Surviving Florida's Hot Humid Summers

I don't normally post but I recently relocated to Daytona Beach, Florida from Maryland. As most summers anywhere, you are at times "sweating your a$$ off"... well in my case, I have been sweating my "bag off" with the extensive heat and humidity down here... Sighs

Any suggestions?

That's a tough one, Tee. Have you considered moving to Canada? (Just kidding). Because it's less expensive and it coincides with my daughter's summer vacation, I have been down to Florida during August a few times, and I totally agree...the heat and humidity are oppressive! But New York gets the same heat and humidity in the summer, and I just try to stay indoors during the day and only go out at night or early in the morning. Staying in the shade and not doing anything too physical also helps. But despite all my precautions, I still feel safer changing my appliance more often than I would in the cooler months. I also try to schedule physical work around the time I might be due to change my appliance. For example, if I know I have a lot of gardening or yard work to take care of, I'll try to do it right before I'm due to change my appliance so if it gets loose, I was going to change it anyway.

Hope this helps.

PJT's right... Canada's cool:

Tee Bag,

Just make sure you don't dehydrate...drink, drink and drink.

X_

I'm in Florida presently and our weather has been beastly...high humidity and in the 90's...
...however, I have been playing golf and yes sweating like crazy. I use a belt to help hold the bag close to my body, and so far...knock on wood...I haven't had any problems. Sure hope that after I write this I don't have problems this week when I go play eighteen holes in the heat....

Use a roll-on deodorant on your skin around the stoma but not on the stoma, let it dry then fix your back plate normally.

Works well for me.

I agree....Canada!

I have lived in FL for 5 years now and have had the same thing happen. I find that some appliances suddenly have started just leaking through the faceplate when I had never had that problem before. Once I realized it could be the weather conditions, I started taking more care when changing my appliance by doing the following:

1. Make sure the skin is absolutely clean and dry. It seems that I had to take extra time in the drying of the skin down here, which I had not noticed at first.

2. Use some sort of adhesive and/or skin barrier strips for extra support.

3. This is a personal preference, but I also have always worn a belt. I do seem to have to wear it more tightly now, but that is an adjustment I could make.

My condolences for relocating to FL....lol......the Mrs. and I don't care for it but whatcha gonna do?

May I suggest you stay in a very well air-conditioned place....however, I often use baby powder under my bag on my skin to keep dry and have to reapply every now and then, but it keeps me fresh. Heat doesn't bother me at all. I love it!!

For those having a problem with poor wear time because of sweating, I solved my problem in the following ways. After 5 years of total frustration with convectec products, I switched to Coloplast 2 piece. Also, I found a very good company called Ostomysecrets.com. They sell ostomy wraps that are very good at absorbing sweat. I work out 2 hours a day, 3 to 4 days a week with good results. The wrap looks and acts like a girdle. I wear mine over my bie
ies so my bag makes no contact with my skin. The bag stays firmly in place. I wear mine 24/7 and sleep more soundly as my bag stays firmly in place and does not move around when turning. I have had my ileostomy since 2004 and it has been only the past year that I am finally comfortable and secure with it. For those struggling with your ostomy, hang in there. I had major leak problems for 5 years before solving my problem. May
God bless all who read this. Gran pa Jim.

I think wearing a belt is one of the best ideas. Make sure your skin is clean and dry before putting the wafer on and then hold it in place for a minute or even more, to make sure it adheres to your body properly. That should help.