Pregnancy and Ostomy

As a woman if you plan on getting pregnant and have a stoma there is no need to worry about what will happen. Most women that have an ostomy have very healthy pregnancies with little to no complications. 

There are many significant changes that will occur within your body. One of the main ones is the stoma. The diameter, height and degree of protrusion will change, as well as the woman’s skin contours. As the child grows bigger within the womb, the stoma might start to protrude less, the skin around it may start to flatten, or the diameter might increase. The stoma may even retract or become very flush as the pregnancy progresses. The functions of the stoma will most likely not change. 

Although you could see as you get closer to the third trimester the need for new flange due to changes in the stoma height, diameter or skin contour changes. Some people see a dramatic change with the skin contour or the stoma itself. This just means that you should not purchase a large quantity of an item since you might not be using it for more than a few weeks. Major ostomy supply companies have a program that allows you to sample their products. This can help you get what you need for the proper amount of time. If this doesn’t sound like something that you would want to do, using an ET Nurse to help you figure out what supplies you need and how much of it is another option. As you grow, you may find that you can no longer see what you need to do for stoma care. Using a mirror can help you, as well as using a container set on the sink, or a longer pouch to help empty into the toilet.

After you deliver your baby you will once again notice significant changes to your body and stoma. Delivering the baby might have your body have more wrinkles than before as well as your skin being less taut. This can cause your stoma to protrude again. Again, this is why it is good to use a sampling of a company. You will be able to find exactly what you need to make sure your stoma is working for you. Some people also find that they may not go back to the weight they were before, meaning that you might not even use the equipment you were before. Making sure that you are constantly keeping your doctor in the know of what is going on is best. 

There are some complications that can happen after the birth of your child. A prolapsed stoma can occur. This means that there is an abnormal lengthening of the stoma has occurred. The other complication that can happen is a parastomal hernia. This means that you have a hernia located around the ostomy. Talking with your ET nurse can help figure out if one of these complications has occurred. Your ET nurse will also be able to figure out what next of care will be. Making sure that you are in contact with your health care team will make your pregnancy enjoyable for both you and your family.

Preventing UTIs

No one wants to end up with a UTI but not many people seem to know how to prevent it in the first place. It is often caused by e coli but one of the other major causes is it can develop as a result of urostomy surgery. You see after it occurs your body tends to be in a weakened state & this means you’re a bit more susceptible to a lot of infections such as a UTI. And if not treated soon, this could lead to kidney cancer which will not make you feel that well. 

This is why it is important to know all of the symptoms so you can catch it before it’s too late. A few of the main ones can includes nausea, fatigue, loss of appetite, cloudy or dark pee or back pain. You may also experience blood in your pee, abdominal pain, your pee having a strong odor or a high temperature. If you think you do have a UTI, it is imperative you contact your nurse or GP. You may be asked to provide a pee sample so they can test it for themselves. Of course, after the procedure, it might not be as easy as it usually is to produce a urine sample but that’s why you have the new option of doing it from home. Of course, it always helps to drink as much as you can & make sure to aim. If it doesn’t go away after the 1st round of antibiotics, you may need to produce a 2nd sample. 

You can get it right from the catheter & this can give a much clearer picture of what might be the cause of it. & the best part of it is you won’t feel a thing. In addition to the antibiotics, you may also be asked to take some pain killers but that’s just par for the course. But if you don’t want to go through any of that, the ways to avoid getting a UTI are simple. One of the best ways is to drink as much water as you can. They recommend somewhere between 6 to 8 glasses a day as this helps to flush out your kidneys & reduce the amount of bacteria in your pee thereby lowering your chances of getting a UTI. They do recommend you avoid caffeine as it could lead to dehydration & the same goes for alcohol as well. But as long as you stick to water, you should be good to go. 

Another tip is to empty your urostomy bag on a fairly regular basis. You see bacteria tend to manifest in urine fast so if your pouch is full, it can cause the urine to back up & lead to infection. You should also ensure that your stoma equipment is immaculate as this will reduce the amount of bacteria that tends to collect on the tubes. You should also ensure you have the best urostomy bag for your needs. Some of the best have a tap so you can empty it out easily. Finally, you want to ensure the skin around your stoma is as immaculate as can be. Otherwise, it could get infected or will feel sore and irritable over time. Do not wait until it’s too late. 

Things To Know About A Colostomy

An operation to create an opening of the colon onto the surface of the abdomen is known as a colostomy. After surgery, you will no longer be able to pass out stools through your rectum and anus. Instead, the waste materials will pass out of the stoma. Since a stoma doesn’t have any sphincter muscles, you will have to wear an ostomy bag over it to collect your stools. This bag will adhere to the skin around your stoma.

Why you may have a colostomy

Your doctor may opt to give you a temporary colostomy to remove a part of your colon. The stoma will give the rest of the bowel to recover from the impact of surgery. The surgeon will fix another surgical appointment to join two ends of the bowel. This surgery is known as reversal surgery. After this procedure, you will be able to move your bowels normally.

You may need to have a permanent colostomy if your surgeon decides to remove a large part of the colon, and that it is impossible to connect two ends of the bowel.

What does a colostomy look like?

The shape of the stoma is generally round or oval. Its outer surface is much like the inside of the mouth due to the mucous membrane. Since there is no nerve supply to this part of the bowel, you will not feel anything in it. So, you will have to be careful not to end up injuring your stoma. Damage to it is not painful but can result in other complications.

The stoma will be swollen during the first few weeks after surgery. However, it will get smaller and flatter over time.

The stoma nurse

Your stoma care nurse will help you with the stoma care in the best possible way. During your hospital stay, a stoma care nurse will visit you every day to teach you everything about how to take care of your ostomy. He or she will also tell about the most appropriate type of ostomy bag for your stoma. They will explain to you in detail how to take care of the stoma and the skin around it and how to change an ostomy bag.

The nurse will also provide you some ostomy bags before you go home. The hospital staff will also give you information about suppliers who will deliver ostomy bags to your doorstep.

Looking after your stoma

It will take a bit of time for you to learn how to take care of your stoma. It can be quite worrisome at first. It may take some time for you to adapt to life with a stoma. Once you cope with it, things will get fairly easier.

The best approach is to organize your ostomy supplies in such a way that you will change or empty an ostomy bag quite easily. Make sure that everything is kept together. Keep track of everything and make sure that you are not running out of anything.

If you have any issue managing your ostomy bag, be sure to discuss your problem with a qualified ostomy care nurse.

Balancing Fluids and Electrolytes for an Ostomate

Electrolytes and fluids are the two most essential chemicals for the human body. Balanced fluids and electrolytes are responsible to control the acidity, blood acidity, oxygen distribution, and health of muscles and nerves in a person.

Electrolytes

Electrolytes transmit electricity to the blood and body. These are mineral solutions. They have a key role in regulating the fluids’ amount in the human body.

These are the minerals ions that are necessary for dissolving the chemicals in the body fluids. They maintain the activities of the human body.

Therefore, balanced electrolytes are necessary for a body to become active. A low level of electrolyte in a human’s blood can make a person weak or sick. He/she could use proper medications if their body does not have a balanced level of electrolytes.

To maintain the balance of electrolytes, physicians put a patient on the medications by mouth or intravenously. For a human body, an appropriate level of potassium and sodium is essential. After the colostomy surgery (removal of a part of the colon), a body has a high risk of imbalanced electrolytes. For patients, excessive perspiration, diarrhea, and vomiting can increase the risk. Moreover, an ostomate who has short bowel syndrome can have low electrolytes. Therefore, every ostomy patient should maintain the balance of electrolytes through fluids and foods. The simple solution is to maintain the level of salt in your meals. Do not exclude the sodium, but do not use it too much.

Fluids

Dehydration is another big problem for ostomates. Therefore, every ostomy patient should maintain the level of fluid to continue the functions of the human body. The adequate excretion, blood circulation, functioning of the stomach need a high amount of liquids. Moreover, every patient must keep the stoma hydrated to get rid of injection and bleeding.

When an ostomy body does not have a balanced level of electrolytes and fluids, it can cause kidney infections. An ostomate patient’s kidney can have a high chance of injury, in the case of imbalanced fluids and electrolytes.

The large intestine is highly responsible for intaking and absorbing the electrolytes and nutrients. Therefore, after the removal of the colon, a body suffers the most to balancing the electrolysis and fluids. Such patients are vulnerable to catch the disease regarding the imbalanced level of nutrients. They feel weakness, vomiting, nausea, high fever, sweating, and diarrhea. Thus, a patient is more prone to dehydration.

Balancing the Electrolytes and Fluids

Therefore, for ostomy patients, it is necessary to follow a strict diet routine. They must eat proper foods that contain electrolytes and nutrients. Moreover, they should intake an appropriate amount of fluids. However, they should avoid liquids that cause gas and odor. Like beer, soda, and carbonated drinks. An ostomate should drink milk, fresh juices, and water. Moreover, they should consume the eatables that have a high level of potassium and sodium to balance the number of electrolytes in one’s blood. For ostomy patients, it is necessary not to avoid a single sign of illness. If they feel dizziness or weakness, they should immediately drink a sports or electrolyte drink. This will maintain the hydration level of the body. At home, you can make an insist drink that contains water a pinch of salt, and soda. An ostomate patient should drink seven to eight liters of fluids per day.

Electrolytes and Fluids Related Issues

After the extraction of the large intestine, a body faces the major issues in absorbing the fluids and nutrients. Moreover, it sucks up the water and minerals from the material coming through the small intestine. After the removal of the colon, the patient fell into dehydration because there is no more colon in his body to perform the function. Thus, it creates problems while performing some physical activities like sports, swimming, and gym.

Yardwork with an Ostomy

Some things never change.  The sun still shines, the wind still blows, and the wind still blows dandelions all over my law.  Yes, yard work always needs to be done and if you have a stoma, it still needs to be done.   I was worried about being active when I first found out I was going to get an ostomy.  Lots of scary situations ran through my mind and believe it or not the thought of a terrible lawn after years of careful grooming frightened me.  I needed to be able to still get outside and get my grass mowed and my trees mulched.  It does sound a little strange to be worried about the lawn, but it’s an area I take pride in.  One major thing newcomers to ostomy’s need to know is that they can still be active and still lead a normal life. 

First thing I would say is that you should take your yard seriously and the information of your surgeons and ostomy nurses more seriously.  They will tell you to take it slow and I wholeheartedly agree.  Don’t rush into doing more work then you are able to after an ostomy surgery.  You have lots of new gear to try out and to get working correctly.  I found that testing out new ostomy gear was my favorite way to see what worked and testing for free is truly the best. 

So I found out from a veteran in the stoma that ostomy supplies has free samples.  This is really important when starting to work outside, because you don’t know what will work for your activity level.  You don’t want leakage although I have made many a joke about personal fertilizer that has been very much shunned by my wife. The neighbor still loves them though. 

Now you are more prone to hernias than the average person.  This is due to having a stoma and the fact that your abdominal muscles are rather weakened due to the surgery.  So don’t go full on landscaping mode right away. Take the time to work up to taking care of the lawn.  If you have a riding mower great, if you have a push mower, start by splitting up the task.  What you used to do in an hour break up into 4 days.  WHAT? Yes, do a quarter of the yard at a time and see where your body is at.  Make sure your ostomy Supplies gear is working properly or maybe order a different bag or belt.  Take your time and enjoy your beautiful lawn. 

Pets and an Ostomy

When people first learn they are going to get an ostomy surgery things can be difficult.  Lots of things happen all at once.  You meet lots of new people and get to know your ostomy nurse and surgeon really well.  They give you massive amounts of information to learn and are generally really good at teaching you what you need to know in a very friendly way.  They will give you great suppliers to get your ostomy gear from.  I personally like ostomy supplies because they are really informative and easy to work with.  What most people wont go into detail with is how having an ostomy works with having pets. 

Pets have an incredible sense of smell and are generally very acute at picking up that something has changed. Dogs for instance generally have a sense of smell that is 40 times greater than ours! They know that you have a stoma and some are a little too excited about it.  In general many pets get along just find and match your emotions and become a great asset and friend for the situation.  Now I have two dogs and they both reacted very differently.  One pet was almost indifferent and really went along with life as absolutely normal as could be.  He was what I will call a very good boy.  On the other hand one dog was not so good.

My other dog is a yorkie breed.  He is a fast paced dog that is always on the go. That dog breed is also known for being very one track minded or hard headed.  This pet would simply not go away or stop pestering what he smelled.  Even when everything was perfectly sealed and working great thanks to using Hollister OStomy supplies gear the dog would still try to jump all over me when I was on the couch. 

So I ended up having to train him very quickly.  I suggest you start by purchasing a lot of your pets favorite treats.  You simply won’t win and train your dog by being mean or forceful.  At this time in your life it’s not a good idea for you either.  Your abdomen muscles are not what they used to be and you are likely more prone to hernia situations as well.  So use kindness and lots of treats to work with your pets as soon as you get home.  They know something is different so treat them for being good with it!

How ostomy affects the digestive system

Anytime we eat food, we chew it up and swallow. After that, we stop thinking about it. Have you ever thought about what really goes on, though? The digestive system is a big part of the human body. Without it, we would not get the nutrients we need from the foods we eat every day. Recently I have been thinking about how the digestive system works and what happens when we take a bit of food and swallow it. After we take a bit and swallow that piece of food, it travels down the esophagus into your stomach. What happens if you have an ostomy bag, does the way you digest food change? 

After we swallow food and it gets to the stomach is broken down by our stomach acid and passed through the small intestine that sucks any nutrients from it. After that, it is given to the large intestine that also gets any remaining nurturance from it. After it is moved to the colon to be stored, after a few hours up to a day, the indigestible food is excreted from the body via the anus as a stool. On its way out, it passes through the upper colon, where any additional water is sucked out as it nears the anus. 

When an ostomy surgery takes place, depending on the kind that was performed can leave these organs intact or not. Colostomy, the most common bowel surgery, only moves part of the colon or large intestine. That being said generally means there should be no issues for colostomy patients as they are trying to digest their food. The ascending colon goes up the right side of your body. This colon generally contains the most acidic and liquid as well as a large number of digestive enzymes. 

Where the ostomy exit is placed from the surgery determines some factors in the patient’s life. If the stoma is placed on the right side coming from the ascending colon, odds are there will be a lot of skin irritation. The more liquid the waste is, the more irritating the skin under the bag will be. Because of this, it is essential to take great care of that abdomen skin, so no rash or any infection breaks out. There are some manufacturers who do things for ostomy patients and the products they use. Some of these products include ostomy bags and ports with infused lotions and creams. These are great for ostomy patients as they will have peace of mind knowing their skin is being nurtured and remaining healthy by those creams. 

Ostomy patients seem not to have any issues when it comes to digesting their food which is good to hear as they can still live like normal human beings. The only problem that does arise is the digested food then has to sit in a bag fixed to their skin. This is not good for the skin as it needs to be able to breathe, but the pouch prevents it from doing so. The good thing is that the few manufacturers who take care of ostomy products have made items to help ostomy patients live a more comfortable life. This is good to hear that there are some companies looking out for these people. It is no different from how ordinary people eat and digest their food compared to colostomy patients accept for how it is stored. 

When are Colostomies Needed

A colostomy is a chance to divert a part of the colon through surgery into an opening on our abdominal area. The pouch is ten placed over this in order to collect the refuse that you excrete. This can be temporary or permanent. When do you need it though? We’ll go over that, and what the surgery may entail as well here. 

When’s it Needed 

It’s needed if you can’t pass a stool period dude to problems in your digestive tract, illness, and the like. Vaginal or cervical cancer, along with anal cancer may cause this. Crohn’s disease, a bowel cancer, or diverticulitis may also cause these. 

If you suffer from incontinence as well, you may be given a colostomy. This is usually done after a part of the colon has been removed, and for the most part, they’re not put back together. But in some instances, they may reverse the colostomy at a later point in time, albeit that’s normally not all that common. 

How they’re Done 

They’re usually done with general anesthesia. One type of surgery is open surgery for this, where the make a large incision in the tummy area in order to get to the colon. 

They may also use keyhole surgery which is where they make tiny instruments and then have a camera go in to go directly to the colon. This is much more preferred because faster recovery, and less risk for complications. You also have a loop colostomy and end colostomy, where they use different techniques to help get tis accomplished. 

The loop colostomy is used for temporary procedures, and it’s where a loop of your colon is pulled to the tummy, then opened up and stitched directly to the skin itself to make the stoma. There are two openings made, with one connecting to the outside world so that the waste is able to escape. 

The other type is the inactive part, which is where the anus leads too. The may use a bridge to hold the loop of the colon, while the other part of this is healed, and removed after a bit. Then there is the end colostomy, where one singular end is pulled through the stomach and then you have stitches made to make a stoma. This is a permanent measure, and usually, it is sometimes done in the event of emergencies with the colon itself. 

Stoma location 

This is usually dependent on where the colon is diverted off to, but it’s usually below the waistline on the left part of your stomach. If this is done in advance, you can talk to the doctor to discuss this. 

Usually, when you recover, this does have a moist and red color to it, and it may bleed a little bit, but it shouldn’t be painful since there are no nerves that are attached to this. 

Recovery 

Usually, recovery is done within a couple of days, up to a week in the hospital itself if you do have a longer recover period. They do offer fluids, a catheter to help with draining the bladder. Sometimes you may need an oxygen mask too in order to breathe. 

They usually have a bag placed over when you wake up, and they usually monitor and drain the bag whenever you’re there. It will be larger at first, but then smaller as you leave. Finally, you’ll get a stoma nurse, who will show you how to take care of the stoma itself, keeping it free from the irritants in the skin, and also giving ways to prevent the infection of this as well.