I'm a fairly new ostomate and have been practicing a lot with changing my bags. I've been using Hollister one-piece bags for about 4-5 months but I have a hernia which makes the adhesive wrinkle and it doesn't last as long as I would like. I tried using a sample of the convex Sensura bag but it already leaked after the first day. Looking for recommendations about which bags seem to be the best ...

Since my stoma nurse decided to let me trial my Coloplast SenSura Mio two-piece bags, I still have quite a bit of ConvaTec wafers and high drainage bags left over.
I would prefer to donate them rather than just throw them away.
So if anyone uses these and would like them, and you are willing to pay the postage, I'd be very happy to see them go to another home.
The wafers are:
ConvaTec SUR-FIT ...

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, ...

Hi everyone. My name is Andrés, and I'm 33 years old. I had emergency surgery for acute diverticulitis, resulting in a closed colostomy. The prognosis for a reversal procedure is positive. I'd like to hear your opinions on whether it's the best option. According to the surgeon, I only had a small amount of my bowel removed, approximately 15 cm of my bowel. I'm healthy and active, and everythi ...

I have lost track of whom, but for the last year or two, I have been informing Canadians they are eligible to receive a disability tax credit if they have a stoma that is non-reversible. I have a stoma and need ostomy supplies, which qualified me. I get it, and so can you. See below for CRA info saying everyone with an irreversible stoma automatically gets this DTC (Disability Tax Credit).
I d ...

Trial and error has led me to a system of emptying and cleaning my pouch that makes everything feel better. I saw another post about using warm water in the pouch after emptying to wash it out. I will say it takes several times of doing this (put water in, holding the pouch up, swish it around, then empty) to get it clean. I do this until the water runs clear when coming out. I also use a deod ...

No sign of metastatic cancer! Now I'm hoping to hear from the surgeon about reversing my colostomy, but I guess it depends on how she reads the MRI and my scar tissue situation. But what a great birthday present! I do have to get back to my walking, though, so I'm in better shape. The other thing the PET scan showed was that when I fell a few weeks ago, I actually fractured my rib—no wonder ...

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 ...

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.

Since we can't be like "able-anal-ed" folks and "take a dump," we need a saying of our own. "Draining the bag" just doesn't cut it. Some candidates to consider:
Trapshooting. Has a nice ring to it. Imagine: "Hey Sally, back in a jiffy... gotta do a little trapshooting."
Turboturd. For the ostomate in a hurry.
Dash-of-splash. Similar to turboturd, but with some recoil.
Easysqueeze. When you kno ...

Hey everyone! It's been a while since I've been on here. It's good to see some familiar names and faces. I hope you're all doing really well. I miss you guys.
I wanted to come on and mention something I read yesterday that I had never heard about when I had my colostomy and ileostomy: the ostomy irrigation and ostomy cap. I think it's geared towards colostomies from what I gathered. But appare ...