Seeking Support for First Family Gathering Post-Surgery

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1518
xnine
Sep 16, 2025 12:17 pm

M9 spray and drops. Spray for the room and drops for the bag. No smell, no problem.

Fdschles
Sep 16, 2025 10:33 pm

Your MIL sounds like a beaut. My mom always told me to 'consider the source' whenever anyone said things that I found disturbing. Sound advice that I continue to live by. Go enjoy the family gathering and don't let an ignorant woman spoil your time!

Justbreathe

MeetAnOstoMate website turned out to be a lifesaver for me. I say this because, for me, this ostomy journey was a devastating event both physically and mentally.
Here, I found folks who understood my feelings even better than my family or friends could. Only a fellow ostomate can understand how you really feel.

Information sharing is key, as well as support and understanding, to ultimately bring more harmony into our ostomy life journey. I found here, virtually no ostomy questions that are not touched upon. Questions which some might feel, may be too trivial to contact a doctor about or even too shy or embarrassed to ask their own doctor about. They are all addressed here.

For me, anonymity was very helpful in seeking answers to each phase of this life changing medical and mental event. Sharing initial trauma feelings, ongoing support and finally acceptance was what I found with my membership here. I am not sure what my mental and physical attitude would be today without having found this site.

Additional benefits included: finding products and ideas to help with daily maintenance, innovative ideas and as a bonus - some great humor.
After all “laughter IS the best medicine”.

I have been a member for 3 years, an ostomate for 4 years - yes, I certainly wish I would have found it immediately after surgery but so very thankful I finally found it when I did as I truly believe it turned my troubled depression and situation into a more positive attitude and acceptance.

Sincerely,
An Ileostomate nicknamed Justbreathe 🫶🏼

k9rulz
Sep 18, 2025 4:59 am

I agree with Susan on this point. Everybody poops, so you're no different than everyone else, except you get to do it nicely into a bag 🤣 💩🚽. Bring some small baggies like they give you in your ostomy box if you need to change out your bag so you can dispose of it, tie it off, and not stink up the bathroom. Otherwise, everything else is emptied into the toilet like everyone else does, and you flush it. 🤷🏽 It seems like a MIL problem, not a you problem, to me? Also, it's rude how she treated you like that, in my opinion. You have enough sh*t going on (pun intended) that it's pretty insensitive of her to do that to you, given what you're going through.

Jane doe
Sep 18, 2025 9:17 pm

You are right, Ben! Mine hardly has an odor unless I eat onions or a few other things. I forgot how bad normal poo does smell! Until my husband goes!!!! 😅

Hawaii4
Sep 18, 2025 11:13 pm

This is my exact thought process. Shame on her as you navigate this that she brings this up to you. Rude.

You don't smell. She needs to do research.

 

My Ostomy Journey: Keyla | Hollister

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1965changedlife!!
Sep 21, 2025 1:56 am

Hi there! I read your concern about your family reunion and your MIL. I've had an ostomy since 1965, and I have some simple tips. 1. The day before, don't eat any foods that have a foul odor: onion, provolone cheese, fish, anything that might be smelly. 2. When I empty, I flush as soon as the pouch is empty. 3. After I clean the pouch, I use the M9 deodorant every time I empty. I've tried others, but M9 seems to work best for me. 4. Buy the small, inexpensive bottle of perfume from Walmart; they are $3.99 here. It is the only thing that seems to cover the smell of the pouch. 5. The most important info: enjoy life, don't live around the ostomy; it's part of you, just live. It will be okay.