A sense of humor is a wonderful thing, more precious than strength, or smarts, or even great hair.  For some of us, it is what got us through our illnesses, helped us to handle our pain, and come to grips with the challengles of an ostomy.  "He was born with a gift of laughter," wrote Sabatini in Scaramouche, "and a sense that the world was mad."  It is a little bit crazy, when you think about it, the whole cockamamie concept of our re-plumbed bodily functions.  We came out of surgery like models metamorphosed into a Pi...

I would just like to encourage everyone on this site that you can find true love after surgery. I absolutely found my life long true love on this site or should I say he found me. My life will never be the same. 

Just found out my ex Narc significant other is trolling on the same Ostomy sites ....AWKWARD! I really thought he was my Ostomate for life.. Honest people are hard to come by and the World is seeming like a MUCH smaller place. I have been on the...

Hi Folks,  This is mainly just a vent session as I calm down from a very unpleasant encounter I had this morning at my local Walmart.  I was using the 'Handicapped' washroom, something I don't often do by the way.  If all I have to do is pee, why would I?  On the other hand if I have to empty my pouch, especially if it's become quite full quickly and there is the chance of things getting messy, splashbacks can happen, if there is a private washroom available I am definitely going to use it.  In this case the 'Handi...

The local "Hog For Bargains" grocery store was one of a select few picked by a manufacturer of a new brand of toilet paper that had yet to be named. The manufacturer asked the selected stores to hold a contest asking customers to try a free 4-pack of the new toilet paper. The customer was to return no later than 3pm on July 31st and submit a name for consideration based on the customer's review and feedback of the new product. If the customer's suggested name was picked as the winner, a $1000 prize would be awarded. In addition, the manage...

Hello All, I love the english language. I love that there are so many different ways to express one thought. I love that the process of putting one's thoughts down can be an art in itself. I can't even pretend to be in the same class as some of the talented and learned wordsmiths who inhabit this site (you know who you are) but you inspire me every day and I have fun with it. To that end I want to express my frustration with what I see as a deterioration in our language. There are always the minor irritants with otherwise smart educated p...

Intimacy is always a difficult area for us ostomates. Here is how I handle it.  Sometimes without my partner knowing that I have an ostomy.  Number one.  I bought one of those streatch weight or weight loss belts that Velcro together.  Number two, I asked my Doctor write me a prescription for lamictal, an anti diarrhea medicine.  Get lots depending on anticipated sexual activity.    For each 3 hour time that I want your stoma to be quiet, I  take 5 pills. I start 6 hours BEFORE my date (5 pills, then...

GET OFF MY BACK! Bob recently reminded me that folks with disability can fall foul occasionally of those who think judgementally.  These folks are often ignorant  of anything that’s different. So, tend ...

Yo Gang!   Ok, I've had enough.  Since joining this site this past summer (or maybe it was the spring), I've read with my own two eyes at least 3 or 4 ostomates claim they've had INTIMATE sexual relations (with a fellow human being) and their partner was totally unaware of their ostomy.  SAY WHAT???  So I need to know what the hell you're talking about.  Unless you're talking about a hummer in the car in a bar parking lot on a Friday night.......or you consider phone sex to be intimate.....I have no idea how you g...

The Dogs Meeting   The dogs once held a meeting,They came from near and far,Some came by motorcycle,And some by motor car.They walked into the meeting hall,Before around they looked,Each had to take his asshole off,And hang it on a hook.Now when the meeting startedWith each mother, son and sire,A dirty little yellow dogJumped up and hollered ‘FIRE’!The dogs jumped up in panicAnd had no time to look,So each one grabbed at randomAn asshole from a hook.They got their assholes all mixed up,Which made them very sore,To have t...

Hi Gang,   So I just scored a major win on Ebay on an antique telephone and it got me thinking about what my fellow ostomates do in their spare time.  As many have kicked their activity level down a notch with their new frontbutt I'm curious what you enjoy doing.  For me I've been collecting many things since long before my second ass came along, so not much has changed.  I'm concentrating on the top 3 right now, but here's a list of things I enjoy.  Let me know what gets your motor revving.   vintage Erect...

No one disputes that hospitals are doing heroic, extraordinary work through this pandemic. But aside from that, my abhorrence of hospitals abides. Just like every other member of this site, I have been hauled ill into hospitals many times over my years and, so far, have walked out returned to my rather cockamamie status quo, and kudos to the health care workers who brought me around. But these are dreadful places. You lose your humanity when you enter, your dignity disappears with your clothes, and you fall prey to the organized necessity ...

I was told that eating any kind of nuts can cause a blockage, does anyone know if this is true?

The following message was so cool; I am glad and proud to have this man as my landlord. I left out names for purposes of FOIP. Hello, It’s been a while since my last correspondence regarding Covid-19, and how lovely that has been. Now we seem to be entering a second wave, but because of your good-work during the first wave, the hospitals seem to be operating at normal or even quiet levels. We our asking that effective Friday, July 24, 2020 all tenants, their guests and any visitor to the building wear masks while in any common are...

OK, So I know I'm different, but now I'm really different after I woke up with an illieostomy.  I find I'm even more of a sub unit as the others on this site.  Are there any other gay men on here who would like to talk?  I have so many questions and just don't know how to progress.

Hi everyone.       Just thought I'd chime in to let you know my progress.  I had a colostomy takedown on March 10th of 2020.  I had the Hartmann procedure in October of 2019 due to diverticulitis.  Long story there. But anyway,  things are going extremely well.  (knock on wood).  I feel great, I've been working out again and getting back to my old hobbies.  I went from 185 pounds before the first procedure to an emaciated 145 pounds after I  had my Hartmann procedure, and now b...

Things are opening up a bit but not enough yet. Looking at August or September to do something. Drive or fly? North, East or West, South I think the boarder will still be closed. All I want to do is get out of this place. Anyone else got an itch?

Hello, I'm soon to get an ileostomy but there's one thing putting me off massively! I've heard for a few women now that vaginal intercourse is either impossible, very sore or (for lack of a better way to say it) can't go very deep after the surgery. I've had appointments with my consultant and 2 stoma nurses who have never heard of this but they also gave me a leaflet that said exactly my points in it?! I feel like this a massive gamble to be taking, especially considering no one can give me an answer? I'd love some advice from women w...

The disappearing ink of my memory started fading some time ago. My pre-ostomy time is almost entirely gone. I was 21 when they did the surgery; I am 77 now. What it was like to be a person without this thing attached to my belly, I cannot recall. It is as lost as a spare coin. When you go back fifty years in your mind, rivers become tributaries, tributaries become trickles. That hard-working hippocampus, whose job it is to send out memories to the appropriate part of the cerebral hemisphere for long-term storage and then to retrieve them w...

Yo Ostomates,   Jumping off the "I've got an ostomy and my life sucks" topic for just a teeny-weenie second...........check out my new hat!  Is this bitch rocking or what?  I was looking for a Dumb Donald (from Fat Albert) hat and this is the closest I could find.  One quick click on Amazon and $12 out of my pocket and this beauty was all mine.  I can even wear my old foggie glasses underneath and the lenses pop out if it's getting dark outside.  Might have to get a black one for when I hang out with my biker...

“A book lying idle on a shelf,” wrote Henry Miller, “is wasted ammunition.” Somewhere along the line, it would appear, I came to live by that belief, given the way that I read. Firstly, I don’t regard the act of reading as a way to flesh out a summer day or otherwise kill time. Killing time ought to be a felony. Life's too short.  At the risk of sounding elitist, I limit my reading to what might generally be deemed “good books.” That means recognized literary authors over best sellers or junk ...