I guess it's finally time I admit I may have to go on a permanent ileostomy. I'm not excited by the idea, but that's for two reasons. The first reason is that my second ileostomy was pretty miserable, for a variety of irrelevant reasons.

The second reason I have is that I have no idea what I will do with clothes. My stomas have been right along the line where I wear the waist of my pants. My options were: wear pants that go all the way up to my armpits, sag my pants such that (were I connected) I wouldn't have to pull anything down to go to the bathroom, or buy pants four sizes too large to accommodate my variable waistline and keep my pants on with suspenders.

Baggy pants were in fashion for my birth cohort then so the suspenders option worked. I'm glad to say I don't dress like that anymore, and don't want to go back to it. How do y'all wear pants with an ostomy? Do you have the pants go over it, do you wear your with the waistline just under the appliance and never tuck in your shirt? Are there more options? I guess if I could figure out what I'd do fashion-wise I'd be less scared of going back to an ostomy.

If you return to a permanent ileostomy then you should be able to work with your surgeon and ET nurse to site the best place for your ostomy. Make sure you mention the problems you previously had with the former placement.

I don't know if you had end ileostomies when you had your ostomies, but if not then you should find that an end ileostomy will work much better.

You should also (re)look at Mark & Megan's blog because they have some really good information on it. And make sure you visit Shaz's site if you have additional questions.

Good luck with your surgery.

kathy

Semi,
Very good questions ! My stoma is also located on my waistline, and have a miserable time trying to figure out how to size, and wear my pants(Sounds kinda funny...). I have tried stoma covers, but the pressure is uncomfortable. Tried doing the PaPa thing, sagging, and am not satisfied with either. I hate to have to wear all my shirts out, but the stoma area seems to be alot more swollen ,than the other side( is this normal??). Kathy, if you have links, can you post them. THANKS! Mike

Here's Mark & Megan's site.

Here's Shaz's site.

Good luck to both of you.

kathy

Thanks Kathy !

Hi,

I just got a permanent ileostomy 7 weeks ago and was worried about some of the same issues, because I had three different temp ileo and had problems with all of them. I met with my surgeon and ostomy nurse before my surgery and we talked about where to place the stoma - we drew in a spot with a marker and they had me walk around, sit up, bend etc. We purposely pick a spot on the left side (because I have scars on the right side) and put it about 4 inches below my navel and 2 inches over. It is really been a great placement. It does not get in the way of my clothes at all and in fact I wear anything and everything I want - I even have a bikini with a higher waisted bottom than most bikinis, but it still looks cute.

Really talk to your surgeon before your surgery - there is no reason you should have to live with a stoma placement that is so bothersome and gets in the way of your dressing. Your surgeon should understand this and asking for a stoma nurse to be there too is really helpful.

Good luck - Mikaela