Blog

We live in stressful times, there really is no avoiding it.  Most of us have heavy concerns with try to balance our work life and home life, raising our children, providing opportunities for our children to go to college, weddings, dating, concerns about the economy, our future retirement, and the list could go on indefinitely.   As well as the numerous other complications that these stressors bring, we often feel these stresses in our stomachs.Avoid stress as much as possible; sometimes just dr …

Everybody gets some form of heartburn from time to time, but as we get older, it often seems to be more frequent and more severe. Reflux esophagitis refers to a backup of stomach contents into the lower esophagus, where the stomach acids produce a burning sensation. It is commonly known as GERD, or gastroesophageal reflux disease.In case it has been awhile since you took anatomy, the esophagus is a long tube leading from the mouth to the stomach. Its function is obvious. The upper 3 inches are d …

I had ulcerative colitis for 14 years before I became so ill that my colon had to be removed. I was so afraid of having an ostomy that I postponed treatment and nearly died. Knowing my feelings about ostomies, my doctor performed a rarely done straight ileoanal anostomosis when he couldn’t make me a J-pouch. I lived three years of hell with that “straight shot” and had an ileostomy installed in December, 1996. It was the best Christmas I ever gave myself!I had misconceptions about living with an …

Question: How soon after ostomy surgery can I return to a normal diet? Answer: Physicians and ostomy nurses suggest that you begin slowly, depending upon your recovery and/or other medical complications. Add back one new food at a time. If you experience any problems, discontinue for a few weeks and try again.Question: In the past, certain foods caused me some trouble with digestion. How will they affect me since my ostomy surgery? Answer: Check them out. You may find that some of those foods wi …

We have all heard about the dangers of taking in too much salt in our diet I am sure.  Doctors have been warning us to lower our sodium intake and we see commercials on TV on a routine basis reminding us to lower our sodium.  The same advice given for your general health also holds true for your health regarding your ileostomy.A person with an intact colon releases practically no salt through their stool.  However this is not true for a person with an ileostomy.  The salt out …

In this world of internet searches, marketing scams, and identity theft, there are many types of people trying to find out information about you.  Some of it may be beneficial, some not.  Before you give out your personal information, including information about your medical history and your ostomy, ask yourself a few questions.  “How will I benefit from this person having certain information?  How will the person asking the questions benefit from my answers?”Thinking back to those critical days …

Bowel control after a Colostomy depends in part on the nature of the colostomy and in part on the nature of the person. Patients with right-sided colostomies do not have as much remaining colon as those with a left-sided colostomy. Because of this, there is usually too little colon left to absorb enough water to make a solid stool. This type cannot be controlled by irrigation, but instead behaves very much like an ileostomy with a fairly continuous discharge.The sigmoid, or left-sided colostomy, …

As a patient with a new Urostomy, we are sure you have many questions or concerns about your new medical appliance.  With these tips we hope to alleviate some of your concerns and hopefully bring some helpful tips to make your new urostomy more manageable and easier to care for.Train yourself to shut the pouch valve as soon as you have emptied the pouch! If you forget, the resulting disaster within the next 10 minutes could ruin your day.Be sure to take the plastic washbasin and clean measuring …

Whether or not to include fiber, and to what extent, should be based on the ileostomates tolerance of foods. The intestine has a remarkable capacity to adapt. Digested food in the small intestine is quite watery, and after it moves into the large intestine, a good portion of the water is reabsorbed into the body. Most fiber is indigestible material (from plants) that acts like a sponge, soaking up water and increasing the bulk of the intestinal contents ­making matter move through the system mor …

As an ostomate, you have obviously spent time in the hospital even if only for your ostomy surgery.  During your hospital stay, some of you received support from friends and family, some of you received support from visiting nurses or fellow ostomates, some of you however may have started this journey on your own.  For this reason, a common practice among ostomates, friends of ostomates, and many ostomy chapter association groups is to visit new ostomates in the hospital before and after surgery …