Having something that is necessary and having it not work well flat out sucks. I am talking about having a stoma and gear that does not work well. If your life is hurt and hampered simply by bad advice and bad gear then you need some true help. Nothing is worse than really realizing or knowing every second of the day that you have a stoma. If this is how you feel when sitting down or just enjoying the normal then something is probably wrong with your ostomy gear. The fact is that your gear should meld with your body. You should feel like it is not even there and in fact, your mind shouldn’t be aware of it subconsciously. You may need to head to the doctor again and see if there is some extra gear or different brands he can recommend for you.
None of us are the same and our stomas are different shapes and sizes. This means that no one size fits all answer exists. The shape of your stoma may require different seals to be used and that may be all the difference. But if you simply are settling for what was given to you right out of the hospital without working on the best section for your body. So I highly suggest doing your own research and finding what meshes with your body the best. You want to feel good about yourself and not have to think about your ostomy gear. That is why I try really hard to do good research every few months to see if there is something that I am missing. Not that my gear is bad, but if there is something new that is even better I want to be the one enjoying the benefits. No one needs to live like it’s the dark ages if you don’t have to!
Don’t just be stagnant and live with what you know. If you can be a super star instead of a bum and only buy a different product then wouldn’t you do it? The first place I like to go to is a real person. This is my go-to in the industry for big news and that is my local pharmacist. He keeps an eye out for new gear from major companies and talks with lots of customers who have a stoma and gets their feedback. So when I in my local pharmacy I like to see if he is there and chat up to see if anything is new and to be honest I now have a pretty good relationship with him. Go ahead and enjoy the fact that you are talking to a huge company and may helping them while they help you.
Don’t settle for less, do your own research and become your own expert. You can and it’s worth it. I like to keep searching through the major brands online and see what products are being released. What is great is that the customer service for these companies is pretty great and they are usually happy to answer questions on the chat or on the phone. I have gotten really good advice and even free samples from doing this and I have made some consistent purchases based on their advice which really improved my life. Your stoma won’t go away so live the best life you can and be wise about it.
Ostomy Care Site 