Since I haven't updated since the end of December, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! As of Wednesday of this week, I was 8 weeks post-surgery and I am feeling GREAT! I had the realization last week while running some errands that I no longer have much abdominal pain. Until now, getting in and out of my car always gave me a reminder that I was still healing, but finally, this little reminder is gone! Being on a two week break after working for 2 weeks has been very good for my body and I am glad that I finally feel mostly back to normal. Here are few updates on how things are going:
Bag Changes:
Changing the bag is still going OK. After trying out 2 new skin barriers, I have discovered that I still like using the Cut-to-Fit skin barriers (Hollister #14603) with tape border. I tried a pre-cut barrier that I think ended up being a little too big. I still cut my barriers at 1 1/4", but it usually is just a little smaller than the pre-cut barrier. This gives me a better seal and more security in the skin barrier. I also tried a skin barrier without the border tape and I eventually decided that I wasn't a fan. While it was more flexible than I thought it would be, it still did not allow enough flexibility to survive moving around for 4 or 5 days. I eventually got nervous about it leaking and had to change it.
Also, my bag change times have not gotten much faster. I attribute this to two things. First, I am a perfectionist, so I have to make sure that everything is clean, dry, and properly prepped before I can put on the wafer. I think this has made a difference as I have still yet to have a true leak (knock on wood!). The other reason it takes me so long is because my abdomen is very hairy. A lot of the time I spend while changing the bag is devoted to shaving the hair around my stoma site. I even have to resort to using tweezers to get rid of hair right up next to the stoma. Again, it is a little bit of a process, but I think it gives me longer wear time on my skin barriers. I changed my bag this morning and it took me about 25 minutes. The bag that I took off had been on since Sunday morning for a grand total of 5 days with no leaks and no fear that the bag would leak!
I also recently tried using a barrier ring instead of stoma paste (just to try it... it seems easier to use than the paste, which can be a little messy). Unfortunately, I did not like the ring. I don't think it gave me a good enough seal and I had some very irritated skin right next to the stoma (I guess it's possible that I may have been allergic to the ring, but most likely not... I'm not allergic to anything!). The paste, while messy to apply, definitely gives me a much better seal and causes no skin irritation.
After trying some of these new products, I did have some issues with irritated skin right around my stoma. It was very red, bled much more easily than normal, and had a stinging/burning feeling while changing and wearing the pouch. After switching back to my stoma paste and normal wafers and using a technique that my stoma nurse taught me, I have been able to keep it under control and begin the healing process. The technique I used is called "crusting" and involves layering stoma powder and skin barrier prep. After cleaning, shaving, and dying the skin, I use stoma powder on the wet, weepy areas right around my stoma. After brushing the extra powder off, I apply a layer of skin barrier prep (I use the 3M Cavilon No-Sting Barrier Wipes... No-Sting is an absolute must!) right next to the stoma, then all around the area where the skin wafer will sit. After allowing the barrier to dry, I repeat the same process which effectively creates a double layer of protection. I have noticed that doing this for the last few changes has cut down on the burning/stinging sensation and the skin looks less irritated during bag changes.
Ostomy Supplies
After trying out a few new supplies, I ultimately decided that I like the supplies I originally ordered and set-up a reorder of supplies. Since I met my deductible and out-of-pocket maximum for the year, I knew I wanted to order as many supplies as my insurance would allow (since I would not owe anything out of pocket). Luckily, my insurance allows a 3 month supply to be ordered, so this is what I did! It was like Christmas for ostomy supplies!! Somehow, it is strange that I was so excited about this (but these supplies are worth around $1000 without insurance help, so if I can get them for "free", I'm happy!). So, now I have enough supplies to hopefully last through my next surgery (depending on the date, of course).
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60 Bags and Wafers, 6 Tubes of Stoma Paste,
3 Boxes of Barrier Wipes, and 3 Bottles of Stoma Powder...
Yahtzee!!
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Food
Since the last update, I haven't had any major food breakthroughs. I ate pretty normally at Christmas dinner(s) and enjoyed every bite. On New Years Day, I did try a couple new food items and seemed to have no problems. In the South, it is traditional to eat collard greens and black eyed peas for good luck and money! I couldn't resist not trying this out on New Years, so my mom cooked a meatloaf, some cornbread, and mashed potatoes to accompany the veggies. My new pipes handled the peas and collards beautifully (Both were canned, which I think helped. Plus, they were just as good as fresh in my opinion!). This gave me a little bit of confidence and I plan to start slowly adding some foods I haven't been able to eat back into my diet now that I'm 8 weeks post-op.
I go back to see Dr. Liberman in a couple weeks for a check-up and to possibly discuss the date for surgery #2, so until then, Happy New Year!
I had hoped that I would be able to wait until school gets out (end of May) to do surgery 2, but Dr. L said I had to have it sooner. He wanted to do it in February, but I told him with my school schedule, this would not work. We finally compromised and settled on mid March as an ideal time. March 20th to be exact! I asked him why I couldn't wait longer, and he basically said that the longer you wait, the harder the recovery/adaptation process is. I guess this makes sense. I'll also be out for only 2-3 weeks this time, so I figure I won't miss too much school again.
