If you just got out of surgery or are experiencing the fear of going into an ostomy then this is for you. There is so much bad information and fear that gets thrown out there when this topis ic brought up. Stomas and ostomy care are something most people are not ever aware of in their daily lives. I also had no idea what they were until my mom had to undergo surgery to correct her irregular bowel movements.
Some people have really terrible times in life and they need to have something done. This lady, she would literally go weeks without producing a bowel movement. She would be in so much pain and her stomach and colon would be so swollen. It is not a good spot to be in and no one wants this Like many other people with this problem she assumed it was just bad eating habits or an ailment that would eventually correct itself. After years of pain, she consulted a doctor about what the real issue could be. And yes, there was a huge issue.
Seeing a doctor is really important when pain is involved. Her gastrologists recommended different medications and stretching exercises to try relieve her colon and help with her pain. Again, months passed and not much had changed. The gastrologist ran more tests and determined her colon was much larger than it should be. Normal colons are about five feet in length while hers actually ended up measuring over 8 feet long! So we now know what the main issue is.
But that does not take the fear out. So, this was the issue. Her colon was too long and curvy for anything to properly exit. He decided surgery was obviously the best bet. He was going to remove her excess colon and then re-attach it to her small intestine. It sounds pretty intense but was going to be ok. First, though, he had to create a stoma to ensure the surgery was working properly. This meant my mom had to learn ostomy care and make sure everything stayed nice and clean. Those steps are a big changer in how you live and learn. They were unsure if this would be a temporary or permanent solution. But it still meant that she had to learn a whole new part of life.
Now when you get to know my mom was at one time a nurse’s aide so she understood the importance of sterilization and cleaning numerous times a day. She also was not grossed out by bodily fluids, so that was a plus. I would imagine most people would be grossed out by the fact of having to handle poop multiple times a day. But it is not really that gross. We have all had dogs right. My mom was just relieved her stomach was not swollen and she was not in pain anymore. She said she honestly would’ve kept her stoma until the day that she died if that meant no more pain.
The doctor decided to reconnect the small and large intestine to the bowel and she could continue living a normal life. Life was going to be ok and she went back to living a nice and happy life. But she did learn a whole lot of new things all really fast.
Ostomy Care Site 