Well, that's another week ticked off. Back to work, going to get paid soon. I knew there was a reason I kept turning up.
I'm a bus driver and work shifts, early one week then late the next. My first late week back was a good one once I had worked out how long to eat before I got to work. These are the things that only we understand.
My early week brought about some different issues. The first being, I used to love a nice long hot shower before work, and on the first day, I did this and decided on a bag change at the same time. I find a clean new bag is like clean underwear. Well, off I went to the shower, mmm lovely, all that hot spray and soap, no bag, oh to feel normal again.
Now I've developed a system after the shower. It took a few failed attempts and s--t all over the place. As I get out of the shower, I place a section of kitchen roll (1 sheet does plenty) over the clean but wet stoma and then put my nice new toweling robe tightly around it. This gives me a chance to get a little dry and relaxed and enjoy the feeling of being clean before, well, you know what.
Now back to my early morning prep. I tried this on the first morning, went through the ritual, was on the bed, everything at the ready, and then bang, an eruption, all over, hands, bathrobe, bed. It seems my little friend does not like being changed first thing in the morning when I have time pressure in getting to work, but as they say, you learn by your mistakes.
Now my wife has made some nice elastic pads that cover the seal in the shower so I can stay in the shower as long as I like and open the bottom of the bag and wash so it still feels I'm off to work clean.
Well, I've just looked at the time and now I'm in a rush, just off to shower and then work.

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We sat down with two influential people in the ostomy community, to find out how they cope during challenging times.
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Learn how to care for your loved one, while still taking care of yourself.