I'm mostly a lurker here, but I have a problem, and I thought some of you might know about it! So, right before I left work today, I went to the restroom - and BLOOD is seeping through my wafer. It completely covered one side. So I hurry home, and when I take the bag off, I have this HUGE sore, and it's bloody and goopy and nasty. It's a good 1 - 1 1/2 inches across. And it's deep. It's ovalish in shape, and it does start at the stoma, it isn't on the stoma, as far as I can tell. If you're looking down on it like I do, it goes out to the left toward my belly button. When I cleaned it off I didn't have much pain. Weird. My stoma itself looks normal. Not distended or anything. Maybe it is my stoma pulling away? What happens then? I put a piece of this spongy stuff the nurse gave me before, but I know my bag isn't going to stick well. Is this an allergic reaction maybe? What the heck? It doesn't really hurt much. Has anyone had anything similar? My stoma nurse is off on Thursdays, so I can't see her tomorrow. What the heck IS it? Waaaaahhh!!!!

Ok, try not to panic. (easier said than done I think)

What colour are the edges of this sore? Does it have a sort of purple edging to it? I have had ulcers (peristomal pyoderma) like you describe which had no healthy skin between the stoma and the sore making it quite difficult to treat and to keep an appliance in place, but I did manage to work out a way to treat them and they did eventually heal.

Unfortunately if it is an ulcer it may take some time to heal and you may have to change your appliance more often than you do at present. Your stoma nurse will be the best person to properly diagnose what the problem is and treat it accordingly. Try the following to tide you over until you see your stoma nurse tomorrow.

The first course of action is to try to get the wound as dry as possible. Do you have some stomahesive powder and no-sting barrier spray in your stoma kit? If you do then fill the sore with the powder so that it forms an artificial scab, then spray the barrier spray over the top and leave to dry before placing your new wafer. Your wafer may start to come unstuck if the wound is weeping so you may have to repeat the process until you see your stoma nurse.

This is the regime I followed which eventually healed my ulcers. I used to use a product called Promogran which looks a little like thin styrofoam. http://www.jnjgateway.com/home.jhtml?loc=USENG&page=vie...tId=09008b9880edadf1 I would cut a piece of this to size use it to pack the ulcer. Then I would place a piece of Duoderm (by Convatec) http://www.convatec.com/convatec/jsp/CVTBProductDetail....US&audience=Consumer and cut that so that it will cover the ulcer and fit around your stoma. It must be larger than the piece of promogran so that it is adhering to healthy dry skin. Then I would place my wafer on top.

Good luck and keep us posted as to what your stoma nurse says.

Take care.

Shell