load of laundry--managed to squeeze in a short nap-shoved the ham in the ov...

It is this time of the year again. I have no family therefore I am not looking forward to Christmas Holidays. If you are interested in spending Christmas holidays in Phoenix, AZ then reach out to me. I have a spare bedroom with queen size bed and bathroom. Must love outdoors and my 2 small lap dogs.

I am also considering Maui. If interested to join, reach out. If you know of 55+ singles tours ...

So, now we’ve reached one of those topics I might not have the easiest time discussing, but I’m going to try, because, after all, this is still a huge thing when you have an ostomy.

As I’ve written before, having an ostomy causes no limitations p...

I’M ALWAYS RECOMMENDING MOVIES to my friend around the corner, but I know that he never watches them.  Some people, for some reason, aren’t keen on cinema.  Me, I’ve been going to the movies since I was old enough to ride my bike to the theatre to see ‘From Here to Eternity’ when it first came out in 1953, the year that I turned eleven.  Since the onset of the pandemic, all my movi...

Today I was trying to decide what my 2 favorite albums are and what my 2 favorite live concerts were...

I finally decided that my current favorite albums are: U2 - Achtung Baby and Sting - Fields of Gold.

My 2 favorite concerts were both in Houston:    The Eagles and Tom Petty

 

What are your favorites??????

Can you relate to any?

You know you’re an ostomate when…

·       Talking about diarrhea seems like a perfectly acceptable topic for conversation.

·       Getting old food on your hands while doing the dishes grosses you out more than getting poop on your hands.

·       Not having an ostomy pouch on your abdomen seems weird.

·       Ostomy poop smells normal/okay and co...

THE TOPIC HERE IS ACTUAL MEATLOAF, not the recently deceased singer/actor, may he rest in peace.  My meatloaves have typically been blah creations, slapped together when nothing else is available.  But this week, I hit on an additional ingredient that made it really good:  hoisin sauce.  We have used this with stir-fry for years, but otherwise it just sat on a shelf in the fridge.  It is m...

Simple question, answer as specifically as you want. what do women like more?

1) clean shaven

2) stubbly

3) beard

THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX, I hear people say.  It has become a trite concept, not only because it is so often repeated ad nauseum, but because so many of the people to whom the directive is aimed weren’t even initially thinking INSIDE the box.  The idea, as commonly understood, is to encourage people to solve problems by forgetting about typical resolutions and coming up with creative solutions...

I saw this article title about Matthew Perry having a life saving ostomy.   What's your opinion on the article

 

https://www.ostomy.org/ostomy-surgery-saved-matthe w-perrys-life-its-time-to-stop-the-stigmas/

 

Obviously on this site there’s a higher percentage of people that belong to the elite Barbie Butt Gang. However, with so many on here having it, we’re just a small amount of people having this unique physique. You ever wonder how many people you see, walk by, etc. have it too?  I know of 1 other person that has it, she was(since moved) a vet tech where I take Cooper. Yes, my mind goes 1000...

I had a funny thing happen the other day.

I was just sitting on the couch and my 

stoma let out a fart that would have scared any teenager!

My spouse turned around as if in shock.... I thought it was

hilarious!  I can't be offended from much anymore, but it is amazing to see others reactions!

 

A HUG.

A hug is likened to a gift
that tends to please and to uplift
both the giver and receiver,
whether sceptic or believer. 

A hug does not come at a cost 
so when it’s given, nothing’s lost 
and if one hasn’t got a lot 
a hug might be all that...

A EULOGY TO BILL WITHERS (1938-2020).

I thought I ought to write some rhyme,
acknowledging that over time,
Bill and I have shared a name,
which may have brought us both some fame.

Whilst Bill’s fame was on the stage,
mine was on the written page,
and...

I have so much to share about my personal experience and it begins here. I've been home from the hospital for 3 weeks and am still wrapping my head around exactly what happened. I have increasingly had food tolerances over the last 20 years or so....

It was hard to accept that I had a stoma it was either that or death. I just recently got one less than a month ago….. I talk to it a-lot like saying u not going to blow up my bag today …. Not today u better keep that bag on and it better not fall off….. sometimes u have to make the best out the situation to keep from becoming depressed. I’ll probably never date again and I’m ok with ...

Just need to vent a little: Going to hear some music down by a river town, which I love. Earlier, at home getting ready, I was just kind of thinking out loud, something along the lines of, “I hope our friends are staking a spot near the bathrooms.” My husband said, “Well, I don’t know, ask them to move. What’s the big deal?” It really is so NOT a big deal, just one of those times wh...

ON SOME SUBJECTS, A DICTIONARY barely touches the surface.  Morals, my dictionary says, are a person’s standards of behavior, while ethics are said to be moral principles that govern behavior.  Sounds kind of the same, but in common usage they have come to be distinguishable.  Neither have any particular relationship with religion.  Some of the most ethical and moral people I’ve met are...

Just before my stumpy arrived I got into wood laser burning and finially after about 4 months getting back into it. I missed it and the little cash flow it occasionally brought.... my 1st piece was yesterday my example is in honor of my parents....please share urs and pics if ya got them...

Hi Friends!

     I have surgery coming up on April 14th to repair a recto vaginal fistula at the point of anastomosis. (Where my sweet ileostomy started) If the surrounding tissue looks good my surgeon may reverse my ileostomy. (I know, shock and disappointment..) ‍️ I'm also in need of a having my midline incision taken down, reinforced, and repaired. I have a few questions I hope y'al...

OK, so here we go:



Apparently I’m Grey Brain The Mercenary Of Hope!

DOES ANYONE ACTUALLY WEAR PAJAMAS ANY MORE?  Especially with an ostomy, I don’t want any potential obstructions, like a waistline, while I’m sleeping.  I wear night shirts.  I have some flannel for winter, and some light cotton for summer.  Even after I’ve discarded that, once I’ve made my way into my day, I will often shun pants in favor of a kaftan, which I will frequently wear th...

I just took a shower with my bag on since I changed it this morning. I always use a tiny binder clip at the velcro closure for added protection. I took the clip off so that I could unravel the bottom and dry it off. In the meantime, my phone rang. As I went to answer it, I let go of the bottom of my bag - I must have forgotten that it wasn't closed while multi-tasking - and heard (and felt ) a ...

Hi mates, haven't been on site for a few years.. I walked into the grocery store today and looked around at the people doing their shopping, cringing at the prices, checking their lists, just doing the routine they do to live.  I wonder how many i...

Done, I am now an ostomate. I am home with very little pain. I am walking but do tire quickly. Not much of an appetite, but try to eat in small snippets.


Prior to surgery my wife talked to surgeon about preserving the prostate nerves so we could ...

     I’ve been missing you all because life has been big. I have lots of stories we can laugh (or cry) together through. I’m going to post a list of stories. Tell me a story that’s happened recently in your “perfect” life. Then pick a story you want me to tell. This should be an amusing, fun, and humbling experience. I can’t wait to spill all the tea. We can be human together.

...

Anyone who drives has had them, in spades.  This is a fairly recent phenomenon that I have observed, over the last few years.  I can't figure it out and hope that someone on this site will be able to enlighten me!  I started noticing a lot of drivers leaving huge gaps between themselves and the car in front of them.  I'm talking about at stop lights, stop signs, courtesy corners, etc.  I m...

When I found this web site, I didn’t think its name had anything to do with actually meeting an ostomate but I later learned there were some folks who did meet and develop relationships.  How good is that?   That wasn’t my intention.  I definitely didn’t want anyone to meet me.  I felt broken and wasn’t prepared to express those feelings. I thought it was a place where ostomates wro...

I’ve been to the hospital a lot as we all have.

My question is this, if you have a roommate when you watch television do you wear headphones or keep it at a low volume so as not to disturb your neighbor? I do or don’t watch tv. On the GI surgical floor those are the rules, printed and everything.

I’m on what’s called the medical floor and it has just opened up, it’s not new or swank...

THERE WAS A DAY WHEN houses had mailboxes mounted next to the front door, and the mail delivery person walked up and plopped it right in there.  Today, notwithstanding that I live in a residential neighborhood in the middle of a fair-sized city, we have to have what used to be referred to as ‘rural mailboxes’ planted out at the road and the mail carrier putters up in a small specialty vehi...

This site is a godsend. As a newbie (colostomy on Nov 8,'21), I look at it every day for a number of reasons. Reading what people are going through makes me grateful that my elective surgery because of a severe case of IBS-C is nothing compared to what they have been  through and are still  living with.

I don't have to go the hospital for anything related to my ostomy. I feel sorry for those...

Some of you know that in 2018 I left my abusive spouse after 15 long years trying to make things work. I moved into my own apartment, got a job and worked very hard to become debt free. During this time, I gave my then spouse two years to get counseling and work on the issues. After realizing that he had done nothing, I divorced him in 2020.  A year later in April 2021, I moved out of the apar...