DIY Stoma Wash: Brian's Portable Solution

Hello everyone, or anyone who's there really.. I'm not being funny, it's just that today is New Year's Eve and folk have so much to do 'cause it's the last one for 22. So.. apologies done. Now I'm a 6-month 'new' stomate wearing my colostomy result with an element of pride but while I was in hospital I used to wonder what the procedure would be back home regarding cleanliness, both full-on and intermediate. Would I have to do what the nursing staff kept advising me to do along with the other stoma patients, that would be to shower if you have a bit of a mullock (mishap). Well, I have to admit, after living a reasonably long life and having had my fair share of mullocks along the way, I now became concerned and tried to imagine how many times I would need to go through the motions, no pun intended, per day of; shower, bag on, shite, bag off, shower, bag on, shite, bag off, shower etc. etc. and adding to that would be the odd mullock of course.

At that stage, I had no ideas regarding my regularity or when the remaining pain around the stoma may finally disappear, in true terms it took longer than expected. So I arrived home full of trepidation and ringing around anywhere I could find to ask a simple question, do you have any equipment or portable accessory which may be helpful to wash my stoma, I am new to this and I'm just looking for an aid to wash without painful rubbing because the stoma attachment area is still tender to touch. The answer was a quick and definite no! I was so disappointed, I went straight over to my garage and looked everywhere I could think of, you know that feeling when you can't seem to just put your mind to it... The day after, I tried again and after a while I spotted what I thought may just be a starter. I took it and worked for a short while until there was a finished item. Now this is the time where I confess, when I produced the prototype to my own family they openly amused themselves at my expense, friends took the proverbial piss and stoma nurses either showed no interest or talked to me as if I possibly needed humoring just to get to the next patient.

The one thing in my favor as I saw it, was that none of these people had a stoma and have never been in our situation to actually know how it feels. Let me say now before I go any further, I know we're all individuals and have different wants, needs, likes, and dislikes.. our stomas are like fingerprints, totally unique to each one of us making accessories difficult to attract the masses. I firmly believe that if only one person finds help from what could be called an oddity published on this or any other site, then the time and effort employed in its production has been worth every minute. So in my garage (more of a multifunctional workshop nowadays) I found some soon-to-be discarded containers and chose one of a suitable size which I quickly trimmed to shape and a couple of go's to get things to my liking, job done. As I've already intimated, this is not a ground-breaking invention, it is something which is free and easy to make, attracts comical comments from the local nob-heads but worked really well for me and still comes in very handy for washing without constant showering. My wife named it 'Brian's Stoma Bath' and I would like to pass it on. The job required only a craft knife and a small piece of 100g sandpaper plus a nice wash in order to use it, so it's cheap enough to have a go.

The other part needed is an empty kitchen spray used for such as windows and worktops, I found the best type is the one with an adjustable spray head which can help with a new and very tender ostomy. I have since bought a battery-powered, handheld bidet spray which is totally portable and a pleasure to use and if I ever manage to load my pics then I'll post this message if only to share a smile or two.

Hello Briutz.

Thanks for sharing your story. It's always reassuring to know that there are other people who will retreat to their workshop to experiment and try to find answers to stoma questions.
The way I read your post, it sounded as if you were just after something to help wash your stoma without painful rubbing. A long time ago when I first had a stoma one of the manufacturers sent me (free of charge) a small clear-plastic tub for that purpose, which I have used ever since. All I do is half fill it with warm water, place it over the stoma and shake it for a minute or so. (because it is clear plastic, I can see when the stoma area is clean)  After which I carefully wipe the residual water off with a piece of toilet roll. This  has been a very effective way of keeping the stoma clean. Interestingly, the same type of plastic tubs are what my prawns are packed in each week, so I have kept one back, just in case the original comes amiss at any time.

What works for me may not work for you, but it might be worth a try.

Best wishes

Bill
 

Hi Bill, I've just added the rest of the text which seems to have been lost in the sodding clouds. The pics are proving to be another problem which renders the message almost useless.

Well, Bill, I managed the photos but 2 have laid down, probably fed up of me manhandling them.

Hello Briutz. 

Thanks for the photos, which give a much fuller picture of what you were trying to convey. 
I just love your ingenuity and the willingness to experiment with items that are easily and cheaply available.

The concept does seem as if it will work and you are to be congratulated on your efforts. I am not sure if this arrangement would suit me better than the more simple 'tub & shake' method I presently use, as it appears to need two workable/competent hands; one for the shield and one for the spray.  With my arthritis, I often need both hands if I am not to drop items, so a single 'tub' ,half filled with water is probably ‘safer’ (for me) than  manipulating a spray and a shield.

Best wishes

Bill

Thanks for the interest, Bill. You're right, though. They are definitely easier if our hands are a bit more manipulative.

So hopefully it's onward and upwards, Bill,

All the best to you,

Brian

Necessity is the mother of invention. Very clever and useful.

I use a plastic squeeze bottle of water with a hand towel under stoma...take off old bag using adhesive remover wipe, use toilet paper to gently pat stoma, use sensitive baby wipes (with only water..no fragrance) rinsed with water and a little Kirk's Castile soap to gently clean stoma and area, rinse with water bottle with hand towel under stoma to catch runoff, pat dry gently...and install new bag. They gave me a plastic squeeze bottle at the hospital in my "welcome to your new world package" but a food grade clear condiment works too. I bought a stack of cheap hand towels at Walmart just for taking care of the alien... Took me a while but got it down to a science finally... Celia1552

Hi Celia1552, glad to hear that there are other people such as yourself and Bill who will also pass on their own story on how to deal with such a personal problem. I seem to read regularly about the sad problems so many stomates have when that overwhelming realization hits home and we wake up with what looks and feels like the most painful open wound you only normally have in nightmares, then curiosity takes hold. You know, until I entered this elite club brandishing my lovely blood red badge, I had never given the subject, or the actual stomates, a single solitary thought. Since then I've delved into so much in terms of ostomy information that I find the whole subject so daunting. So many people are affected in so many different ways... it decimates love affairs, ruins relationships, demoralizes the normally confident and heartbreakingly influences the whole lives of anyone from childhood to old age... and yet, after all the years our world has benefited from this surgery, we are still having to dedicate our own time for developing answers for some of the oldest problems that eventually touch us all.

I wish more people were interested in sharing their thoughts and answers they have found for themselves no matter how insignificant they may think they are.

Hi Briutz! It has taken two years for me to speak up... I normally just observe... This site has been a godsend for me, I just hope anything I have learned can help someone else. Best of all to you! Celia1552