I reported it to convatec but I'm out of town and couldn't supply the lot number to them. I suspect I just have a defective batch, but it sure is frustrating!

Welcome, Steve. Give us a follow-up if ConvaTec confirms that there was something wrong with your batch, and how they decide to make it right for you.

It's a shame to hear that you run into these problems after decades of success, but I do hope it's just a one-off issue. 

As always, I am coming in late on this, but regarding Coloplast, I did have one box that seemed to have problems. That only happened once and have never had any problems since. I use the Sensura Mio one-piece because it prevents any skin problems under the barrier. I use the filtered version because the unfiltered uses clear bags. To solve the problem of pancaking, I place a shower cover over the filter - that way I have the best of both worlds when needed.

Stella

I don't keep a used bag for later use but just reuse it for the immediate, next appliance change when changing base plates. I wouldn't suggest keeping one or more used bags for any length of time.

Maybe a bit off topic, for my two piece system, I am going to reuse a bag maybe once a month so that if a bag should fail I could have plenty of replacements. I'll just pick one that's pretty clean and rinse it out for reuse. I could build up a small supply - half a dozen - extra bags should I need to change pouches because of pouch failure before it's time to do a full replacement.

In general I find that my wafers last longer than my pouches, and put on a new pouch when I change the wafer.  I rinse my bags out when I empty them, so doing a bit of extra cleaning to transfer a bag to a new wafer is not such a stretch, and I did this once when I had insufficient supplies on hand.

I wouldn't try cleaning and drying a pouch for future use, but if you can 'stretch' a bag from one wafer to the next then that 'saves' a new one.

I am currently using far fewer wafers or pouches than my insurance would cover, but I don't like to be wasteful.

I find that a water based lube really helps with pancaking and cleaning the pouch.

I've also found that I prefer the coloplast bags without the built in filter.  I use their external stick on filters, and find that I can push a pin through the center again when the filter clogs.  The filter clogging is the limiting factor for how long I can use a bag.  I wish they made these with the opaque cover.

-Jon

I have not seen any problem with Hollister two piece appliances. I still have a couple of month's worth of them because for travel, the base plates are flat  and don't take up any room in my travel bag. Haven't done any overnight travel for a year because of Covid. The appliances I have are 18193 pouches and 15103 base plates. This Hollister set allows use of a belt attached to the pouch which makes it pretty secure. The Coloplast appliances attach a belt to the base plate, which I use, but I'm not sure it's needed, particularly since I use base plate extensions. The advantage of the Coloplast pouches is they can be rotated whereas the Hollister ones can't be rotated if you want to use a belt.

One of the problems I've had with both Hollister and Coloplast bags might be pancaking. The problem seems to be with bags with filters. These bags tend to collapse around the the flanges and the stoma in use. The Coloplast bag filters seem to act like a pump, really causing a problem. For the Hollister bags, I cover the filter with tape and I've switched to filterless Coloplast bags with Osto-Ez-Vents. I can then keep an air pillow in the bag and avoid its collapse and resulting pancaking. Hollister two piece appliances are easily burped, but the mechanical flange on the Coloplast systems are a pain to burp by themselves, so the use of Wz-Vents.

My insurance is US Medicare with a Part D supplemental plan and between the two they pay for everything. This includes 20 appliances per month, 20 Eakin slim rings, and other things like stoma powder, Cavalon spray and pouched "sponges", adhesive remover spray and wipes.

I'm able to keep a pretty good backup supply of all the things I need. I change appliances every three days so typically use 10 or 11 appliances per month, though that depends a bit on how things feel, but for quite a while I've been able to keep that schedule with no leaks or bad skin problems. I found that going four days I began to feel the need to change, though my skin looks ok.

I try to keep a 90 day supply of everything. Remember, some Hollister stuff is made in Northern Ireland and Coloplast stuff comes from Denmark so international situations might slow things down. That has never happened but be prepared. Eric's friend, Laura Cox, in one of her videos mentions that one should keep a three month supply of materials. She works for a mail order retailer, so she's interested in making sales, but I think that's good advice. Once the 90 day supply is established, use reduces it maybe to 75 or 80 days, just reorder a 30 supply again.

I live in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and use a local ostomy supply store, OSTOMY INC., operated by an amazing young woman. She moved here from Florida where her grandmother and now mother run a store of the same name and she learned the trade. One advantage of the situation is she keeps a pretty good supply of materials if a customer runs into a supply problem. She also helps out some folks who might not be able to afford supplies. She orders from a company called Cardinal and they arrive in a couple days by a delivery company.

Re-using pouches would not work for me - I am quite a pancaker, and even burping the bag at the top can be risky. Changing out pouches (I have tried this) is really a mess.

The snap-on of the newer Hollister pouches seem to be a little flimsy. They are softer and more flexible, but mine have unsnapped at the bottom several times. Again, for a pancaker, a real mess.

Although I had been using insurance to cover my supplies up until last year (now I pay out of pocket), I built up several months worth of supplies in case there were any shortages or unforeseen issues that would prevent me from purchasing them when needed.