I was wondering if anyone knows if our life is decreased in any way by not having a colon. Obviously, we are living longer due to life-saving surgery. I was just wondering if ostomates are missing out on vitamins/minerals that may have a negative effect on our long-term health.
I know I won't be dying from colon cancer.

When told that I have a urostomy, some people's immediate reaction is, "Oh yuck! Fancy peeing into a bag!" My reply is, "Oh yuck! Fancy carrying pee inside your body. How unhygienic is that!"
How do you respond when people act in this way? Apart from telling them to "Foxtrot Oscar."
When you have an ostomy, you have to keep your sense of humor (SOH).

Hi everyone,

I'm almost four months post-ileostomy surgery, and I'm looking to start rebuilding my core strength. I haven't been able to exercise for years, so I'm starting from scratch and want to be really careful.

One of my biggest concerns is overdoing it and increasing my risk of a hernia. I know core strength is important, but I'm not sure what exercises are safe to begin with. ...

I was pleased to be able to read the study report of the previously closed clinical trial of the TIES III 'continent' implant device, which I have copied below courtesy of publishers NHS Health Research Authority.
Prof. Jayne makes the point that as the clinical trial was stopped early—a decision reflecting the need to redesign TIES and continue potentially as a single-arm open study [[it wa ...

Just received one package of 5 guards for the stoma. Since having the stoma, I have always had reservations about protecting it. There are quite a few styles and brands. Found this on the Edge Park website. They told me the insurance would not cover 5, only 3 last week. Today, five come. Hot damn! So... does anyone else share a notion about protecting their tiny front butt hole? This one from ...

Hello fellow ostomates! I have been following for a year and a half. This site is the best thing I have found in my new “normal.” I have tried taking my multivitamin; it makes my stool jet black! Does anyone on here have that problem? I have not been able to gain my weight back, and my appetite is not good most of the time. I had emergency surgery in April 2023; this site has been a lifesa ...

So I love to go swimming. Now that I have an ostomy I don't swim anymore. Tips recommendations, help me here open to all suggestions thanks!

Hello from New Zealand. I had an ileostomy 10 weeks ago, due to ulcerative colitis not responding to any drugs.
Within about 4 weeks after surgery, I started to suffer joint pain, knees, wrists, thumb joints.
I asked the doctor and he believes because I still have an anal stub, the joint pain is from what UC is left within the anus and rectum.
Has anyone experienced this and if so, how did you ...

So I’m still pretty new to terminology and such. Back in March of 2024, after a year of my ileostomy, I saw a surgeon at Emory. The original doctor wasn’t able to create a J pouch during my surgery in January 2023. After talking with the surgeon at Emory, we both decided to not try again since my quality of life already was leaps and bounds better than when I had UC. He ended up removing t ...

I've been using Hollister's new image, flat skin barriers for the better part of 15 years, and at least once a week, I would experience some leakage underneath the skin barrier between my skin and the barrier. This was always frustrating because it meant that the skin barrier only lasted for a few days.
A couple of weeks ago, I decided to try their convex skin barrier, and I am absolutely en ...

Hi friends. My surgery went well! I came home on Wednesday night.
So… my pants were a bit snug that I went home in and when I was sitting I didn't notice that the waistband was directly over my stoma. The wax ring got malformed and started smushing out between the wafer and stoma. I have some what looks like sticky wax on the top side of the bag and it looks like it's sticking to the stoma a ...