Colostomys?!
Question: Because of my colon cancer I was forced to wear a colostomy bag. My stoma is larger than most, why the doctor made it so big I do not know. It is not even round. It is 3 inches high and 4 inches wide. I have to wear post surigal bags and those are even pushing it when I have to cut them as being small. I have made my stoma bleed really bad several times. Is there a place where they make bags for larger stomas?
Answers: Because of my colon cancer I was forced to wear a colostomy bag. My stoma is larger than most, why the doctor made it so big I do not know. It is not even round. It is 3 inches high and 4 inches wide. I have to wear post surigal bags and those are even pushing it when I have to cut them as being small. I have made my stoma bleed really bad several times. Is there a place where they make bags for larger stomas?
If my husband were home, I would hand him the laptop and see if he could answer your questions. He has one, due to colon cancer surgery. His plumbing was re-arranged back in 2005 and he's worn one of those bags ever since. His stoma isn't quite that large, but I do know that it kinda shrunk over time. I thought, though that the size can be adjusted by how you cut out that little cardboard insert thing. He's having a few issues, as well, and last night I scouted out an MSN support group for him to check into. Since I'm at a loss, here, and don't really know WHAT to tell you, I would recommend you hit the MSN Groups and browse the sites under Health. There are several that seemed to be informative.
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UPDATE
OK.....he came home and I read him your question. He was astounded at the size of it.....he thought that the size of the stoma was in relation to the size of the colon and has no idea why the doctor made it that large. Michael suggests that you get in contact with an Ostomy support group. He says that the hospital should be able to tell you how to get hold of one. You can call someone and talk to them on the phone and get practical, local advice. He also says you might consider going to another doctor and/or finding out if they can reduce the size of that. His is 1 inch wide and about an inch tall.
If you just google it you can find many websites that offer all sorts of bags.
I had issues with mine until my stoma nurse finally found me the perfect bag, so talk to her if you have one, or your doctor.
hi velvet, I am an ileostomate due to Crohn's disease.
The stoma is usually huge right after surgery and will shrink over time. After a yr, it is the smallest it will be unless there is a stricture present.
The united ostomy association of america can assist you. site provided below. Have you cld the 2 major ostomy supply companies, Convatec and Hollister? They came out with some new lines of products for hard to fit stomas.
They will even send you free samples to try before purchasing. Convatec provides pts. with a month's supply if they are fresh out of the hospital.
Hope this helps. I use to be president of the local ostomy support group where I lived for 20 yrs. This is what we give to new ostomates. Also, the hospital's ET nurse who marked you for surgery should be able to provide you with information as well as visiting nurses, the GI, as well as the colorectal surgeon.
best of luck to you, you can email me if you have questions.