What is a Colostomy Bag? - Life With a Colostomy Bag

Colostomy Bag

Colostomy bags, stoma bags, and ostomy bags are the same things. These are some different names or recognition of ostomy pouches. Well, a colostomy patient discharges solid stool, and the colostomy appliance collects the waste in it. The colostomy bags are usually discardable and waterproof tools. They have attached to the opening in the abdomen or stoma of the ostomate. The hole of the colostomy appears on the left side of the abdomen wall. The round opening has created by doctors during the procedure of colostomy surgery.

During the colostomy surgery, doctors remove the infected or injured part of the colon, they bring the remaining section to the outer side of the abdomen (towards the hole or opening, called a stoma) for the excretion purpose. After the making of the stoma, a person discharges the solid waste through the opening. The feces do not come out through the anus after the construction of the stoma. The colostomy surgery happens in the result of ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, Diverticulitis, colon cancer, rectal cancer, blockage in the colon, infection in the colon, injury in the large intestine, or disease in the bowel.

After the creation of an opening in the abdomen of the patient, there should be something to cover the hole and collect the solid stool. The tool you use for this purpose is called a stoma bag, colostomy bag, ostomy bag, or pouch. Sometimes, a colostomy is permanent; however, in a few cases, it is a temporary procedure.

Usually, ostomates think that their entire life is going to change after the use of an ostomy bag. Well, there is no complication in your lifestyle and body after getting the stoma. It does not bother you once you are used to your stoma life and ostomy appliances. Stoma and its tools do not give you pain. It is a common surgery and happens to many people. Merely, a patient feels a burden on the mind and a few emotional changes in their behavior in the early days of the colostomy, but with the time everything gets settled down.

When and Why do You Need a Colostomy Bag?

Right after the construction of stoma in the patient's abdomen, wearing of colostomy bag gets compulsory. You cannot leave the opening open and alone. It needs to get covered with an appliance. Thus, you need a pouch or bag that can collect the discharge of the body. The stoma of colostomy excretes solid stool; therefore, it is ok to not wear a drainable pouching system. Moreover, no matter what age and gender you are, after getting the stoma, you will have to wear the colostomy bag. If it is a loop colostomy, then you will get rid of these tools after the reversal of the procedure; however, for end colostomy, you will have to wear the pouching system for the rest of your life.

Life with Colostomy Bag

Life with the ostomy pouching system does not mean that your special moments are halting. An ostomate can live life on their own choices and wishes after the healing of internal organs and stoma. It does not affect the life and lifestyle negatively. A patient has to bring some new things and changes in life. It will be your new diet plan, change of hygiene routine, change of excretion path, bringing ostomy appliances with you all the time, changing your tools, cleaning the pouch, and taking care of the stoma and peristomal skin.

Moreover, when it comes to lifestyle, a colostomy patient can live his/her previous life. Going to work, gym, swimming, shopping, traveling, running, everything is normal with the colostomy.

An Overview Of Ileostomy

Your surgeon may want to put a bowel diversion to pull an end of the small intestine out through an incision in the belly. It will reroute the passage of bodily waste away from the colon. This diversion is known as an ileostomy. The end of the small bowel appears on the belly, creating a stoma to pass out the stool.

You will need to wear an ostomy bag over the stoma to collect your bodily wastes. The reason you will need to this bag is that a stoma doesn’t have any sphincter muscles, so you will have no control over when to empty your bowels.

When do you need an ileostomy?

You may need to stop your bodily wastes from passing through the colon temporarily or permanently. There can be many reasons for it. We will discuss some of them below.

• Your colon may need to heal after surgery. For instance, your doctor may opt to remove a segment of your colon as a part of the cancer treatment. After the removal of the diseased part, the colon will need some time to be able to function again.
• You have Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis. Such conditions result in inflammation, which can be quite painful.
• You need to undergo complex surgery that must be carried out on your rectum or anus.

The ileostomy procedure

Before ileostomy surgery, you will meet your stoma nurse, who will let you know about the options related to the location of the stoma placement. The nurse will also describe how to live with an ileostomy.

Generally, there are two types of ileostomy.

• Loop ileostomy: A loop ileostomy is when the surgeon pulls a loop of your small intestine out through a cut in the belly and makes an incision on the top of that loop. The edges of the rolled and stitched to the abdominal skin.
• End ileostomy: An end ileostomy is when the surgeon separates the small intestine from the colon and pulls the end of the small intestine through an incision in the tummy to create a stoma.

Your surgeon may also opt to create an internal pouch by folding the small intestine at its end. He then connects this pouch to the anus. This way, you pass out stool just as a normal person does with an intact GI tract. This internal pouch is also known as an ileo-anal pouch.

Most end ileostomies and ileo-anal pouches are permanent. Loop ileostomies, however, are generally temporary.

After surgery

You may have to stay in the hospital 1-2 weeks after surgery. It is generally the initial recovery phase, in which your GI tract is in its most vulnerable state. The doctor and the surgical staff will want to monitor how well you are doing during this recovery phase.

During your hospital stay, an ostomy care nurse will visit you regularly to take care of your stoma and to teach you about the use of ostomy appliances.

The overall recovery after surgery takes 6-8 weeks. Many people suffer from psychological and physical complications during this phase. Taking good care of stoma and thinking of your ileostomy as a positive thing in your life can help you regain your physical and mental strength.

Love your Stoma

Do you have a stoma now?  If so that is great and you should try your best to love it.  I mean it, you are probably more healthy now that you have one and are on the way to living a great life.  I find that instead of being sad or angry about having a little extra work every day that you should love your stoma.  The more you accept who you are the faster you can go out and have an amazing time living life.  I have found that using my stoma for my advantage in life has brought about a lot of joy.  One of the things that I love doing is being outdoors.  The nature, and the peace that comes with the great outdoors give me joy.  I also love to go out and provide for my family while enjoying the things that I love.  Hunting has simply become part of my life and I was first worried my stoma would keep me from being able to be successful but I was certainly wrong.

 

The one area that I feared the most that I would lose after my surgery was my ability to enjoy the outdoors and be active in it.  This would mean that I would no longer be able to hunt throughout the year.  This was indeed a fear that was unfounded because I found that my newly found ostomy bag was something that I could use to my advantage. 

 

Now first, I want to go over the fact that being active outdoors and hunting can be very physical.  It is actually a sport and can come with some very demanding physical requirements.  O first make sure to consult your doctor and make sure you are capable of doing it first before just going out.  This could avoid getting injured.  Now, most people are fully capable of active sports after they train and get ready for it, but just make sure your doctor thinks it is safe.

 

Once you are ok to go out and enjoy the woods or fields or mountains then you should learn to love your stoma.  I found that the ability to not have to go to the bathroom in the normal fashion helped me astronomically while hunting.  Now I no longer had to leave the field in order to go number two.  This was also my biggest fear at first and that was that the smell of my ostomy bag would keep me from being successful.  There are several different ways to work in this area.

The first thing you can do is take a pill that will lower the scent of your stool.  It is a really cool product but not the only way to eliminate sent.  YOu can also get a spray or drops that you can put in your ostomy bag to eliminate smell as well. But I find that it is also important to use regular scent blocking hunting gear as well.  I normally use one to two layers of scent blocking clothing on top of my ostomy bag and it has done me well.  I have not found it a hindrance at all.

 

So I hope you are able to love yourself and your stoma.  I found that it helped me in my passion and didn't hinder me at all. Hope these tips help!

 

Running with a stoma

Now I get that his title could be taken in several different ways.  It could be taken in the worst way where you have a gear failure and your stoma starts leaking.  That has happened once to me and it was a terrible and yet funny situation. But that all worked out just fine because I was well prepared.  What I am actually talking about is the more active running and the ability to still be an athletic and active person when you have a stoma.  Many people think that your active life simply ends when you get an ostomy bag attached to your hip for life.  But the reality is that your life doesn't change that much and that ostomy gear is so good these days that you can absolutely keep your active lifestyle up.  I have even improved a whole lot on my cardio and that was not because I have a stoma, but because I worked hard with it to increase my capabilities as a human.

 

I want you to know that getting a stoma does not mean you simply shut down and stop being an active and fun person.  Movies have portrayed people with a stoma pretty poorly and let's face it that is where we get the majority of our information from before we actually do some research.  There are always nerdy, sad, and non-active people with ostomy bags looking like life is passing them by and that is simply not true in real life.  So get those silly thoughts out of your head and start thinking big.  I mean think as active or as crazy as you would like.  You can climb mountains, run marathons and swim just fine with a stoma. 

 

Now the first thing that really comes to mind is that you should not just jump right into full-on running after surgery.  That is generally just common sense, but hey we all have that blond friend and it maybe you.  I personally can be a little blond at times, but I decided to follow a lot of the research I did and start back to getting into athletic cardio shape slowly after my surgery.  I wanted to learn the basics of how my stoma would work in everyday life and learn to get the right gear for the right situation.  You may end up with a whole different ostomy bag set up for active activities and I would highly suggest it.  I slim down and strap up when I work on my cardio and switch out my bag for a much more efficient system for running. 

Now each and everyone of us is different. Our stoma shapes are different and we may need different setups to be comfortable and safe while being active.  So ask your Doctor, Ostomy Nurse, and healthcare providers about what you will need.  You can also ask your pharmacist and usually get some great information as well.

 

But starting slow is a big key point and it means you need to work your body up to the cardio activity.  Your muscles need to grow and heal at the right speed and I would suggest getting a plan from your doctor to work with your current capabilities.  I also suggest working on your running gate to eliminate extra bounce or impact.  I started shifting the impact all to my legs by barefoot running.  Hope these tips help!