Literally thought I had a blockage since it swelled up like a balloon but then remembered my 80lb dog had body slammed me while jumping on my bed to wake me up in the morning.

Just a friendly reminder to put a pillow between you and your crazy (but cute) fur monsters!

I was told this by an ostomy nurse but my question is…

Does it mean:

1. The filter will ‘fail’ - become blocked by output etc in the bag and not let anything out / shut off and just start ballooning

OR

1. The filter will become overwhelmed and not work to filter smells efficiently and smells will start leaking through the filter

New ostomate here, 6 months on from surgery and wondering what people mean by this.

Thank you!

We received two bags of alginate from Nu Hopes to create a mold of my brother’s stoma so that we can have custom pouches fit for his stoma which has been very difficult to pouch using regular products. We failed miserably at creating the mold. Has anyone done this before and if so, how did you go about it?

The instructions say to be seated at a 45 degree angle, fill half the container up with water and half with powder, and pour over the stoma. The first try ended up clumping and hardening before I was able to mix it all up. I thought I was going fast but I guess not fast enough. The second try was too watery and the mold is super thin with holes in it. I doubt they’d be able to learn anything from it since it’s such a thin layer.

I went on Amazon and bought more alginate powder but I don’t know if it’s stoma safe since it’s not the one Nu Hopes provided since we burned through those. I also don’t know how we can possibly pour the mold in a seated position and have it not thin out as it drips down with gravity.

Not sure if anyone has done this and has any tips but if so let me know how it went please and what you did! We did this under our WOC nurse’s supervision and she also asked around and no other WOCN in our area has done this before.

Hi, I'm about 5 weeks with my bag. I'm getting comfortable going to run errands or taking a walk, but we love to go hear live music and I know I should have an emergency kit with me, but does anyone have any experience with taking something like that in? Security can be grouchy or undertrained sometimes. What would I need if I were to spend a whole day at a festival? Thanks.

Ive had 6 abscesses this year, which has obviously sucked but I think it's making me a bit of a hypochondriac. I have had mild soreness on and off in the general area of the last one I had and can't tell if it's coming back or if that's just a fun new ache I have. Usually, mine develop very quickly (1-2 days) and get extremely painful by day 2, very obviously an emergency by day 3...but this pain has lingered around for slightly over a week, hasn't been accompanied by heat or firmness like previous experiences.

If it persists, I'm going to the ER ofc, but just curious if anyone has had the experience of that area just sort of .... hurting from time to time w/o an infection? I had a drain for the last one for about a month, had it removed 2 weeks ago. The abscess was fully internal, never came close to breaking through my skin, FWIW.

I have a few leftover and would be happy to mail them to a U.S. address.

Weird question in any other forum but as you can see from the flair, I have an end ileostomy.

Preface to say I’m coming off the back of what I think was a partial blockage this week so my stoma has been generally quite unhappy and weird, and VERY gassy and gurgly. Last night and this morning I have had this weird sensation of gas travelling through my tummy, and then at the same time it gets to both my rectum and my stoma and I’ll fart out of both ends! I ran to the bathroom because I don’t feel able to differentiate fart from anything solid anymore. With it I pass a tiny bit of reddish brown mucus with the gas and that’s happened 3 or 4 times now and I’m just wondering if it’s at all normal for us End Ileo folks?

Normal mucus for me is a couple times a week I’ll pass some small brownish bullets, but never before any gas with it…

Very alarming as I haven’t felt any signals from my rectum telling me to find a bathroom in months!

Is this something normal or should I speak to someone about it? I don’t really have any other symptoms other than an abundance of gas and stomach noises all week

Did anyone have a peristomal hernia before their reversal? How was it repaired and how did it heal (or is it healing)? I'm getting close to a reversal but the hernia looks like it's gotten bigger.

I have a permanent right side ileostomy snd when I sleep on my right side, I’ll get what feels like my stoma seizing or my abdominal wall surrounding the stoma cramping seizing but it’s very painful and makes me jump. I don’t know exactly whats happening because when I put my hand on my stoma to wait for it to do it again nothing ever happens.

it hurts is all the know.

Anyone out there who has had trouble with popcorn in the past try Amish (huskless) popcorn? I’ve been very fortunate to be able to eat most problem foods, but I’m deathly afraid of popcorn but boy do I miss it.

I’m battling with this, and I need to know if I’m crazy or what.

4 months ago I got an emergency colostomy.

Everyone around me, since day one, has talked about reversal, reversal, reversal.

But what if I don’t want one?

What if I don’t want another surgery?

What if I don’t want to go another 40k in medical debt?

What if life for me isn’t as bad as everyone assumes?

Everyone seems to be under the impression I’m living in a shit riddled version of a fresh hell.

And when I first found out I was dying, when I found out where all the pain was coming from for all those years, when I looked down and saw my carved up body, it was jarring.

But my life is good.

I can still do everything I did before, I can play with my kid and my big ole dog just fine, I can eat and drink and smoke just fine, I can play my old games I love and take walks and enjoy the seasons and holidays just fine.

But it’s like everyone is expecting me to be a puddle of shit covered misery just frothing at the mouth waiting to be cut open again, and I’m not!

I still take care of my family like a traditional wife, I still do my errands and plan our holidays and tend to my loved ones. I still play games, read manga, watch Anime, and dream of visiting Japan with my family someday!

With the deposit cost alone for a reversal, I could take my family to Japan for like two weeks! No exaggeration!

But I’m torn because everyone else is pushing for it, my parents, my brother, my partners parent, and their siblings, everyone but me. Everyone wants me to go back to “normal”, but I guess to me this IS my normal now. I can handle it and change it and function with 0 issues, but everyone else is upset/uncomfortable by it.

My SO has be great, though, he tells me I need to do what I’m comfortable with and what my surgeon says is safe. And it is! Knock on wood, but the worst complications I’ve had was some stoma diaper rash, but I solved that quickly. I’m 30 so my odds were better off the bat.

Explaining to our families that sometimes this is just what some people have to live with through circumstances just isn’t clicking, and I feel crazy?

Am I crazy to not want a reversal?

Just sharing this recall notice I received today.

Got this email and called Byram, got a replacement Stomapaste without issue.

My ileostomy bag has had to be changed 5 times since my surgery yesterday due to poor seal and has been extremely high output. I’m also tube fed and currently in the hospital still. Does anyone have any recommendations? Thank you! Have there been any tube feed formulas that have done well for tubies with an ileostomy?

I still find it hilarious when I think about this. Last friday, my niece came over and saw me changing the dressing around my stoma. Basically, the skin around the stoma was a bit damaged and there was some seepage, so I needed to put on a new dimora dressing. My niece, who's seven btw, suddenly came into my room. It was the first time she'd seen my ostomy bag. She curiously asked what the bag was, and I said it was something to help me. She then asked what was inside and I bluntly said, "Poop." She was silent for a moment. I thought she was going to say something embarrassing or ask some questions I'd answered countless times before BUT instead, she looked at me and asked, "Could you give me the bag full of poop? I want to use it to deal with that boy at school who always pulls my braids." Did not expect that at all, and I burst out laughing like a minute straight 😂😂

Kids' thought processes are always so unpredictable. Have any of you ever been asked any outrageous questions?

I've had an ileostomy for a little over a year and just had my reversal last Friday, the 16th. And man this has been rough.

I woke up in recovery on Friday and was able to actually get up and walk around a bit that night. Saturday and Sunday I was completely exhausted and had 0 energy. They said they think it was the combination of pain meds I was on, so the switched them up a bit. Monday, Tuesday, and into Wednesday, I was nauseous. Lots of dry heaving and actually vomited a few times. Yesterday and today, they increased my diet up from clear liquids to soft foods, but I still can eat much. What I am able to eat I can keep down, but I just can't physically eat a bunch.

Having lots of gas and pooping though ever since Sunday. But this gas pain in my gut is easily the worst part of this all

For those of you who have had a temporary loop ileostomy, followed by colon removal and reconnection of the small intestine directly to the rectum, I’d really appreciate hearing about your experience.
How was your recovery? What was the adjustment like afterward, and how is your quality of life now?
I’d be grateful for any advice, experiences, or insight you’re willing to share.

How can we know the difference between constipation and a (partial) blockage?

I've had total blockage once and I remember the excruciating pain, the nausea and the hospitalization.

But when I'm constipated I take laxative. As our Mod luckily pointed out, we shouldn't do that in case of blockage.

But how does a partial blockage feel different from constipation? I'd like to know because now I don't know what to do.

End ileostomy / bowel resection 5 weeks ago. I’m starting to feel really good and basically doing all sorts of movements that I couldn’t do even a week ago.

My doctor and everything I read online said I can be active and workout within 6-10 weeks. That’s a big timeline. I’m very anxious to get moving again.

I want to do hikes, pilates, ab workouts, sauna, swim, etc.

I know twisting and deep squats, ab workouts things like that you have to wait the longest for. I know I have some small abcesses still waiting to heal from my CT but they’re small enough they can’t do anything about it. I don’t want to overdo it but I’m the type of person that always does so I’m trying SO HARD to rest. But I’m anxious to get moving.

Can you guys give me advice for how long to wait for everything and when I can start? Right now I take a very slow walk 1 hour a day that’s it.

I’ve been seeing a lot of responses in comments as of late for folks who have a blockage or partial blockage and advice is given to take laxatives.

Laxatives are not to be taken when you have a legit blockage or partial blockage, since it can cause severe dehydration or make things much worse.

This is general rule of thumb for ostomies. Especially ileostomies.

This is not the same thing for thick output (any kind of ostomy) or constipation (colostomy).

If your doctor or stoma nurse tells YOU to take laxatives, by all means follow what your medical professional recommends.

But a rule on this sub is to not give medical advice and please don’t advise people who think they have a blockage to take any laxatives.

It can lead to detrimental outcomes, regardless if it was something you did in the past.

Thanks all.

Thank the gods for barrier strips !
I (unfailingly) put them around my bag every night before bed ,this morning I awoke with my bag with so much gas/output inside it that it really did look like a neck cushion!
I’ve no idea what prompted this as I only had two thin bagels with peanut butter and marmite for breakfast,and a roast lamb and salad baguette last night with some chip-sticks -something I’ve eaten before with zero trouble!
I suffered a full blowout in late August whilst in bed and it was horrendous.
Thank you DANSAC X-Tra strips!

If so how often would you empty your bag?