Most Commented Topics Of All Time

I had surgery on the 23rd of June. it went badlt afoter popping another parastmal hernia the day after having the others repaired. Since the surgery I have had sharp stinign pain around the base of my stoma, a weeping sinus open up and i have an extremely sore lump on my abdomen that feels like it may turn into another weeping sinus. Right then, My surgeon is away till the 27th of August and I ...

Has anyone with an ostomy ever encountered troubles getting through security, being patted down or anything horrible in front of others? Thanks, Carol

We all have them ... those dark days when everything seems wrong and it's just too damn hard to put one foot in front of the other.

In times like these, I rely on a few favourite quotes to bolster me up again.

My all-time favourite is Sir Winston Churchill's tongue in cheek line :

If you're going through hell ... keep going."

Sometimes, just stepping back and putting things in a better ...

Am curious if everyone here names their stoma. My ostomy nurse told me it was a very common thing. I named mine Marvin after Marvin the Martian because when he was fresh and new and all blobby I thought he looked like a martian coming out of my stomach. Then my ostomy nurse that I had for the first 2 months after surgery started calling him a beautiful little rose. So then he became Marvin Ros ...

Last Monday I changed my appliance. Wednesday had a blowout. I noticed that day that my scar at the side of my ostomy looked irritated. I was a little afraid I had ripped it again. Thursday I had another blowout. This time I noticed a red ring around my ostomy. At the time I couldn't tell if the red ring would be under my barrier ring or just outside it.
The last few days I've felt itchy and o ...

Since summer is now upon us here in Ontario, one of my favorite foods has always been corn on the cob. I have had my colostomy not quite a year. Because I had surgery, then was on chemo for 6 months, and now radiation, I am testing the waters with food as I still can't figure out how long it takes things to digest and am currently curious about corn and salads. I have heard so much mixed infor ...

I am feeling not so good. I can't get myself to drink fluids or eat a lot. Losing about 2 lbs a day. Night sweats are bad and I have chills. Home nurse said she sees no infection, I have minimal pain....
What's wrong with me? 6-week post-operation and worried!

Hi everyone! My name is Nicole. I am 30 years old. I was diagnosed with UC when I was 16. I have been struggling this entire time, switching medication and diets, trying to find something that will work. And unfortunately, nothing has helped. I am currently getting Entyvio infusions every 4 weeks, taking Lialda every morning, 9 fiber pills a day, and sometimes maxing out at 8 Imodiums a day. I ...

Hi there.
It's been just over 12 months since my colostomy operation due to diverticulitis and peritonitis and now I am waiting to have a reversal. I have developed a hernia behind my stoma (it looks like a perky boob with pursed lips LOL and have another one on the right hand side which the doc tells me is an incisional hernia. I now have what I call my front bum LOL. Hopefully I will have th ...

I'm having a bad night. Pain and depression took a shower and new bag and all. But. This sucks!

It is with a heavy heart I inform you all that Ed passed away early Tuesday morning. This site was a great pleasure for him and I am so glad that you all embraced him into this community. His funeral will be held at St. Ninan's Cathedral in Antigonish on Friday at 11 am. He always said it was hard to soar with the eagles when you are working with a bunch of Turkeys. I guess he has finally left ...

A LONER WITH A STOMA.

Laughter simply drained from me
after I gained my ostomy.
It turned out just as I had feared
as all my friends just disappeared.

I don’t know where or why they went
after all the time we spent.
No longer seen around with me
and that’s down to my ostomy.

I was bereft within myself
for feeling left upon the shelf.
And I was lonely ...

ONE SUMMER WE WERE DRIVING in the Appalachians, enjoying the rural atmosphere and the beauty of the curvy roads through green hills, when we ended up behind a medium-sized flatbed truck loaded with cages, all strapped down and secured. The cages were filled with live chickens and the speed of the truck was enough to cause thousands of white feathers to come flying out of the cages, filling th ...

I don't know... I'm sitting here looking at this hole in my abs and find myself really tempted to stick my finger in there to see what it feels like. Anybody done that? What does it feel like? There are times when my stoma itches, like when I eat very rough fibrous food... and I'm tempted at times to take my bag off and stick my finger in there to scratch it. I'm betting most physicians would ...

Aloha all,
I have had my rosebud (colostomy) since '97.
The rosebud shrank in size over the years, I had troubles getting anything but linguine to come out, and a stoma revision was suggested by the butt-surgery bigwig surgeon in my network.
So I did that. Didn't receive much information beforehand, had to make an extra appointment because I wanted to make sure she understood that I had concer ...

Hello, I'm a new ileostomy patient. I'm a bit frustrated about the death of my sex life. I'm a very happily married man with a beautiful daughter. Since my operation, I have been told in very clear terms that there is going to be no sex for the duration of my bag. Luckily, it's only 6 months until I have my reversal, but when you add the 2 months prior, it seems like a life sentence. I underst ...

I try to be welcoming and as positive as I possibly can on here, and quite often say 'hi' to Newbies on the Forum from all corners of the World. I have made many great friends on this site who have kept me going through some of my harder times. On occasion, generally to people who have joined and have a specific problem akin to my own, I have sent someone a welcoming private message offering f ...

Finding it hard to find snacks that won't cause loose output.
Is it safe for a recent stoma patient (ileostomy) to eat sausage rolls or pies similar to scotch pies?
I'm finding it hard to plan what to offer that won't upset the output.
Thanks!

I like to think of mine as Stella. Or more accurately
STELLA
Anyone else name theirs?

Hi there. I seem to be having a terrible time getting the right fit around my stoma. Twice now when I have cut the wafer thinking it was perfect, my home health nurse has said it was too snug and cut it larger. The problem I have with this is that I then see stool pooling around my stoma and it seems to be too large of a gap. I am currently fighting a problem with skin breakdown around my stom ...

For those of you who also live in England, you'll know what I'm talking about here!!! The last couple of weeks it has been very warm where I live and I've been having a bit of trouble getting my bag to stick well! Since I've had the bag, the weather hasn't been this hot and so I don't really know how to cope with it! When I woke up yesterday morning my bag was starting to come off, luckily I h ...

Has anyone come up with any ideas of using natural products, if you have run out of the adhesive remover? I had to change my bag the other day while I was out, and didn't have any adhesive remover with me, and consequently had to gradually pull the pouch away from my skin and it was so painful, and made my skin bleed....

Once again here we go. Another mass shooting in Oakland. If this is not a call for gun control then I don't know that there will be anything done to achieve that goal. How many people have to die in America for the power's to be to allow for a change in this stupid belief that people should be allowed to carry a gun?
I know the usual suspects will wade in but seriously explain the need for peo ...

It seems the good ladies of this site have posted a "women only" thread concerning, errrrr... well, never mind. Anyhow, in the interest of fair play, consider this.
Having had both radiation and surgery to my lower "male areas," I noticed (after I had recovered enough to notice) that I can no longer ejaculate. While I can "get there," the internal piping that delivers "the goods" was damaged. ...

What do you think is the worst possible time to 'make noise'? There is a family funeral on Friday and it just hit me that would be one of the worst possible times for "Pandora" to speak up. What other times do you think would be really awkward noise times?
KBD

My stoma nurse said we can't eat anything raw, nuts, seeds, lettuce, tomatoes, or fruit, only bananas...
I've just read on a post that someone ate a salad sandwich. I would love to eat salad.
ANY IDEAS.

Hey friends,

I just wanted to ask for your prayers for me. I have surgery on 2/29 to reverse my loop ileostomy. It was to be done in January but I had a stricture at the anastomosis, where they joined the colon back to the rectum. Well, after failed attempts to dilate during a colonoscopy and flex sigmoidoscopy in office, my surgeon said he wanted to "get in there with his hands" to try to d ...

I keep reading about this very personal issue regarding the distressing problem for stomates all over the world.....smell! Yep, we've all had it or have it, it's not the first time and won't be the last. I think it's safe to say that this smell has become part of our lives and we all more or less agree that it is a more intense experience than it was before surgery. I am just 12 months into my ...

I had my colon removed in July 2022 and reversal (ileorectal anastomosis) in November 2022. I developed an ileus after the reversal. So not fun. I've been struggling with wanting to eat for a while now. My body doesn't tolerate applesauce, but lately I've been liking cheeseburgers. I can't think of a raw fruit or veggie my body has tolerated well—oh, except bananas and small amounts of romai ...

Howdy gang,
Picked up some black Rit fabric dye and am going to try dyeing a couple of my Hollister skin-colored bags black. I'm pretty sure the fuzzy fabric covering will take dye, but haven't figured out what to do about the bottom plastic part of the bag yet. Tried coloring it with a Sharpie and that looks like crap, so will need a plan B for that part. But might as well make sure the body ...