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Each person is unique and deals with the circumstances surrounding ostomy surgery in a different way. You need to analyze your situation to determine how to best live with your illness. Because having ostomy surgery affects different people in a number of ways, you may experience some or many of the following concerns: Interference with daily activities; Interference with physical functioning; Changes in lifestyle and/or personality; Emotional reactions such as depression, anger, anxiety, helple …

Food blockages. Symptoms may include no output from the stoma for more than 4 hours, cramping in the abdomen, nausea or vomiting and high watery output. Solution: Drink hot tea and increase your fluid input. Take a warm bath or shower and massage your abdomen. Have a glass of wine. This will help relax your abdominal muscles. Get down on all fours with your backside in the air. An undignified position, but it does help some people move a blockage. If the blockage persists for more than a few hou …

Many pathological conditions can necessitate the need for some type of bowel or urinary diversion known as an ostomy. For the most part, ostomies are well managed by the patient, and/or caregiver.  Sometimes complications can occur.A list of basic stoma complications follows:Necrosis— A dark, black stoma due to inadequate blood supply. This can be caused by excessive tension on the mesentery, too thick of an abdominal wall for the intestines to pass through, too tight a suture line, or interrupt …

Did you know that improving your diet can help prevent 75% of colon cancers?Get lots of Folic Acid. Dried beans, green leafy vegetables, orange juice and fortified cereals are rich in this cancer fighter. Recent Louisiana State University research showed that getting 250 micrograms of folic acid daily slashed colon cancer odds by 60% in men. In a Harvard study, women who took multi-vitamins containing folic acid for 15 years cut colon cancer risk by 75%. Probable reason: Folic acid blocks DNA da …

There are many things that can cause your colostomy bag to leak, like abruptly sitting up straight from a flat-on-your-back position can pop your pouch loose. So can bending over to clean out the bathtub, or picking up something off the floor,  or stretching high to reach something. There are a lot of ostomy medical supplies that are specially made to help prevent leaks. Feel free to test out products and if your stomach isn't perfectly flat, try barrier rings and strips to help even out skin tu …

If you suffer with arthritis in your hands, here’s a simple tip you might not have thought about. Substitute thin inexpensive wash cloths for your prettier heavy ones. The thin cloths lather with less effort, rinse easier and wring drier with less finger pressure. With the thin cloth, it's easy to scrub using only the palm of your hand.To save money and give added comfort, make your own ostomy appliance covers. Use an old T-shirt or slip. A very light weight material is best so as not to make th …

The urinary ostomy requires three kinds of preventive attention:  care of the stoma; care of the skin around it; and care of the kidneys. Your routine care of kidney functions includes:Drinking, at the very least, one quart of liquids daily, such as tea, coffee, juice, soup, colas, water, etc. These should be decaffeinated preferably.Getting your urine tested every six months.Having an X-ray taken (IVP—intravenous pyelogram) of the kidneys once every two years.Observations to be made: Stoma, cha …