What do most of you use to cover your stoma? Right now the skin around my stoma is a mess from constantly being bandanged and wet from the tube sticking out of my stomache. Will this get better when I am wearing just a patch?

Do any of you experience skin irritation on a regular basis? The nurse told me that some people use a pantyliner to collect the mucous that comes from the stoma. Is it a lot? Does it bother you? Just wondering what things are going to be like once I get rid of this dreaded tube and bag!

Are there any clothes you feel like you can't wear because of the k pouch? Obviously with the bag and tube my wardrobe is pretty limited right now.

Thanks in advance for any answers,
Rosie

Hi Rosie,
Well I use a half panty liner (I get the extra wide one and then cut them in half) stuck to my panties over the stoma and reinforce it with a folded up mini kleenex next to the skin...I seep about a tsp or less of liquid/mucus onto the kleenex and change it a few times a day, the panty liner serves to make sure that when I move around that I don't spot my clothing...I used to use only the kleenex and ended up spotting a lot of light clothing (I no longer wear white or light pants/skirts due to this..the spots show up like a drop of light coffee or tea spilled onto clothing)
The skin irritation around the stoma goes away with time, try stoma powder and/or hydrocort cream....as the zone gets accustomed to the acidity it stops getting red and bumpy (diaper rash)...
What don't I wear other than whites? NOTHING.
I wear tight dresses, short skirts, tight pants and leggings and pretty much whatever I want, including bathing suits but I like to wear something dark on the bottom-half...my stoma sits flat and flush with the skin so it doesn't show, the only thing that people see (estheticians, doctors etc is the white back of the mini pad)
I generally do Not use any sticky tape of bandaid type covers because the tape irritates my skin...I only use them when I want to be sexy with hubby
So don't worry too much about that, your stoma, in the long run will look like a rosy bellybutton. Nothing to be embarassed about.
Just get healthy and well, get rid of the strait drain and tube and the rest is easy...
Sharon

Sharon, Thanks for your reply. I tried to PM you, but can't figure out how. I have only PMed with people that have PMed me first. I can't figure out how to add you as a contact. Could you please PM me and I will reply to you? Thanks I appreciate it.

Rosie

Hey Rosie,
I cover my stoma with half a nursing pad. I've tried many diff kinds and my fav is Lanisol. I do use paper tape to attach it to my skin, but my stoma is kinda high and I wear low-cut bikini undies so there is no way my underwear would hold the patch on. I wear whatever I want as well, which I couldn't do with an ileo. I'm not brave enough for a bikini but I do tankini when I swim which isn't often.
when I get skin irritation I use stoma powder and it usually resolves in a day or two. If it is stubborn the ET nurse at CC recommended the Medicated Gold bond powder in the green container, that always does the trick.

I use Kotex ultra thin long liners and cut them into thirds, cutting off the bent part where the pad was folded in the package because that part is too bumpy.

I don't wear bikini underpants. Hi-cuts work because I put the skicky side of the 1/3 pad onto my underpants over the spot that will cover my stoma.

I need no tape or extra kleenex or anything else. I change the pad when I intubate (sometimes 5 but usually 6 times per day). That way I use 2 pads per day and they come in packages of 20, so a package lasts 10 days, and I can get them right in my neighborhood supermarket. Sometimes I don't really need to change the pad but I do anyway since any moisture seems to wick away from the surface and you can't really tell if it's partly saturated.

I wouldn't wear a bikini swimsuit at my age, but I wear any other kind, tankini, one-piece, skirted, etc.

Actually, I avoided white skirts or pants when I had a j-pouch because an accident, no matter how small, would have been a disaster. Now I often wear white jeans or slacks in the summer because they are so versatile.

I wouldn't wear a skin-tight knit dress, but I did just buy a dark grey sweater dress that fits well and I add a wide belt to look a bit trendy. I wear flat-fronted slacks all the time since the ones with pleats in front look a bit old-fashioned now. If my belly looks a bit rounder on the right side, so be it. I really don't think anyone notices. If people are looking for flaws in my appearance, they have a lot to count before they get to my tummy, like wrinkles, sun freckles, scars on my legs, messy hair, etc.

For intimate moments, a band-aid works fine for an hour or so.

Everyone hates the continuous intubation immediately post-surgery, but when you "graduate" to intubating yourself, you'll hardly remember those weeks. You're almost there, so congratulations!

The man who wrote the tips on BCIR book just uses toilet paper folded over. No tape.

Thank you everyone for the tips......I can't wait to use them. I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my endless questions.

Thanks,
Rosie

Good luck. The BCIR is different I believe than kpouch recovery. I know I intubate every 2 hours for a week after I leave the hospital but I have no tube or bag in once I leave there. I am sure I will be on here for some issue though after lol

Vanessat,
One of the reasons that you don't have the tube in when you leave after the BCIR is that they keep you in the hospital longer...for the k pouch these days they keep you only a week unless there are complications...for the BCIR, If I am not wrong (and this is what they told me the last time I enquired) they keep you 30days...so the indwelling tube business lasts the duration of your stay, they teach you to intubate before you leave...like the k pouch when I had it done...I was in 32 days in all.
Sharon
ps. As for the toilet paper cover for the stoma...it depends on the quality of the t.p. if it is really biodegradable it turns into a sticky mess on the stoma due to the moisture and has to be scraped off...because t.p. is meant to fall apart and degrade in the toilet..so you need to use the 'resistant' kind.

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