Hi all, just got my 2nd/3rd opinion today and really liked this doc a lot. She said if she were younger (like the 1st doc I saw) she too would say let's take this down tomorrow, but she is 20 years older and has been doing this awhile, so she is extremely cautious with cancer patients. She even had one that had no evidence of disease, did the reversal, and cancer showed up. Reversals are prett ...

Hi all! I'm 27 and looking for other young ostomates. I'm in the United States, Georgia to be specific. I'm looking for both local and virtual connections with others in the young adult stage. I have a great local support group, but everyone is over 50 and relatively inactive. When I go through members here local to me, I don't find anyone in my age group. Does anyone have tips on meeting youn ...

A year, almost to the day, I started a journey I did not know I would be on. On May 22nd, 2024, my husband took me to the emergency department as something did not feel right in my abdomen. I had been dealing with a kidney stone since May 19th, but this felt the same. It felt like what I described to my husband: like a puff of air had been released in my abdomen.
When the CT scan results came ...

Has anyone had a colostomy because you couldn't expel stool through the ano-rectal passage due to your pelvic floor muscles contracting rather than relaxing when you wanted to poop? If so, has it worked out for you? Any challenges or complications? Did you get it reversed at some point or do you hope to get it reversed? What are you doing to see if you can reverse it? I know it's a lot of ques ...

Question- How long does it take you to change your bag? I’ve had my ileostomy for a month and it’s getting easier with each change.
I know there’s no rush, but just wondering.
I last timed myself at 15mins. I was more prepared and my stoma was quiet n cooperative.

The previous change took me 45 mins, due to constant stoma activity. It was a hot MESS!!‍

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.

WHEN YOU SUFFER THE EXHAUSTING pain and misery that causes you to end up with an ostomy, it is not unnatural to find yourself questioning your place in the world. We’ve all been through that to one extent or another. Here’s how I dealt with it. I simply decided that I was not going to be intimidated by reality anymore. There were some small aspects of my life over which I had control. ...

Well, I don't know about you lot, but it seems my newish stoma has given me a fabulous new social status!
I have received a personal invitation to attend the opening of the new endoscopy unit at our local hospital! Get me!! But "opening" has so many variations in this context.
I am not sure about the social norms at such an esteemed high-level award, so any advice is welcome!! To be honest, I ...

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. ...

Hello Ostomates:
(LONG POST AHEAD) I had my colostomy reversal surgery on February 21st and thought it would be helpful to share some of the details in case you have to prepare for similar procedures in the future. I added some “Lessons Learned” of what I'd do differently if I had to do it all again.
PREP: My surgery was scheduled for 7:30 AM on a Friday, and I had to be at the hospital by ...

During my medical adventure in 2022, I was bedridden for nearly 3 months. Hardly ate anything, lost 66 pounds.
Surgery was successful. Got the colostomy. Went home very weak. Three weeks post-op, I regained my ability to walk and returned to work. Gained back 30 pounds and have maintained a healthy weight. A year and a half later, I retired.
I have now discovered I'm in poor physical shape. My ...