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The pic was last night. The right side of my stoma went flat. It was like the air depleted. Then by the time I went to bed, both sides had depleted. It has always stood above the skin at least 1/2 inch. Now it's barely above the skin. Do I need to worry about this? It scared me when I noticed it, but everything seems to be working fine. Anyone else have this happen?
My stoma moves in and out quite a bit. It goes from nearly flat to out about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch. For me, it happens all the time.
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Mine shrinks and expands constantly too. Sometimes the top part of it (where the hole is) sucks in close to skin level, but never for long. Yours looks really healthy and your skin does too. If it's still working well, and you aren't having problems with leaks due to how close to skin level part of it is, it's probably fine. It's hard to tell from your picture, but this looks like a loop ileo. Is the part that is close to skin level the main hole, or the other one that doesn't get output? If it's the active hole, it may be challenging for you to get a good seal. If it's the inactive hole, you are probably good. I see that you are a new ostomate, so it might be a good idea to talk to your surgeon or ostomy nurse.
Terry
Thank you for answering! I was very worried. It took almost 3 months for it to happen, and it scared me. I just knew something was wrong! I feel much better now. I love this site! Y'all are awesome.
G-Day shonakipfer,
I have an ileostomy and yours is a colostomy, but my stoma looks very much like yours. One side of mine is lower than the other, but using a convex wafer makes it work OK. I think you should be safe.
Your skin and stoma look fantastically healthy.
Regards, IGGIE
My bad. I hadn't read your bio, and I see you have a colostomy, not an ileo. It's surprising how much like an ileostomy it looks because ileostomies are usually sort of lopsided. You might have to start wearing a convex wafer if you aren't already.
Terry
Like was said above, my stoma goes in and out all the time. When it is active, it comes out a little more, and when it is not active, it can go almost flat. It's annoying, really. It looks like from your picture your stoma is still sticking out, so that is good. They do move and change shape and size a lot.