Latest Forum Topics

Never marry a woman who was captain of the debate team A retired husband is often a wife's full-time job. Women spend more time wondering what men are thinking than men spend thinking. for every reply i will add another....

Two elderly women were out driving in a large car - both could barely see over the dashboard. As they were cruising along, they came to an intersection. The stoplight was red, but they just went on through. The woman in the passenger seat thought to herself, 'I must be losing it. I could have sworn we just went through a red light.' After a few more minutes, they came to another intersection and the light was red. Again, they went right through. The woman in the passenger seat was almost sure that the light had been red but was really conc...

Hello All, Since having my colostomy, my stoma has swollen up on three diffrent occasions. This of course has been a frightening event for me or dare I say could be for anyone. Each time the swelling happened, I messaged my surgeon and provided a picture along with my concerns and symptoms. Only once did I have to be go in to be examined. Your stoma could or maybe particially blocked from something you consumed. Here is something you can or may try before seeking medical attention. If your stoma is still red in color and your ...

It's funny how I can still relate to my ostomates. It's been almost 7 yrs since my reversal from an ileostomy due to cancer and a lower anterior resection. Sometimes when I am having a bad day, I like to come on here and it brings me a sense of comfort. It's hard to explain. It has gotten better but definitely still NOT a bed of roses. Due to my resection being so low I still have a lot of bowel movements and rectal nerve pain from the surgery. I somehow power thru it, do I sometimes wish for my ostomy back? Many times for sure but I am gr...

I just returned from the hospital where I was treated for a nasty infection around the stoma amongst other medical issues.  Some areas around the ostomy were so broken down that tried and true remedies (nystatin, skin barrier wipes, etc) were not working and I could not get a bag to stick.  The pain was so unbearable I was treated with morphine and hydrocodone throughout my stay.  Fortunately I was visited by the wound care nurses at the hospital.  I brought my own supplies and cut the bag adding barrier rings (I need t...

It’s an expression we’ve heard and it has meaning beyond the words. It’s comparable to “chill” or “Who!” or “Hey, back up”. Unfortunately I was the recipient of that phrase because I really needed to “take a break”. Today I’m referencing the actual words and the advice they offer. Lots of you folks are experts at feeling crappy and all with good reason. We’ve gone through stuff; some of us are still going through it. Most of us work at it to feel better ourselves...

My brother just had debulking/HIPEC surgery here in Belgium. Has anyone travelled 11 hours like a month after surgery and had to get hydration solution or saline on a plane? 

My husband has problems when needing to wear a suit because he cant tuck in his shirt.  Does anyone have any suggestions?

Are you with your soul mate? Defintion:"A soulmate is someone that just gets you. It's a connection of minds, a mutual respect, an unconditional love and understanding. Many of us marry early-at least I did ,one would assume that's your soul mate. Is it? Then their are others whose significant others physically died. On that note, I know people who never dated after that. Then there was others who married again, and again. Which one was your soul mate? I've been married 35 years and out of this union had 2 children. Do some of us ...

Hey guys...I have a quick question. Are plastic wafers better than paper (or maybe its material) ones? I use a paper 1 and...while it does a good job there are still majorly annoying features. The material used for the appliance burns my skin after maybe 2 days into being put on..it seems to cause a rash of some sort (ostomy nurse said it was a yeast infection) where I will take the water off there are a lot of clumps of red slight raised red bumps that irritate my skin and makes my skin itchy (which is annoying as heell since I cant get u...

Has anyone heard any thing on this< >

I had a bath the other day and my flange gave way in two days. I forgot to put skin prep on. There must have been oil on my skin after the bath. I often get 10 days on my flange. So this is just a reminder to myself to not forget the skin prep after a bath. When I shower it is not an issue.

I just wanted to tell y'all that miracles do happen for us when it comes to love! Many of us doubt whether we will ever be loved again...but I'm here to tell you that we can! I am now married after 5 years spent being alone and miserable! I got married on St. Patrick's Day and have loved it ever since! Shane doesnt give a darn about sammy (my stoma) and actually tends to forget that it's even there! He is still learning all about the ins and outs of ostomate life but has the basics down pat. He has yet to be able to watch me change it beca...

just had prolapsed stoma reduced! Looking for stoma guard! 

I have had my colostomy for about 7 months now.  There is no stoma nurse available in my area and I try to find answers to questions by online research.  That doesn't alway work well and can be very time consuming.  My question is this:  How do you keep your flange/barrier clean in between changes?  I have terrible issues with pancaking and that tends to leave this very soiled.  Even though I can get several days wear out of a bag, as I rinse it often, the flange is very difficult to keep from being very soile...