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.
A Learning Poet 