The strength of support

I grew up in New Your city and was the youngest of three. I had a wonderful life growing up. My parents were loving and caring and tended to my every need. They taught me how to be brave and take any challenge head-on. In 2018 after graduating high school at the age of nineteen, I developed ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease. I had no interest in college, so the IBD did not seem to be that big of an issue. Little did I know that later my IBD turned to Crohns disease, and that changed my life forever.

The inflammatory bowel disease developed rather quickly. After a short six months of my original diagnosis, I had to get my colon removed. The doctors created a Jpouch. A Jpouch is a surgically created pouch made from the small intestine. This was created as an alternative way to store and pass stools. I had to live with my Jpouch for close to four years before things seem to spiral out of control. Despite the signs, I continued to live my life the way I wanted. I played paintball on the weekends with my friends. I would go on trips to other counties and learn about their cultures. I thought all was fine until the day I pooped my pants. 

I went to see my doctor once that had happened. We did a CT scan to find out that the jpouch created a few years ago was failing, and I had to make a choice. I could either live with it, or I could get a colostomy. My doctor told me that if I did not get the surgery, there is a chance I could die within a few years. I chose to get the colostomy with very low morale, a big blow to my self-esteem and confidence. 

After my surgery, everything was ‘back to normal.’ However, I was in a dark place following the procedure. I did not like the ostomy bag one bit. My family was there for me, though. Through thick and thin, they kept pushing me to be the best that I could be. It was hard to walk around day to day, knowing that at any moment, my bag would get some contents. It was not an easy adjustment, but it was made easier when I found a support group of ostomy patients like me. Soon I started to realize my confidence was growing back. I started going out more and even began dating again. I have found the love of my life. We travel the world. It helps to have a remote working job as I can go anywhere and not worry about making it to the office Monday. 

It helps knowing I’m not alone in my journey. My friends and family still only see me for who I am and not what’s wrong with me. I have made many friends in my support group, and I am trying to play my part. I want to make our lives as ostomy patients better, and that is what I plan on doing from now on. Whenever I travel now, I am looking for new ways to improve our situation better and more bearable. With the support of my friends, family, and support group, I was able to get out of my dark place and live a life of helping others in my situation. 

Drainable Vs. Closed Pouch

For those who are buying the Ostomy supplies that they need, they may wonder whether or not they should get  a drainable or a closed pouch. In this, you’ll learn the differences between both, and why you may choose one or the other when it comes to living with the ostomy. 

Drainable Pouches 

A drainable pouch is one that has an open end and usually has a closure that’s there, including a clamp, that’ll press into there, or maybe a seal or Velcro that lest you empty out the pouch, and then use this again over time. Some people also may have a lock that fastens all of this together, offering more comfort in some cases and extra security compared to closed pouches, so it offers more confidence as you start to live your life once more. This is usually better for collecting liquid releases rather than actual solid waste, so it might not be good for colostomies if they’re further down, but a urostomy or an ileostomy may benefit from this one. 

It also doesn’t need to be changed as often, but it can be harder to empty out if you do have a thicker output.  However, this is easy to clean out, and even empty too, and you can do this usually when it’s about halfway full.  You can also clean the output when you’re done, so that everything’s cleaned up.Ideally, this is for those pouches that have draining outputs, and if you have a lot of discharge, this can be good for you to have. 

Closed Pouches 

These are those that are one-time use, and they are removed when they’re full. You cannot reuse after they’re emptied, and you usually change these up to three times a day.  Closed pouches are better for swimming, intimacy, or any moment where you want to make sure that you don’t have anything leaving your pouch. It also is better for bowel movements that are more formed, or if the consistency is thicker. This odes need to be disposed however even when you’re not at home, so be mindful of that when you’re getting rid of the output. This is usually best for those that have less frequent discharge, and you may want to have it for those moments when you do have to take out a lot of discharge, and you need to only change this a few times. 

Both of these systems are good for their needs, but this is ultimately a preference and personal choice that’ll help you figure out which is better for the needs that you have and also will help you get the most that you can.Some closed systems can be removed too, and you can take the appliance bag off, while still keeping the stoma attachments there. If you do use this though, you might need different wafers, so do bear this in mind when you’re using this. So what’s better? Well, there isn’t one that’s better than the other, it’s all ultimately dependent on the results that you want from this, and the impact you hope that this will create. 

A lot of people do benefit from this, and there is a lot that you can do with these, so do be mindful, look at your options, and choose for yourself the best options that you can, so that you’re getting the results not only for your own personal needs, but also for the systems that are easiest for you to use. There are so many options so the sky’s the limit on this, and you’ll be able to do a lot.