Ostomy Journey: Hernia Complications and Seeking Advice

I've watched the blogs for months but this is my 1st time writing.
This  is the 6 month anniversary of my ostomy.  The first  months I went thru the typical stages, disbelief, denial,  anger, depression embarrassment and finally  acceptance. My stoma was completely manageable, no problems,  In July  my hernia appeared and since then everything's changed; 5 out of 7 days my stoma is uncomfortable, sometimes an ulcer will develop, and/or  I develop yeast infections, etc.  The only thing I can attribute the discomfort and problems is the hernia.  What could have caused this.  I have become friends with one of my would care nurses and she tells me this can happen but doesn't happen to everyone who has had a colostomy.    

My surgeon and I are discussing possible surgery dates for the reversal and repair, but now that I know what I'm in for, I'm terribly nervous. I'm trying to schedule just after Thanksgiving and before Christmas.

Any information would be so very appreciated.

Hello Caaan7,
The problems with hernias are a nuisance that we could do without after all the other things we've been through.  However, it is my belief that we are probably more susceptable to them having had our muscles tampered with and weakend during surgery.    There was no way that I was going to stop doing the things I wanted to just because I had the operation but I was concerned about the swellings which were not going away.
I spoke to my ostomy nurse and read on this site that certain abdominal exercises were good for this.   I waited until I started irrigating and wearing plugs, then I got an adjustable hernia belt (which I wear tightly) and I now do abdominal exercises at least twice per day.
The swelling has definitely gone down to almost 'normal' (whatever that is) and I feel so much better as I can now wear my usual clothes instead of walking around in a boiler suit all day long.
These hernia belts can be made with a hole in them for the stoma to be unaffected but I declined this as one of my hernias was immediately behing the stoma and I was quite happy with it squashing the stoma as well as it's surrounds. (I got my belts from CUI International as I found that the earlier non-adjustable ones were OK until I washed them and then they went too loose)
As with all the advice given on this site I do believe that it is as well to talk things over with the ostomy nurses before trying potentially harmful activities as we are all different and not all things work for everyone.
I hope this information proves useful to you
Best wishes
Bill

I know how you feel, i had my emergency colostomy last January , what a thing to wake up to. Anyway it had been 8 months since my surgery and all was as expected, then my entire incision herniated down the front of me. My surgeon did not want to do the take down and fix the Ventral hernia at the same time because of cross contamination. I chose to keep my colostomy and fix the hernia with a biological mesh( pig derma) two weeks ago. I hurt like a bitch but just got the staples out today and feel really good finally. Was worth the surgery, look normal now and this time i will watch what i lift. Keeping the stoma allows me more freedom from loose stools and if i want i can still have the take down in a couple years.. Good luck and remember it only hurts for a pretty short time.

Thanks for your reply. My ostomy nurse never told me about abdominal exercises to do.  I do have a hernia belt with the hole in it for my stoma but only wear it when I go to Zumba, or should I say, when I used to go to Zumba.  The pain is such that sometimes it just hurts to walk around. I was told by my surgeons nurse that pain with the hernia directly behind my stoma is not abnormal.

My scheduled surgery will be 12-1 and I'm so looking forward to it.  But, I'm at the point with this discomfort that if the colostomy cannot be reversed, HE MUST FIX MY HERNIA!!!! I can't believe I just said that outloud and of course I do want it all done, but I'm beginning to live on advil and tylenol for the discomfort/pain. I'm sure the 3 weeks between now and 12-1 will almost fly by if it wasn't for that "GoLytely".

My colostomy is 20 years old.  I have developed a hernia about one and a half inches from the side of the stoma.  Is it necessary to have surgery to repair the hernia or would a ostomy hernia support belt be all right.  How long will an belt keep the hernia from getting larger?

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