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.

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 ...

Tomorrow at 8 a.m., I am having the ileostomy reversed. I had to come in and say thank you to everyone who has helped here along the way. I had some pretty low points on this journey, and this community was so supportive and helpful. I appreciate everyone who has chimed in with advice and words of encouragement.

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, I was wondering if anyone has tips for flying. What kind of stoma bags do you use when going abroad? This will be my first trip abroad since I had my colonoscopy. x

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, 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 ...

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 ...

Tomorrow marks one year since I had emergency surgery due to a perforation in my colon and got my colostomy. For several months, I was angry, resentful, overwhelmed, bitter, and depressed. I didn't think I would ever be able to cope with my new normal. I blamed myself. I don't remember how I found this group, but I am so grateful I did. You all helped to ease my loneliness and gave me support ...

Since I can't get into the local nurse until Aug 1st, I went with a video call with an ostomy nurse from Convatec, and I cannot recommend it highly enough! She was great, saw what I was dealing with, and flat out said, “That isn't a stoma, that's basically a fistula” and had some ideas of how I can deal with it. She helped me measure the stoma so that I cut the hole the right size (I was c ...

Hello everyone, the products I find most helpful for my ileostomy are
Hollister flange without the tape to peel off. I also use a skin barrier called Tens Aces. I buy that on Amazon. It is a little pricey but so well worth it. Around $30. Not a covered skin barrier by Medicare but the best product for your skin. I also use a Hollister ring and slim size because my stoma is small and on the bag ...