I've just had a really terrible week and am writing this in hopes it might prevent others from making the mistake I did that has caused me a lot of pain and worry this week (but I'm okay now, thankfully). I have had a loop colostomy since 2012 due to trauma and had a bit of sore skin around my stoma 10 days ago so tried a protective barrier ring (actually two in a row) that fit too tightly and caused my stoma and the whole area to swell and get really painful over two days. I have never experienced anything like this and have had no real problems with my stoma at all so I thought it must be a partial blockage. Once I got the second appliance off and saw my huge problem I called my doctor, who couldn't see me (small town), and thought I'd drive 300 km to the ER where I had my surgery the next day if it wasn't better, but it was, and it's slowly returned to normal. Mine is a cautionary tale to not put anything too close to your stoma or it might, somehow maybe, strangulate the bowel. Anyway, I am so lucky I haven't done any real damage. Thanks for sharing, Allison. Having any thing that's too tight around your stoma is more problematic than having it too loose! Blockages, bleeding, cut stomas, you name it! I'm glad that you were able to identify the problem, and know how to prevent it in the future. Just your friendly neighborhood ostomate. Hi there Allison,This is a good point you make. A while back when we were talking about cutting the hole for our stomas, Eric made the point to remind everyone to cut the hole on the other side of the pen mark we trace on the plate. Now, that was pretty much the only information I came away from the hospital that was of use to me. Not much had been explained well so I learned it on my own at home 10daysafter my surgery. It was a trial and error experience, but I came away with lot of experience ten years later. Two other things that no one had told me either, and I learned on my own also, was that when cutting the hole, try not to make any little points in the plate and also, this I found extremely helpful, when making the cut, turn the pouch not the scissors,you get a much better cut this way. Stay well. Linda
~ Crohn's Disease ¦ Ileostomy ~
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January 27, 2019 2:21 pm
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