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.

Working Out With A Stoma

Working out is most likely the best thing that you can ever do with your time. Why do I say this? Because it is a well known, well researched, and well documented fact that working out regularly or getting any sort of physical activity is good for your mental health and your physical health. Don’t believe me? Just ask anyone with at least half a brain and they will tell you that I am absolutely correct. I have always been a huge proponent of working out pretty much every day of the week (except Sundays, since that is the Lord’s day of course). I have always loved working out in the morning because it can give me a great energy boost for the rest of the day and gets my mind and boby full of endorphins and pumping some blood. There is nothing better than dishing out an absolutely monstrous chest pump and 6:00 in the morning on a Wednesday in September. With all that being said, I will admit that things slightly changed when I got an ostomy. Yes - you are reading that correctly. I know what you’re thinking: How can someone as cool as me also have to wear an ostomy pouch? Well, you may be surprised to know that there are lots of cool people out there that have to wear ostomy pouches. I for one am a super cool person and I wear an ostomy pouch pretty much all the time (unless I want my output to leak out of my stoma and get everywhere).

The thing that not a lot of people know about ostomies is that you can actually live a pretty normal life even after you have a stoma put in. It may seem impossible to have any semblance of a normal life once your internal organs are completely rerouted and your body is changed forever, but this is actually not the case. I was originally concerned about now being able to workout once I had an ostomy put in, but I was surprised to learn that it is actually recommended for people with ostomies to be getting some regular exercise.

The biggest thing that you have to keep in mind when it comes to working out with an ostomy pouch is that you have to be careful not to push yourself too hard or overdo things; this is a good way to get yourself seriously hurt or end up back in the hospital. My favorite type of thing to do when I workout is to lift weights, which can admittedly be a bit risky when it comes to people wearing an ostomy pouch. I do believe that the risk for developing a hernia is much higher for people like me. However, I tend to lift lower weight for higher reps, as I feel that this is a much safer option than trying to set a new PR on deadlift every day.

In addition to being more careful in general, there are certain things that one can do to make working out with an ostomy pouch easier and more comfortable. One thing to keep in mind is that there are a lot of products out there for people with ostomies that they can use while working out. Certain items like ostomy belts or wraps can actually hold the ostomy pouch in place more effectively and keep it closer to your body.

Stoma Prepping for the Election

Boy, I have never seen our country in such a craze as 2020.  Even with all the wild twists and turns of this year with COVID-19 and the Economic shutdowns, I am still amazed at how people are acting.  When tragedies have happened in the past it brought us together as a country.  I remember 9/11 and how that horribly day made us all one.  This year things are a little different and the news seems to be driving a wedge between half the country.  This has made me think about a whole lot of things and after seeing food and product shortages on the shelves this year I started to worry about my ostomy gear as well.  The fact is that most of my gear is produced overseas and it all revolves around our economy working and shipping to still exist.  That is why I am a little worried and decided to make a plan about how to protect myself if the need arises.

 

The reason this came to mind and started to become an issue was simply the memory of having stores close down.  The news not only is talking about shutting down our country again but also the possible riots and chaos that will come from the election.  The riots that took place this year across the country shut down some major cities in the United States.  Pharmacies that are my local place to pick up ostomy gear were targeted and destroyed in these locations. It was almost as if the far left wanted to cause medical issues for those living in the areas.  This led me to also remember the shortages that took place and if the news says it will be worse this time around then I may have an issue with getting my ostomy gear online as normal.

 

My goal has now been to not get caught unprepared.  I am by no means a prepper and for the most part, I think the United States is an incredible place, but I have personally seen the product and food shortages happen.  This means I shouldn't be ignorant to the fact that it may happen again and be worse.  So my goal is to instead of just getting my normal monthly shipment of ostomy bags, seals, and cleaning supplies that I will double up.  I want to double up a few months in a row so that instead of relying on that shipment each month I will have an extra two-month buffer.  Really if feels like being in a hurricane location without the storm.  Instead of the storm we have rioters and legislators who are shutting down our country.

 

So don't panic.  Most of the country shouldn't have these problems, but I live next to a major city and I think that the possibility of these things happening again near me and possibly causing my medical condition to become a scary problem is real.  I am a better safe than sorry person and I think that having some extra food and water couldn't hurt either.  Most places and government agencies say to have 3-7 days of supplies on hand at all times in case power or storm emergencies happen. But this could be a little more extended than that and I think it is wise to be prepared for the worst-case scenario.