Hi there, I hope you are all well...
Well, this is my first ever visit to this site and first ever blog. I'm not a big tech head, but I think it's time I started to talk to other folk with a colostomy. I was diagnosed with cancer in 2008. The tumor was the size of an apple. After 2 years of radio/chemo, Thames, etc., I was told I needed a colostomy to save my life! I had the operation in 2009 and have sort of lived with it ever since, not happily mind. I haven't met anyone else with one, haven't been to any meetings, etc... After living in bed and the hospital for two years, I tried so hard to get myself back to me. To cut a long, long story short, I wanted to get back to living. The biggest problem I've had is with pancaking. I've tried so many different bags but all seem to have the same problem. Maybe it's slightly psychological, I don't want an inflated bag under my shirt, it has to be flat so no one can see? Do I push too much air out to make the bag flat, possibly. The worst moment for me was when I was at a football match, in a VIP restaurant, had my starter, my stomach started to turn and before I could get to any toilet, the bag had virtually come off. Well, you know the score then. The trouble was, I was wearing a white shirt. I spent the rest of the night in the toilet trying to do a good clean-up job. I haven't been to a game since. I have tried the gels, the crystals, the powders, the one thing that works for me better than anything else is a screwed up wet wipe! This still doesn't work 100% though.
Can anyone help? Many thanks in anticipation.
Well, this is my first ever visit to this site and first ever blog. I'm not a big tech head, but I think it's time I started to talk to other folk with a colostomy. I was diagnosed with cancer in 2008. The tumor was the size of an apple. After 2 years of radio/chemo, Thames, etc., I was told I needed a colostomy to save my life! I had the operation in 2009 and have sort of lived with it ever since, not happily mind. I haven't met anyone else with one, haven't been to any meetings, etc... After living in bed and the hospital for two years, I tried so hard to get myself back to me. To cut a long, long story short, I wanted to get back to living. The biggest problem I've had is with pancaking. I've tried so many different bags but all seem to have the same problem. Maybe it's slightly psychological, I don't want an inflated bag under my shirt, it has to be flat so no one can see? Do I push too much air out to make the bag flat, possibly. The worst moment for me was when I was at a football match, in a VIP restaurant, had my starter, my stomach started to turn and before I could get to any toilet, the bag had virtually come off. Well, you know the score then. The trouble was, I was wearing a white shirt. I spent the rest of the night in the toilet trying to do a good clean-up job. I haven't been to a game since. I have tried the gels, the crystals, the powders, the one thing that works for me better than anything else is a screwed up wet wipe! This still doesn't work 100% though.
Can anyone help? Many thanks in anticipation.