Measuring Stoma for Wafer Fit - Techniques?

Does anyone have a good technique for measuring the stoma (due to the fact that none are perfectly round) to make a template for cutting a good fit wafer?

Hi Penguins7, I don't know about you, but I get a guide that is made of cardboard in every box of my pouches. They are a good guide for me. I don't know, maybe take a soft cloth and do the same till it is right, then draw it on whatever you're going to use as a template? Seems to me mine only changes when I eat something that doesn't agree too well and it gets swollen. Then I just cut my pouch wafer till it seems correct. Good luck with trying to find what works for you.

Hi Mrs. A
Thanks for your input. I do get the cardboard templates but they are perfectly round. I used them for a while but my nurse said I need to have a custom cut. I tried using the moldable wafers and had major leaking issue so I am back to the drawing board.

I'm somewhat oval, so I used the ruler that is included in my cardboard template to measure horizontally and vertically. Then, because my wafer has measured rings on them, I use that to custom fit my cut.

Sinfulsot, thanks for the tip.

My Ostomy Journey: April | Hollister

Hello penguin7.

One side of the oval stoma did fit, so I used the clear plastic backing sheet to fit where it would and then drew a line in felt-tip where it didn't fit. Once this was cut to the right size (after several adjustments) I used it as a template to draw on subsequent wafers.

Best wishes  Bill

Thanks for your help, Bill. I will get this thing right yet.

You can also go to any art or crafts store and get templates with various oval sizes, but what I did was take something like an Eakin ring, molded it around my odd-shaped stoma, then pulled it off and had my template. Of course, I then drew it on something more permanent like plastic to use each time. Take care....Gail

Hi Penguins, I know this can be a real pain in the ass,er belly. This took me a long time and got a lot of help from our great ostimates. So to business: first, I believe you mentioned you had a measuring card with all the different sizes, well that was my starting point, so you have an ovate shaped stoma, if you try a few of the holes and find one that will slip over your stoma, of course you'll have a bare spot but you know the size of hole you're going to need, next you get some adapt rings, or seals, whatever, eaking as long as you have a seal, next you warm it up a bit with a hairdryer on low for about 20 secs turning it over occasionally. Here it would be really useful if I knew the approximate size of your stoma, so we'll say at its longest point its one inch, so if you slip it over your thumb and stretch as you get to your knuckle. Now there are two tabs on the seal covers and you use them as a guide to where you are going to stretch it to your longest area and try and see where you need more or less, it will take a few tries but you'll be able to see where it fits or not, ideally if you can arrive at a size that might have just a slight squeeze, say about 1/32". Now if you can get that seal as close as possible to your stoma and it looks like a good fit, next you remove the paper tab on what will be the back so when you put it on you'll still have the paper covering on the front, which makes it easier to run you finger around the seal and when you feel you have a good connection, just peel away the front paper. Now when you place the flange on top of the seal you wont have to worry about anything getting by the seal as now you have the seal and the flange all stuck together. And now you can think about getting your flanges pre cut to the largest size that fits over your stoma and now you just slap on your pouch and away you poo, er, go. I hope you can make some sense out of this as its the first time I've tried to explain my method while typing. And if you have any questions I could help with just give me a shout, take care and good luck, Ed

Hey Gail, thanks for your advice. What is an Eakin ring? Rod

Hey Ed. Thanks so much. It makes sense and now I know what Gail was referencing (Eakin Ring). I seem to have too large of a gap with the current template at the bottom of my stoma and the skin is getting a little irritated at times. Do you have your wafer fairly tight fitting on the stoma or do you leave a gap like I heard is best? Thanks again. Rod

Rod, I am now using a moldable ring and I put it right up against my stoma....no gaps. Good luck, Gail

Hi Rod, great to see you're getting some help. As for my wafer, its just touching my stoma all around. The strange thing is over the years my stoma has changed and is nearly a perfect circle and that makes it easier 'cause I can order my wafers cut to 7/8 inch and that works out pretty good. A couple of weeks ago I ran into leaks right at the 9o'clock position and after changing up to one a day I opened a new box of wafers and success. Take it cool, you'll get this all straightened out, and then you'll find a new problem, just kidding Rod, but you know where to find us, Ed

Hi penguin, I also have an oval stoma. It's hard to find a good fit. I have tried soooo many different things but the molded ones work best with the paste. They fill gaps better than the ring due to the odd stoma shape. Contact different manufacturers to send you samples. Play around and find a fit. It takes time.....xo

Thanks Bettybop for your help. I have not tried the paste as of yet because I heard it is difficult to remove when changing wafer? Not sure if that is the case or not. Thanks again. Rod

Hi Ed,

Mine was a perfect circle coming out of surgery, but it has changed in the last few months. Maybe it is related to the position of the moon. Everyone has been so helpful on this site. I grew up in Manitoba. Rod

Hey Rod, the paste for me is not a problem. I have tried the seals and found that they tend to stiffen up during wear and start to pull the entire flange off. It depends on what activity you do. I find they are not good with flexibility. They are great in regards to making the prep work easy...but because the stoma is oval, the paste provides leak coverage. It works for me anyways. Just try everything!! The other thing I use which is fantastic is the aerosol glue spray. I use it on the flange and have not had a leak or any issue with water since. It does not irritate the skin either. You may want to try that too.
Good luck!

Hi y'all
I have just gone 13 days without a change or leak. And believe me, that I still abuse my digestive system, or what's left of it.[1] Clean and dry[2] adhesive powder[3] 3M barrier spray then[4] Opsite tape around the edges.. No irritation, no leaks even with a lot of gas
Tag it, bag it, live with it.

Hi there garfish, how well I remember when I could get up to 8 days after a change and all of a sudden I started feeling miserable and couldn't keep a flange on for more than a few hours and finally I landed in the hospital, oh what fun, those poor nurses were changing me up to 6 times a day until they hooked up a contraption of a pouch with a tube drain into another bag and they had me taped up like a mummy. Finally the doc found out I had a potassium problem and it was causing the tape to fall of my skin, after a week it finally cleared up but I was never to get back to 8 days but I won't complain if I can stay around 6. Have a good one, Ed

Just call me Lucky. I've had this thing since September 2011. Still mulling over the reconnect.

BTW, just read your bio. Yeah, I got back problems too. Where do you want to start, lumbar or scoliosis?

Gutenberg,
What was the potassium problem causing wear time to be less? Just wondered as I too have just started to have problems with wear time. Used to go 6-7 days, now 3-4 days. Ileostomy 35 years now - flush stoma, dips on both sides. Now have that cleared up, fixed but still can only go 3-4 days before change? Thanks
Susie

Hi sooziq: I'm really sorry but I never was told why the potassium caused my skin to reject the tape but I was told by another ostimate he had the same problem and once his potassium was brought back to the proper level he never had any more problems. So, just guessing here, I would think our skin is probably weeping because of the improper potassium levels and causes the tape to not stick. Usually after a few days in a hospital I don't have anything on my mind except get the hell out of there or like after surgery my brain is still dead and anything I'm told gets lost pretty quickly. A few times I asked to have something in writing and the docs say no problem, they just forget, just like me. Take care, Ed

Hi Ed, your technique worked for getting a better fit on my wafer. It took a few revisions but what a difference. Thanks again. Penguin7

Hi Rod, hey that's good news and I'm happy to hear about it. Also, keep in mind you can still run into a problem once in a while because you cant see if both the seal and the flange are nearly perfect, not to worry, I have a couple of ideas I'll tell you about later, but first I'll have to take a picture it saves time and makes it easier to explain. When I get it ready you'll see it here, take care, Ed