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 ...

GRATITUDE.
The worst of times has got to bewhen first you find your ostomy.You can no longer hide awayit’s on your side and there to stay.
It shakes you to the very coreand makes you feel that you deplorethe very thing that helped you toavoid the brink and then pull through.
In those early days you’re stressedand easily become depressed.After your stoma comes along you start to ...

Hey Ostomates, hope you are all having a good day.
What kind of bathroom deodorizer do you all use? Is there a special one for us that works well without being too highly scented? I have tried so many different ones and even tried expensive body spray which didn't work... With an Ileostomy, bathroom odor lingers for a long time after emptying, which is quite often whether I eat or not, and I a ...

About 3 months after my ileostomy and ureter repair surgery, I had to start working again and could not do anything strenuous. So, I took on a job working the midnight shift in retail (no customers), bathroom accessible any time I needed, light duty work (mostly). With that said, I'd been there over a year and took on a high volume, high stress position, thinking about higher pay and such. We ...

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.

So stepping out into brilliant sunshine on my break, I look up at a cloudless sky, cigarette in hand, basking in the heat…
And my phone starts ringing…
Hello…
Hi, could I speak to Thomas, please?…
Speaking…
It's … from the Northern General Hospital, we'd like to book you in for your surgery…
Ooh shit… (pun intended)
So now I have four weeks until my action man bum surgery. Shit ...

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 ...

IF YOU ARE AN EARLY RISER, like me, you are keeping company with other well-known morning persons like Ben Franklin and Henry David Thoreau. “Cultivate the habit of early rising,” suggested Thoreau. “It is unwise to keep the head long on a level with the feet.” This is especially true for people with an ostomy, since we have a natural need to allow gravity to work its magic on our C ...

Hi! I hope everyone is doing well! Just wanted to check in and give an update. I do have daily pain where the hernia used to be when I apply pressure, and sometimes I will get this sharp pain under where the stoma used to be. It goes straight down to the side of my pubic area, but it is only sometimes, and I'm not sure what causes it. I also still have rectal pain, but only sometimes, when I p ...

I was wondering if anyone knows if our life is decreased in any way by not having a colon. Obviously, we are living longer due to life-saving surgery. I was just wondering if ostomates are missing out on vitamins/minerals that may have a negative effect on our long-term health.
I know I won't be dying from colon cancer.

I put together a great stoma emptying device. Works great in my car, hiking, and flying. You all have seen this jar. As a patient, I have two. Hollister disposal bags fit perfectly. I shoved a few extra bags in the bottom. All you need are wipes for the pouch and hands.
Note the red circle. I drilled two tiny holes on either side with my Dremel, so the bag expands in the jar. Hope IGGIE reads ...