How Long Does Your Appliance Typically Last?

What is your average wear time for your appliance? I have had so many people say they get 2-3 days out of theirs and they seem quite proud of that. I can get 7+ days out of mine.

Hi Budd002, yes, I can remember when I was lucky to get a full day out of a bag/wafer. Couldn't understand how other people got 2 and 4 or like yourself... 7 days. The best I did in the first 18 months was 3 days. But normal was one or two a day. Drove me mad, and I wanted to know why they thought they saved my life when I was in the loo more often than not. Huh? The force of the output was—most times—the fault... destroying the paste in one gush, which just happened to last forever. Never stopped eating and drinking. Could have timed the food... as to when it went in and when it came back out... 10 minutes. Then I get told they have put the hoses/bowel too close to the body... my bone structure was blamed as well, as I was only 39 kilos. As the saying goes, "You can't put a good woman down." 5 years later, look at me now. Fit as, still skinny, but as healthy as I'll ever be... Wafers last up to 6 days, amazingly... I'm happy in my skin and with who I am now... So life does get a lot better after all that... and thank God too. So, I totally understand if anyone out there is going through the wafers like they're an icy cold beer... Cya's Tarababy

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I just joined the wonderful world of having a colostomy. I am lucky to get up to 5 days, usually about 3, but I am not a normal one. With me, they put my stoma in an old scar that is like a ditch, and I have to build up mine with a wax ring and paste and hope that I will make it 5 days, but so far 3 is an average, and I am not working yet, so just getting up off the couch and my chair.

How I wish my appliance lasted longer than it does. After having my stoma stapled (no good) and then repositioned to the other side, I still end up with a virtually flat stoma.
I wear convex and have gone through trying everything I can: paste, rings, one piece, two piece.
Sometimes I get very sore and have also had ulcerative colitis on the outside of my stomach. This was a surprise as I thought once they removed my bowel, that was the end of ulcerative colitis. The hospital took photos as the stoma nurse there hadn't come across it before...except in her reference books. Even the burn blisters are nasty in themselves without U.C.

I had to change appliances three times last night due to leakages, and on a good day, I am lucky to get twelve hours without changing the flange (I have found two-piece best so far, but it still leaves a lot to be desired).

I dare not lay close to my husband and fall asleep in case I leak; I'm always at the edge of the bed!

Yes, I have other health problems... M.S., Barrett's esophagitis, acidosis, kidney problems, and more...

I am so pleased they saved my life, and my lovely husband and I have been married for the four years I have had my stoma...but oh, sometimes I so wish I had a stoma that resembled an elephant's trunk...something to actually put in the bag!