Living with a colostomy

Colostomy signifies a surgical procedure that is performed to eradicate problems related to the bowel such as colorectal cancer. The procedure modifies the way food exits your body. The waste food ends up in an artificially placed pouch which needs to be changed as required. Living with a colostomy is tough but one can adapt to the new lifestyle with determination and practice.

To have a better understanding of the procedure one needs to understand the basic starting from what exactly is a colon. It is a portion of the large intestine that ends up at the rectum. Food that enters the colon is further disintegrated and the nutrients and mineral are absorbed in this stage of the digestion. The chunk of food that is not absorbed is passed into the rectum and eventually exits the body.

Ostomy involves creating an opening normally when the bowel loses its capability to process the food and facilitate its movement through the bowel. The condition can develop due to various reasons such as birth anomalies, injuries or diseases. A colostomy is a type of ostomy which involves creating an opening at one side of the abdomen also called a stoma. The surgery is followed by the placement of a detachable pouch which collects waste products normally supposed to exit from the rectum. The type of stool varies depending on the location of the stoma.

How To Maintain The Stoma

After spending several days in the hospital on pain relievers and guidance from doctors, it becomes absolutely to necessary to hire a home nurse who has sound knowledge regarding the procedure and will guide you on how to take care of the stoma and help you with your daily chores. Since the opening is on the abdomen which endures a lot of pressure during movement and other activities, it becomes important to ensure proper cleaning and sterilization in case of bleeding and ruptures in the surrounding skin tissues. The home nurse will educate you on how to detach and replace the pouch and techniques to shower without affecting the stoma.

Living with a colostomy can be depressing and it takes quite some time for people to accept it. But mostly it cannot be detected when you are in public unless you explicitly talk about it. Since you can’t be lifting heavy items anymore, people at your workplace might need to know about.