About

A stoma can be a temporary or permanent opening on your abdomen to allow decal wastes or urine to leave your body, bypassing the natural excretory tract. The surgeon creates this artificial excretory pathway when an underlying condition hampers the natural function of the bowel or urinary tract. With the wastes leaving your body through a stoma, it becomes necessary to wear an ostomy bag over it the entire time to manage waste excretions.

Before undergoing ostomy surgery, you may wonder how it would be like to live with a stoma. The thought of having to live with a stoma naturally gives birth to a few questions, which you can find answers for from an ostomy care nurse or doctor. In this article, we will give general information regarding living with an ostomy.

Clothing

Having to live with an ostomy doesn’t mean that you are going to have to wear special clothes, except for a few cases. You may have to avoid any pressure on your stoma, so you will want to strap your belt above or below the stoma. If you are concerned about the smell leaking out, you can wear an odor barrier film over the ostomy appliance.

Activities

You can engage in all kinds of sports or physical activities with a stoma. Whether you are a sports enthusiast or a fitness trainer, your stoma doesn’t stop you from pursuing your passion. You will, however, want to avoid any painful impact that might result in damage to your stoma.

Bathing

You can bathe with or without an ostomy bag attached. The benefit of bathing bag-less is that it helps you to clean the skin around your stoma. You can also use skincare products, but make sure to avoid ones with alcohol. If you have hair on the peristomal skin area, you will want to shave them off to facilitate adhering to the ostomy appliance. You may even spend time in a bathtub or pool if you are a fan of this activity.

Diet

Although you have to follow diet restrictions after ostomy surgery, it doesn’t mean that you will have to remain committed to those restrictions for the rest of your life. Those restrictions will be in place until your bowel recovers from surgery, which generally takes six to eight weeks. After your bowel recovers, you can eat pretty much everything you have been eating before surgery. You may have to change your meal schedule, though.

Medications

With your bowel length shortened during ostomy surgery, some oral medications might not remain effective. It is due to the excretion of those medicines before they can perform their actions. You may, therefore, need to have liquid medication, which is absorbed more quickly compared to pills.

Some medications may affect the pattern of bowel movements. Some medications cause constipation, while some may result in diarrhea-like situations. You will want to discuss your medication with your doctor.

Emotional impact

Having an ostomy can result in a significant emotional impact. You may become more concerned about body image. The initial recovery duration, which results in significant body weakness, may lead you into thinking that you will never be able to have optimum body strength. You can deal with each of these emotional impacts by discussing your situation with your friends and family members. You may want to join an ostomy support group to learn to live with an ostomy.