January 2010

February 2010

Last Month’s Meeting (our 395^th)

The featured program for our January General Meeting was a Panel Discussion moderated by our Association Treasurer, Tim Traznik. This format is always interesting and especially tonight when Tim provided some introspective questions for our panel members to discuss resulting in a deeply emotional experience for us all. Our panel members included Nancy Cassai, Dick Dorman, Wayne Kraus and Jerry Schinberg. It takes a special person to sit on one of our panels and express one’s most intimate feelings, which are shared by our audience.

Our Association elections were conducted by Jerry Schinberg, who offered sincere approbation to those who have serviced our Association in 2009 and past years. We are very grateful for your service to our ostomy association and the ostomy community. By unanimous vote the officers for 2010 will be

Jane Michnik, President

Renard Narcaroti, Vice President

Tim Traznik, Treasurer

Joan Loyd, Director

Rhoda Gordon, Director

If you have a talent that you would like to share by participating in one of our many diverse committees, please let us know. A list of our officers and committees are listed in our bylaws, which anyone may view via www.uoachicago.org and following the link to OAGC.

We are updating our mailing/e-mail list every month. Please complete the form on the last page of this newsletter if your home or e-mail addresses change. All your information is strictly confidential and is only used by our Association. No other people or organizations ever have access, under any circumstances, to our membership list. We have secured parking coupons that allow us to park in the hospital garage during a meeting for $2.00.

We are all experiencing—in one way or another—the many cutbacks in how services are provided for us. This is especially true in the medical field. With this in mind, the ostomy visitor plays an important role, whether it is before or after ostomy surgery. The appearance of a well-adjusted, well-dressed, neat, clean, well-spoken, positive and pleasant ostomy visitor provides reassurance that the patient will also return to normal.

Many times, the pre-op visitor is able to simplify the understanding of the surgery. The idea of the visitor having been-there-and-done-that often helps a person to make the vital decision finally to have ostomy surgery. The normal lifestyle and excellent appearance of the post-op visitor provides emotional support and reassurance as the patient travels the road of recovery ahead.

A visitor will be chosen to make a visit matching ostomy type, age and sex of the patient—as much as possible. Many new people with ostomies realize the value of an ostomy visitor by becoming a visitor themselves to reciprocate for the visit they may have had at the time of their surgery. In the future, another training session will be held and members are urged to participate in this important part of our organization. No price can be placed on the many benefits received from a sharing and caring ostomy visitor.

OAGC Meeting Dates for 2010

February 17—Rap Session

March 17

April 21—Our 35^th Anniversary Celebration

Southwest Suburban Chicago

The Southwest Suburban Chicago Ostomy Support Group is an entirely volunteer ostomy association dedicated to the mutual aid, education and moral support of people with ostomies and their families. Meetings are held at 7:30 PM on the third Monday of each month throughout the year, except July, August, December and January.

For information regarding this special ostomy group serving Chicago’s greater southwest side, please call Edna Wooding, WOC nurse and association President, at 708-423-5641.

SW Sub Chicago Meeting Dates for 2010

All meetings are held at

Little Company of Mary Hospital,

Evergreen Park, Mary Potter Pavilion,

Lower Level, 2850 W. 95th St.

Northwest Community Hospital

An ostomy support group formed in 2008 at Northwest Community Hospital, 800 W. Central Road, Arlington Heights. They wish to extend a welcome to all of our readers to visit them. The WOC nurses at the hospital lead the group. For more information, please contact Diane Davis-Zeek, RN at 847-618-3215, ddavis@nch.org .

They meet at 1:00 PM in the Busse Center, B1 level, Room LC7-8 of the Learning Center. This building may be accessed from the garage at the west end of the Busse Center. It is easiest to enter from Central Road.

NW Comm Hospital Meeting Dates for 2010

February 11

April 8

June 3

August 12

October 7

December 9

Do not compare your life to others, you have no idea what their journey is all about

Attitude in Recovery

Excerpted from an article by the Ostomy Digest, Omaha, NB

Do you feel as if the bottom has dropped out of your world? Has your doctor just shown you your ostomy for the time? Are you surprised that your stoma is so red? You might not even be able to visualize how life is going to be with an ostomy. You wonder if you will ever become accustomed to a red strange thing sticking out of your tummy.

Be assured that you will . . . in time. An ostomy is the result of a surgery that saved your life. You choose to make it whatever you desire. You can hibernate becoming a recluse and withdrawing into your own small world. Perhaps a better choice would be to take it in stride learning the proper care of your ostomy and then forgetting about yourself. You want to enjoy the extra time God has allotted to you because of your surgery.

People find that as time goes on, the bewilderment will disappear and the challenges the person with a new ostomy encounters are slowly resolved. The issues that originally seemed so overwhelming become minimized. A person with a new ostomy becomes delighted to find out that he/she can still lead a perfectly normal life and live life to the fullest. A person with an ostomy can participate in activities of normal living just as everyone else can and just the way he/she did before having ostomy surgery. Without any trouble, we can participate and engage in activities like swimming, dancing, reading, running, working, playing, golfing, boxing, sky diving, bungee jumping, praying, visiting friends, having sex . . . whatever.

If ulcerative colitis was the reason for your surgery, then you will be able to do more than you did before surgery. Your life will be better. You will virtually never have to run to the toilet again.

The person with a new ostomy has a tendency to have an overactive imagination about sensitive issues like if the pouching system shows though the clothes; if the ostomy smells or one is giving off an offensive odor; if the stoma is making rude noises; if the pouching system will fail resulting in an embarrassing accident. There are many techniques used by people experienced with their ostomies to address these issues. After surgery, clothes will look pretty much the same as they did before surgery; nobody can really see your pouching system under clothes; the pouching systems made today are completely odor proof, there are no smells coming from the pouch once it is closed. When it is opened there are commercial ostomy odor controls are available from all ostomy suppliers, if you even need them. Digestive noises are generally louder to the person making them then to other people. Not only that but also most people are more concerned about the noises of their own digestive system anyway. An interesting fact is that people with ostomies have more accidents driving a car then with their pouching system . . . experienced people that is. People with new ostomies usually have a few incidents with their equipment until the application of it is mastered.

Yes, at first the person with a new ostomy is all thumbs trying to tackle the art of ostomy management. This may be because of challenges applying the pouching system itself or if one has a colostomy, learning irrigation techniques. Methods are a bit different for every ostomy type and for every body type. There are very many different tiny variations for optimal ostomy performance. As a person with a new ostomy becomes familiar with the pouching system, the time involved with taking care of it will only be a fraction of what it was in the beginning. Those of you experienced with changing your pouching system probably remember the difficulty and time invested on those first few changes and the frustration and depression that went along with it.

The quality manufacturers of ostomy equipment are always coming up with better products. The product offerings are so diverse and of such excellent workmanship that there are pouching systems that exceeds expectations for virtually everyone. Ostomy management does become easier over time. In fact, it will become routine. Do not become too discouraged and have patience with yourself. You will look back and realize the amount of courage you summoned to advance through this stage of your rehabilitation.

All of us graduates of ostomy training went through this same thing after surgery. We come to our local ostomy association meetings to take comfort in the fact that we are not alone; to bolster up our morale; to be educated in options regarding ostomy management and equipment; to receive practical hints on skin and health care; to help ourselves by serving others . . . etc. Fight that despair. It is your enemy. Things are going to get much better than they are right after surgery.

How to Get Fat through Science

Or, Stop Using Artificial Sweeteners

Many people after ostomy surgery are health food oriented, for a little while anyway. We that possess ostomies have a tendency to become fat. There are many reasons for this, but I will concentrate my discussion on just one, artificial sweeteners.

Artificial sweeteners were created to help sell foods to dieters . . . all the sweet and none of the sin. Saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame-k and sucralose, the sweeteners known as Sweet’N Low, Equal and Splenda respectively, are now part of the American diet. Food manufacturers market these to both dieters and people with diabetes—both groups with expanding populations. The pitch is that calorie-free sweeteners are better for you than sugar and will help you loose weight.

In a study of more than 3600 people reported in the 2008 journal of Obesity, researchers were amazed to find that people who drank artificially sweetened beverages—diet sodas—gained 47 percent more weight during an eight-year follow-up period than people who did not drink diet sodas.

These results were measured by means of long-term changes in people’s body mass index measurement paradigm. Further studies show that consuming more than 21 artificially sweetened beverages per week versus consuming none was associated with a doubling of the probability of becoming overweight. This is based on 1250 people who were normal weight at the study’s outset.

These results are very surprising to most of us. It should be noted that the studies did not discuss any psychological issues related to weight gain. Scientists suggest a few explanations for these results: Our brain cannot be so easily fooled. It knows how many calories we eat. It becomes used to the amount of calories we eat each day. For instance, if you save 600 calories a day by eating zero calorie foods, it may try to compensate elsewhere. Therefore, you eat all the calories you saved and probably even more.

Artificial sweeteners are about 12,000 times sweeter than sugar. They can distort your taste. Researchers speculate that teasing the taste buds with zero calorie sweeteners may stimulate your appetite without providing any of the calories that would produce satiety. They create an intense craving for sweet, highly caloric foods.

Research also suggests that zero calorie sweeteners may also trigger the body’s cephalic phase response. This means it releases insulin—the body’s normal response to a rise in blood sugar. However, there is no sugar for the insulin to process. This will disrupt blood sugar; sugar and carbohydrate cravings and result in weight gain.

There are other risks associated with artificial sweeteners. The drinks made of them are nothing more than a cocktail of chemicals. Science does not understand their total health risks. Some known side effects include skin rashes and migraine headaches. Formaldehyde is a chemical used to make aspartame. People may be slowly poisoning themselves and developing a neurological toxicity to these drugs.

There is something you can do, an action you may take, to help yourself. Reduce eating and drinking of sweets. Replace them with water or herbal tea.

Prefer sweeteners closest to their natural state; i.e., honey, maple syrup, agave nectar or raw sugar. However, because all sugars digest as quickly as refined sugar, do not overindulge. Agave nectar is extracted from cactus sap and is three times sweeter than white sugar, but its glycemic index is five times lower than that of honey. Therefore, it digests more slowly and does not spike blood-sugar levels—a major concern for people with diabetes, heart disease, cancer or arthritis.

Some of you may have heard of Stevia—also known as Truvia. Its calorie-free status raises some of the same concerns critics have noted about artificial sweeteners. While small amounts of Stevia are not likely to pose any health risks, high doses of the herb have caused reproductive issues in rats. Therefore, it would probably be wise to avoid products that rely on Stevia as a sweetening ingredient.

Eating sweets will increase your desire to have more sweets and refined carbohydrates. It will also reduce your ability to enjoy the natural sweetness of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. It may be best to use natural sweeteners instead of artificial ones. Regardless, use them in moderation.

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A Collection of Ideas

· For people with colostomies tranquilizers may make the colon lazy. It can be the cause of incomplete evacuation.

· If you are beginning new medication—for any reason—keep a close eye on your stoma discharge. Contact your doctor if you suspect the medicine is going in and straight out.

· Scraps and cutouts from skin barriers are great to relieve pressure of blisters on corns. Keep them in a container with the paper backing left on until you are ready to use them.

· Use a round clothespin to roll up your tube of paste. This works for toothpaste too.

· If you still have your rectum and have pain or a full feeling, you may have a collection of mucous, which should be washed out. Check with your doctor regarding this.

· Bring your problems and questions to meetings of our local ostomy association; do not be afraid or embarrassed to ask questions.

· An eight-ounce bag of potato chips contains about five tablespoons of oil; all the fat that a person should have in a day.

· Some applesauce with breakfast sometimes controls stoma noise, and the pectin in it may have a thickening effect on a too liquid output.

· Seat belt tightness around your stoma can be relieved if you clamp a wooden cloths pin on the belt where it initiates. Just pull a little more of the belt out—about an inch—install the clip and then release. Always wear a seat belt.

· Your attitude about your image will affect the attitude of your family, friends and the people around you. Be happy . . . you have been given a new life.

· Sometimes the littlest things in life are the hardest to take. You can sit on a mountain more comfortably than you can sit on a tack.

· Discard expired medications to prevent any potential adverse effects. Aspirin can be toxic to the kidneys just two or three months after expiration. The same is true for tetracycline. Many drugs just lose their effectiveness.

· Laughing is healthy for your body as well as your mind. When you laugh, you exercise your heart, lungs and adrenal glands. You also breathe more deeply increasing the body's oxygen flow. Laughter may ease physical pain by triggering production of endorphins—natures pain killers.

· Eating foods like apricots, bananas, kidney beans, potatoes, oranges, spinach and tomatoes provides excellent sources of usable potassium, which can decrease blood pressure and eliminate cramping muscles.

· Gas from carbonated drinks can distend the bowel to a point where kinking can occur. Too many soft drinks thus can produce a painful bowel obstruction.

· Lack of bulk in the diet of a person with a colostomy diet can be part of the difficulty in elimination. This may be caused by eating too much highly refined food and not enough bulk.

· People with ileostomies should be very cautious if they give blood because they are potentially low on bodily fluids anyway. For them, there is a high risk of becoming dehydrated and/or developing kidney stones after blood donations.

· People with ostomies should not sit in one position for a lengthy period. This may force pouch contents upward around the stoma and cause possible leakage. Stand up frequently.

· Sharks do get cancer; therefore, shark cartilage pills offer no protection against cancer.

· People with urostomies will see mucous in their urine. The ileal conduit is made from a piece of your intestine, which normally secretes mucous.

How to be Happy

After Ostomy Surgery

By Renard Narcaroti, OAGC, Chicago

After thinking about a catchy title to my article, I realized that it is quite a bold statement to claim to tell people how to be happy. I thought I would do a little research on the subject and see how it might relate to those of us with ostomies. It seems that many books have been written on happiness and included are some of the key ideas. The common issue through all my study seems to be a spirit of gratitude—commonly known as humility. Those who are happiest after ostomy surgery are the ones most grateful for the opportunity to live life to its fullest. Let me list some thoughts.

This article endeavors to help boost your happiness, yet, only improving your attitude towards life will increase your happiness permanently. No one is in charge of your happiness but you. An example I tell the students in the statistics classes I teach at St. Xavier University is that people who have won millions of dollars in the lottery were usually worse off financially in just a few years. They lose most of the money they won plus the money they had originally. These winners were sure that winning the lottery would bring them a lasting happiness, yet it did the opposite. It seems that gaining considerable financial success is not a guarantee that one will be happy except for a short time. However, Thomas Merton said that living in poverty does not do much to provide for the attaining of happiness either.

People seem to be happier around family and friends that loves them. Many of us in Chicago know of people who retired to a warm climate only to be isolated from those that love them. Many realize their misjudgment and come back. Chicago does not have the most inviting weather in January, but the warmth of loving family and friends cannot be replaced with sunny skies. This does not mean that one should stay home. Many people with ostomies gain much satisfaction by traveling to interesting places around the world. However, it is always nice to come home.

Vincent Peale suggests gaining happiness simply by smiling. Researches have scientifically shown that whether one is happy or not, smiling will make a person’s mood be elevated. In fact, smiling is contagious and people around you may feel better. It does not matter if the person you smile at has a positive response or not, just the action of sharing a smile enhances our own personal happiness. What other people think of you is none of your business.

We are manufactured to serve one another. We can only achieve happiness by fulfilling our destiny to benefit one another. The merits of acts of kindness come back to the person that performs them. Perhaps we see so many unhappy people because in our hedonistic society, we think people who grab all they can for themselves are the smart ones. When we serve as volunteers, as those of us involved in our local ostomy association, it is difficult to say why we do it. It seems to help us become more happy ourselves through our service to others. A trap in all of this is to take ourselves too seriously, no one else does. We cannot completely control the reactions of others. Remain an optimistic person. Even if someone seems like they are against you, it does not mean everyone feels the same way. Most people do not know what they are saying anyway. Be kind to others to enhance the positive energy in your life and you will move closer to happiness.

To be happy you want to utilize the gifts you were given. Not everyone is given a healthy body in which to live. It may take a higher degree of spirituality for these people to be happy. However, if you have been given a relatively healthy body—an ostomy makes you healthy, then it is your responsibility to keep it in good shape. This means you need to do physical exercise. Studies show that it helps people who suffer from depression or psychiatric issues. This is especially important for people with ostomies. We have a tendency to become fat through overeating. A part of the solution is that we need to exercise at least an hour a day. Walking five miles-a-day will do it. Most of us can do that even if we need to walk slowly. This will release endorphins that naturally enhance our wellbeing. In addition to being crucial for happiness, it will help maintain our good health. It is difficult to stay happy when one is sick and in pain. The best is yet to come, expect the best.

Almost 900 years ago, St. Frances preached on achieving perfect joy. This important message is completely counterintuitive in our narcissistic culture . . . but so is being a very rich 70-year-old politician stealing millions of dollars he/she can never spend. For betraying the public trust, can they actually be anything but suicidal? Look up the perfect joy of St. Frances for yourself.

Happy people love themselves in a positive, forgiving, human way. If we threw all our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we would grab ours back. We were put here deliberately for a special individual purpose that is hidden from us. We must recognize that this exists, have positive feelings about ourselves and know that we are important to the universe. These feelings are very difficult to achieve. We so often view ourselves through the eyes of others people. If we are not pleasing to them, we are disappointed in ourselves. It is better to do like St. John of the Cross and say to yourself, “soul be content, you have everything you need to be completely content with yourself . . . everything that happens to this body is unimportant.” Although he lived a life riddled with suffering, St. John wrote on finding a path to true happiness in this life. His books are not for the uninitiated to read, although he does actually tell us how to attain the secret of happiness. He might be suitable for that person enduring extreme physical suffering.

When we talk about being happy, we focus on that person who is otherwise content in life and feels healthy. If one has clinical depression, is in pain or a plethora of physical of psychological issues beyond his/her control, happiness still may be attained. Although I have mentioned only a few items that we may actively work to achieve, the most important ones happen all by themselves, without us taking any action. Napoleon Hill wrote a book on how to stop worrying and start living. He made it as a personal choice: to choose to be happy or to not. It seems that the great thinkers realize that being happy requires us to be other-centered.

The last thing I will mention is to practice forgiveness. Forgive everyone everything. If you have an ostomy, you were angry with someone at sometime for this happening to you. At our ostomy association, we have heard people come every month and blame their doctors, their parents, the food they eat, their jobs and so on for requiring them to have an ostomy and thereby making them unhappy. Even if some of this is true, practicing forgiveness will make us feel better about ourselves. True healing can begin when we make a conscientious effort to forgive those that may have caused us injury. Anger is the opposite of to happiness and drains us of positive emotions. Forgive others and be sure to forgive yourself too.

Personal happiness can be thought of as short and long term. Chipping in that sand shot from a difficult lie provides an immediate rush of happiness. The moment we receive good news provokes an overwhelming feeling of gladness for that instant. These are all good in themselves. The danger is when we only look for these instant bursts of feelings as fulfilling our need for happiness. Our TV society does a good job of persuading us that immediate gratification is the only important goal for us to yearn. However, there is always that next shot to make and maybe it does not go so well. Should we be so fickle as to jump from one emotion to another so quickly? I guess we do. Is not this just how we are? Attaining happiness must also have some long-term component in it developed through our short-term feelings and actions.

There is a story about how one day St. Augustine passed a beggar on the streets of Milan. He remembered the incident vividly because the man was laughing and joking. A deep sadness welled up inside the saint: he was doing fine in life; that day he had been preparing a speech to be delivered to the emperor himself. He was full of ambition and energy, not just for earthly success but also for peace and happiness. However, on seeing this smiling man in abject poverty, he turned to his companions in complete misery. This beggar, with nothing, had happiness; he did not. He thought the beggar’s happiness must be illusory, it suggested to him that the path he had adopted was merely a contrived illusion and could never lead to the simplicity that must be at the heart of that beggar. He later seemed to realize that happiness was like the sun and thirst. It can be viewed neither unobstructed nor satisfied once and forever.

Aristotle understood this. He made the point that happiness is not an experience but an activity; more like friendship than pleasure. Said better, happiness is like love: in the same way that you can love your partner without having constant romantic feelings, you can be happy regardless of how you feel in any particular moment.

After contemplating this brief article, I am not happy. It seems that all the information I researched requires a great personal dedication to make positive changes in my life. The advice given may influence me for an hour or so, but how to I stay happy for my entire life. I guess; this is an issue to work on every day, just like managing one’s ostomy. Perhaps it is best not to work on it at all and just let happiness happen.

The Ten Most Asked Questions after Ostomy Surgery

By Jennifer Dore, CWOCN

These are some of the most common questions my patients ask following ostomy surgery. I have provided very general answers to these questions. Please remember to discuss your specific concerns/questions with your ostomy nurse or doctor, as every person's ostomy experience is unique and individual.

1. What about showering and bathing, will soap hurt the stoma?

A People with ostomies shower and bathe both with and without their pouching system according to their personal preference. Normal exposure to air or contact with soap and water will not harm the stoma and water does not enter the ostomy opening. In the case of a person with an ileostomy, one may want to choose a time for bathing when the bowel is less active.

2. What can one eat? Will a person with an ostomy need to change his/her diet?

A There may be some modifications in one’s diet, but in most instances an individual should be able to eat a varied and well-balanced diet. Any dietary restrictions are highly individual. It is important to introduce different foods a little at a time to see how one reacts to them. Drink plenty of water, but not when eating, of course, before eating is best.

For people with ileostomies, some less digestible or high roughage foods such as corn, coconut, mushrooms, nuts, popcorn, dried or raw fruits, stringy vegetables and especially apple skins are more likely to create potential blockage problems. This is only true when these foods are eaten in large quantity. A small portion is usually fine. Never swallow olive pits.

People with colostomies and urostomies generally have fewer or no restrictions. It is important to drink plenty of fluids; i.e., water, and to chew one’s food thoroughly before swallowing. It is best to talk to one’s ostomy nurse for a list of recommendations before or soon after leaving the hospital.

3. Will a person with an ostomy smell because there is odor coming from the pouch?

A Generally, there should be no odor coming from the pouch. Virtually all modern pouching systems designed for ostomies are manufactured to be odor proof. Depending on the type of ostomy one has and what one has eaten, a person may have gas or odor when emptying the pouch. Many products can be taken orally or placed in the pouch to combat odor. Some people like to use room deodorizers preventatively before emptying. Of course, regular people have challenges with odor when going to the toilet so do not be too concerned.

4. Will one be able to wear the same clothes as always? Are there any issues wearing belts, pantyhose, girdles, tight clothes or swimsuits?

A After ostomy surgery, most people wear the same clothes as before their surgery. Depending on the location of the stoma, one might find belts uncomfortable or restrictive, if directly on the stoma. Some people chose to wear higher or looser waistbands on trousers and skirts.

Pantyhose, girdles and tight clothes will not injure the stoma, but they could inhibit the normal flow from the stoma to the pouch thereby breaking the adhesive seal and creating a leak under the skin barrier.

Often, people will wait a few minutes after applying a pouching system before going swimming to make sure the adhesive skin barrier has had some time to adhere. As for swimsuits, avoid white ones because the outline of the pouch may be visible underneath when the suit is wet. Many women prefer patterned suits with an inside panel for extra tummy control. Underwear and bathing suits that contain a provision for a pouch have been introduced for both sexes.

Fashions are always changing. If an ostomy suggests that a person should wear one’s pants a bit higher than the “cool people” is that really such a huge disadvantage?

5. How long should one wear a pouching system between changes?

A The adhesiveness and durability of pouching systems vary depending on the wear time manufactured into them. There are many different situations that will modify one's wear times and different skin barriers are made to meet these diverse needs. Anywhere from three to four days is to be expected, or whatever makes you and your skin comfortable. Many people change their pouching systems daily and some only once a week—not a recommended practice.

Of course, one needs to use a skin barrier that is compatible to one’s lifestyle, skin chemistry and comfort requirements. One’s ostomy nurse can explain the differences in the types of skin barriers worn for hours, a day or an extended time. Specialists say that changing a pouching system unnecessarily frequently or wearing one too long may be damaging to the skin. After a few months, most people learn how long a single pouching system will last under differing circumstances. For instance, in a Chicago winter one may expect a longer wear time, while in the summer, shorter wear times are common due to sweating. The Association of WOCN Nurses now recommends changing the skin barrier at least twice a week.

6. How many times a day does one need to empty the pouch?

A It depends of the type of ostomy; what one eats or drinks; and how quickly it passes through one’s digestive system. For most people with ostomies two to six times a day is to be expected . . . a very rough estimate. People with ileostomies will usually want to empty more often than someone with a colostomy does, often at the same time they urinate. Some people with lower colostomies only have a bowel movement once a day. People with urostomies will empty about a dozen times a day, approximately the same number of times regular people empty their bladders.

People without ostomies who are healthy usually do not count how many times they go to the toilet. People with ostomies who are healthy are about the same.

7. Is there a correct way to empty an ileostomy or colostomy pouch?

A Most people with a colostomy or ileostomy find the easiest way is to sit on the toilet with the pouch between the legs, although there is no right or wrong way. Make sure to hold the closing clip and bottom of the pouch firmly before opening. Most people fold back the tailpiece a bit before emptying the pouch, if the pouch allows one to do so. There are people who think it is a good idea to place some toilet paper in the bowl before emptying to prevent back splash. A few people rinse out the pouch when emptying at home. It is not necessary but a personal hygiene choice.

In dirty public washrooms, one may find that having an ostomy is an advantage. One may empty the pouch while standing.

8. Will a person be able to continue his/her daily activities once he/she recovers from surgery?

A Yes! Generally, after ostomy surgery a person can gradually resume the daily activities he/she was doing before ostomy surgery. One may need to plan to do certain things in a different ways. For instance, people with ileostomies and urostomies need to drink plenty of liquids, unless otherwise directly by their doctor—there are medical conditions that require restricting water intact like diabetes. It is easier to become dehydrated with these types of ostomies. Do not every let that happen . . . drink two or three quarts of water a day.

Unless one has a specific medical challenge unrelated to the stoma itself, an ostomy itself should not restrict daily living. In fact, with many people, such as those who have suffered from ulcerative colitis, an ostomy can greatly enhance the quality of that person's life. Studies show that people with ileostomies from uc have a higher quality of life than regular people have. Remarkable, is it not?

9. Will a person with an ostomy be able to resume or maintain an active lifestyle; i.e., travel, camp, golf swim, hike, have sex, work, play etc.?

A Most people with an ostomy lead active lives. Indeed, some are even professional athletes. Unless one has a particular challenge independent of the ostomy, a person can look forward to traveling, swimming, playing golf, having sex and most other activities. One may have to plan a bit differently with an ostomy; such as preparing to bring extra ostomy supplies when traveling . . . just in case. Some doctors recommend avoiding contact sports, like boxing and tackle football, to prevent injury to the stoma. Although, people with ostomies that desire to compete in these sports can wear a plastic protector cap, found in most ostomy supply catalogs, for the stoma during these activities. Note that there are people with ostomies that do professionally box, play football, belly dance and weight lift. In fact, there are people with ostomies that do just about everything. People that are concerned about maintaining optimal security reinforce the edge of the skin barrier with waterproof tape and/or wear an ostomy belt during physical activities such as running or swimming.

10. What about taking medications and vitamins, will anything be different?

A Time-released and enteric coated medications often pass through the digestive systems of people with ileostomies too quickly to be effective. People with colostomies and urostomies usually do not have concerns about absorption with pills. Remind each of your doctors of the type of ostomy you have every time you obtain a prescription. Checking with your doctor is a good idea before taking any medication . . . vitamins included.

Abdominal Noises

Everyone seems to receive those certain messages from inside our tummy at some time or another. Rumbles, grumbles, growls and howls . . . these abdominal noises would be noticed by anyone within hearing distance. Since this happens to everyone, one would think that we could just laugh them off or ignore them. Instead, we are embarrassed.

As people with ostomies, we wonder if something is wrong, since it seems to happen more often with us . . . or at least we seem to be more sensitive to it than we were before we had surgery.

These abdominal noises are formally named barborygmi (bore-bore-rig-my). If pain accompanies these noises, it could be a sign of an obstruction, an ulcer or a gall bladder problem. It is necessary to see a doctor if these conditions persist. However, it is usual that all these sounds with all there fury really signify nothing important. The cause may be that one is hungry. Peristalsis goes on whether there is anything to move or not. It may be that one is nervous. Peristalsis increases with stress. If one has been drinking coffee, tea, cola or beer, these also stimulate peristalsis. Since these are often drunk on an empty stomach, they produce gurgles as peristalsis redoubles its movement. A urine ostomy should never make noise. Immediately see a doctor if it does.

There is literature about lowering ones cholesterol by eating a high fiber diet. One may have taken this advice and added these high fiber foods to one’s diet. Digesting fiber produces gas thus abdominal noises will increase. Someone who wears a pouching system will notice that it quickly fills with gas and it is like wearing a balloon.

Eating too many carbohydrates will also increase gas. Our digestive systems do not digest starches and sugars as easily as protein and fats. The concerns are often lactose, a sugar found in milk and mild products, sorbitol, a sugar free sweetener, and raffinose and stachyose, sugar in dried beans. The result is more gas gurgling.

A person may be eating too fast; have one’s mouth open when eating; or talk while eating. This will result in swallowing air, which makes grumbly noises as it moves along the digestive tract. To prevent gas eat a snack of healthy fruit or vegetables between meals; you may also eat smaller meals that are more frequent. Eat slowly, chew your food well and do not gulp.

Tips for People with Ostomies

The following are some tidbits of advice we received at our meetings on working with the prosthetic ostomy devices we use every day to enhance our new life.

© When you wear a two-piece snap-on pouching system, take the extra second to make sure the pouch is snapped to the skin barrier securely. Start snapping it together at the bottom and work your way to the top. Give a little tug on the pouch to test its lock, but make sure you do not break the seal.

© Do you take better care of your car than of your stoma? Once every year, two or three have your stoma and your ostomy management program checked out by an ostomy nurse. Keep a copy of his/her phone number handy at all times.

© Do not use antibiotics for colds or flu unless a doctor orders it. Antibiotics have no effect on a virus, but do kill bacteria, friendly and unfriendly. This can change the proper balance of flora; i.e., bacteria in the intestines and may cause diarrhea or other health concerns. Our bodies are not clean. Your bodily tissue has either bacteria or fungus growing on it. If the bacteria are killed, fungus grows. Fungus may cause problems for you, even as far a death.

© When filling a new prescription, ask the doctor to provide only a two-day supply, at first, along with the regular prescription. If any adverse reactions occur, he/she may have you stop taking the medicine.

© Pouches can leak for a variety of reasons. If you have a leaking issue, find out why to correct the cause. Never live with unsatisfactory results from your pouching system. There are answers available. Visit your WOC nurse for answers.

© Do not keep a lifetime supply of ostomy equipment on hand. New products are coming out all the time that may serve you better than your current products. Therefore, let the stores stock up on your supplies.

© Fats of all kinds should be kept to a minimum by most people with ostomies. Fats induce an increased flow of bile into the intestines, and make the body wastes liquid and harder to control. They also tend to produce gas.