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Do you have a contentious relationship with your ostomy bag? Let’s face it: life with an ostomy isn’t always easy. But that doesn’t mean it has to be awful, either.
While it doesn’t always seem so at first glance, having an ostomy does come with a few unique benefits. By learning to focus on what’s great about your ostomy, it becomes easier to shift away from the negative and better cope with your illness.
To be clear, no one really loves an ostomy–at least not when compared to being healthy without one. It’s always going to be better to be free of your ostomy than to have one at all. But if you have a stoma, it means that your medical care team judged the benefits to outweigh the risks in your treatment plan. Just as positive thinking can impact treatment outcomes, changing your perspective about your ostomy bag can make it easier to deal with on a daily basis.
1. Bathroom Stops: No Longer as Urgent
Gastrointestinal conditions can significantly hamper your ability to move around freely, no matter how mobile you were to begin with. Whereas you may have onced needed to stop for bathroom breaks or plan outings around them, you can now go much longer than before without needing to stop. Your trusty ostomy back holds on to all that waste for you until you’re ready to dump it, and can give you back a little of the freedom you’ve lost along the way.
Once it’s time to dump your ostomy bag, it takes just a few minutes to switch the bag out and you’re right back to it again. For patients who are often tied to the toilet, at least figuratively, that can be a very freeing feeling.
2. You’re on Your Way to Better Health
For many patients, a stoma is a last resort when they’re absolutely sick. If that’s the case for you, too, you’ve likely improved at least a little bit after getting your ostomy put in. While ostomy surgery and maintenance is no picnic, it’s infinitely less devastating than end-stage bowel cancer, Crohn’s Disease, Inflammatory Bowel Disease or a nasty obstruction. Your stoma is an important part of your healing and health whether it’s temporary or there for life.
Even if you’re not less sick just yet, your ostomy still extends your life and ability to function with dignity. That, too, is a worthwhile cause.
3. Customization is Possible
One of the biggest complaints patients have in regard to how the ostomy bag itself looks is how plain and/or obvious it is under clothes. Some patients do everything they can to hide their ostomy, and if that’s what you prefer, we can give you helpful pointers on how to do that.
If, on the other hand, you’re more outspoken and consider your stoma to be a badge of honor, you can customize or highlight it with ostomy bag covers instead. Available in just about every color and pattern you can think of (you can even DIY them if desired), ostomy bag covers let you show off your personality in whatever way suits you best.
Bag covers also make it easier to mask the color of your ostomy bag under particularly sheer clothing where they may otherwise show through.
4. Using Fragrances to Mask Scents
Let’s be frank: sometimes ostomy waste can be odorous. That’s usually a downside for most patients, but there are solutions. You can use drop-in fragrance packs to mask any potential odors and improve your confidence, or you can dab on a spot of your favorite essential oil perfume. Potential scents include everything from florals to minty wintergreen and even bright, clean citruses.
Whether you use drops inside the bag itself or just layer on your favorite perfume, it doesn’t take much to hide those subtle bag odors. Explore a few scents until you find something that works best for you.
When You’re Not Quite There Yet
We’ve talked about the benefits of wearing an ostomy. But what about when it’s still early and you don’t have much experience with it yet? If you’re still struggling despite the many benefits, please understand that you aren’t alone. Wearing an ostomy is such a big change; your entire life shifts and that can be an incredibly emotional experience.
Whether you’re struggling with accidents or just with acclimatizing to your ostomy, most patients find that they become more comfortable over time. The following tips will help you grow more comfortable with your ostomy as you heal.
- Track Your Movements – Tracking movements (even in your stoma) is one of the best ways to nail down your personal “schedule” after surgery. Use a small notebook or diary to make a note each time you pass waste. As times goes on, you’ll better understand your habits and be able to anticipate them, so they’ll impact your day less and less.
- Allow Yourself to Feel Your Emotions (Whatever They Are) – Having an ostomy comes with tons of ups and downs. Don’t trap those emotions inside! Whether you’re sad, angry, happy, excited, bored, anxious, or even unsure, it’s important to allow yourself to feel those emotions. Vent to a friend or loved one when you need someone to listen. If you find yourself thinking about your ostomy all the time or feeling really depressed, a therapist can help you through those feelings.
- Don’t Be Afraid to Use Accessories – There are as many ostomy accessories as there are people who have a stoma, and no two brands or styles are always a perfect fit for every patient. Play around with accessories until you find the ones that best suit your needs. Use barriers to protect your skin, fragrances to get rid of odors, and straps to keep your ostomy close to your side under your clothes.
For Parents of a Child With an Ostomy Bag
If you’re the parent of a child with an ostomy who is feeling insecure about how their friends might feel, stage a post-surgical stoma party with besties. Have each guest decorate an ostomy bag for your child. While he or she won’t be able to physically wear them, they can be stashed as a reminder of who supported them through their illness when it counts.
The goal is to demystify the ostomy bag and make it just as much a part of your child’s social group as, say, an asthma inhaler or daily medication.
If you’re really struggling with your ostomy, you don’t have to go it alone. Every patient goes through a period of adjustment that can be somewhat rough. Your pharmacy care team is an encyclopedia of knowledge to help you make the experience easier and more efficient than ever, so don’t be afraid to call. It is possible to get to a point where you rock your ostomy and aren’t insecure about it–it just takes time.