Hi Julie here, Griffin's mom. I have Griffin who's 10 and Sage who's 11 with ADHD!! Oh, things can get very heated up in our house!!! Pam, make sure you know from the stoma nurse what to put on before she leaves because the nurses at the hospital did not know one thing about the bags!!! I am not a nurse, but I am when I am with Griffin!
1. Make sure the bag is cut to the size of the stoma.
2. If you have a ring, roll it in your hands to warm it up. Oh, also when you have cut out the bag, warm it under your arm or in your bra. LOL!! Sounds funny but sticks better if warm!
3. Try paste, this sticks the bag to the skin also!
4. At the hospital, they have (skin prep) alcohol wipes around the area that is (not red)!! If you get it on red skin, you will be saying more than shit, LOL!
5. The easiest way to put the ring on the bag is to seal itself to the skin because when the ring warms with the skin, it sticks better than everything being cold!!!!! When you get used to this, I was down the street and thought, "What is that in my bra?" and it was a spare ring, LOL...
6. Next, what you can do is use paper tape/hospital tape nurses have and tape your bag on because the first 3-4 weeks of staying on are useless, sorry... The outside of the bag then gives the skin time to heal on the inner and it doesn't give you the hassle of the bag coming off all the time!!!
One thing I would say is tell the kids, "Mummy's stoma is sore so if I get grumpy, it's not you, it's the stoma because this is all new and I'm learning what to do!!!!"
""You are not failing at this, it takes time and sometimes the stoma nurse may say do this, but if it's not right for you... don't do it... leakage can be because of lack of sleep, wrong food, wrong bag, don't put soap around the area of the stoma or the bag won't stick!!!
7. Do get the kids involved. Get them to warm the ring or bag, they adjust very well... I don't have it, my son does!!!
8. Laugh with kids if it leaks. "Oh man, I ate too much and my bag exploded!!!
To you, say first treat it like you were cleaning up undigested when your bag has leaked because that's what it is, but when you are comfortable, then it becomes food!!!
99999!!!!!!! A really good tip is to put your stoma bag, rings, paste under a warm hot water bottle while in the shower, then when you hop out, it's ready to go!!!!!
If you have any questions at all???? Please email me and I will get back to you ASAP
!!!!! Even if it's a question the kids have asked!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!! Hope this has given you some tips because we had to do it by ourselves because no one had a stoma person at the hospital before, so it was trial and error!!!
Cheers, Julie.