MY OSTOMY IS MY NORMAL. It follows, then, that my ostomy is normal. My dictionary says that normal is the usual, typical, expected. Precisely. It’s all I know. It’s there when I get up in the morning, it calls to me after every meal, and it lies down with me every night. The best day of my life was when, years and years ago, in some long-forgotten moment of my past, I came to regard ...

When I had my surgery almost 60 years ago, a nurse at Mayo suggested naming my ostomy. I'm not sure of the psychology behind that, but it turned out to be a good idea. I named mine Cedric.

I just suffered through a severe rash that came up all of a sudden and made it impossible to apply a flange. It's gone now, but I thought I'd pass along a suggestion... I keep pieces of my aloe plant in the freezer. When I could, I would take a piece out and rub it on the rash - very cooling and healing, and the rash healed very quickly. Aloe gel might work, but it also might sting due to othe ...

How long should I go between appliance changes? I have a colostomy so I know that differs greatly from having an ileostomy due to frequency and consistency of output. I've heard that the longer you go between full changes the better it is for your skin. Just curious as to how long some of you all wait.

tbird56b
Just flew to Hungary. I really wasn't ready for the trip. Luckily, I was able to upgrade and had a very nice experience. I'm 4 months post-surgery but not in good enough shape for all the walking on tours. I'm on a Viking River cruise.
I am always chilled and had to buy a jacket. My suitcase is packed with ostomy supplies.
Next cruise is in February. I should be okay for that one. Sec ...

Three weeks ago, I started feeling very bad, with vomiting after every meal or drink. This was happening seven months after my colostomy surgery.
After a week of daily vomiting, I became so weak that I passed out just before entering the taxi that was going to take me to the ER. Thank God for my wife, who helped me through all that.
I entered the ER with hyponatremia (low sodium in the blood, ...

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 ...

I have used, from the get-go, a baggie to cover the clipped end of the appliance. Even with a really good clip, those "fluids" can be tenacious. So I slip a plain old baggie (no zip lock) over the clip end. I worked as a legal secretary/assistant for 40 years in the rarefied environment of the law firm and never experienced a leak that was not contained. Give it a try. It worked and still work ...

The Big Scare
At church today, Mrs. B suffered a terrible calamity. One that rendered her temporarily speechless. A church friend behind me reached over to wish me a happy Easter and shake my hand. I leaned over to bid him holiday wishes too. Mrs. B nudged my leg. She was pointing toward my pants zipper. Hmmmm. Did I forget to pull it up? Nooo.
Then she hissed, "Your thingy is showing." "Thin ...

Hi, with all due respect to everyone, I joined this group to actually find someone with the same case as my boss's husband. He has a double ostomy, and I believe it has been hard for him since he's been in and out of the hospital for the last 2 to 3 years. This time, he's going for another surgery to fix his hernia, which is, by the way, the second surgery for hernia this year. I would really ...

I really want a Japanese ostomy sink/toilet!
How does someone in the U.S. get one of those? I tried Googling it a thousand ways but no joy.
Daggone it, I want one of those sinks. Do any of y'all have one? Or advice on how to get one?