Well yesterday was finally it - my first public restroom experience and I'd grade myself a C- 😐 I have a colostomy and am about 6 months post surgery. It's not that I haven't been out of the house prior to yesterday, it is just that those were short jaunts. Yesterday was a 12-hour day, 3 hours from home. Now, I had prepared myself, had my kit in my large purse. Kit has some TP, a travel size PooPourie, travel size container of deodorant/lub and a travel size spray bottle of water. Also have a small pack of disposal/flushable wipes and a small pack of disinfectant wipes. Man am I prepared! Just before we left in the morning I did have to empty a small amount from my balloon [what, "balloon?" We call my pouch that, but that's a whole other story]. I put on my StealthBelt [love my SB by the way] and off we went. I was hoping that the balloon and my guts would give me a break and let this be one of those "no go" days. First stop was lunch with husband's cousin. Good visit. We met at an eatery but no need to empty so onward on our day. Another hour's travel and we reached husband's dad's place. I kind of told my balloon that it would okay if it needed attention 'cause this was not really a public restroom, just not my bathroom. But no need. We ended up not hitting the road until dark and faced a 3 hour drive home. We chose to wait to have supper until we were closer, about an hour from home. So far so good with the balloon. Then halfway through my delicious eggs, bacon and hash browns I could sort of feel activity in the StealthBelt. Sigh. I could tell there had been activity so just before we left the eatery I went in the ladies' room. There were only 2 stalls, but both the size to fit a wheelchair. But as with most public stalls the walls and door don't go all the way to the floor. Sigh again. Thanks be to Hera and Zeus, no one else came into the restroom while I was in there. I put my big purse on the hook on the door and checked the StealthBelt. Sure enough the balloon was full and ready for take off. I unzipped the belt and eased out the Balloon and instantly went into frenzy panic mode - forgot all my carefully memorized plans of what to do. What I did do was squeeze out enough output [flushing immediately] so mostly it emptied, grab some of the ridiculously thin TP they had and wiped enough of the neck of the balloon so that I could close it and tuck it back into the StealthBelt. I figured we weren't that far from home and then I could do a proper cleanup. Got home and wouldn't you know the balloon was full again! Thank the gods I was now home and yes, thank them that I had done that previous empty at the eatery else that poor balloon would have popped for sure! I was so grateful for the durability of my balloon and felt bad I had done such a poor job of clean up at the restaurant that I gave it a double rinse. Went to bed exhausted but with a nice clean balloon. - Guess I'm going to need more practice! 😮 Flying free. Hi There, Ye know what, I think you are doing two things wrong. The first is your nervous and over thinking and second your being too hard on yourself. I think you coped very well 👏 This is gonna be second nature. Well done 👍 ileostomy 31st August 1994 for Crohns My goodness, what a day, but you got through it! Colostomy 4/30/18. I felt nervous about this going back to work a couple of weeks ago. I work in a hospital; all the washrooms are public washrooms! I found one that staff have kind of claimed, and someone put a small plastic drawer unit in it, seems to be used for feminine hygiene products. I put together a kit for myself and claimed a drawer! I've got a bottle of pouch deodorant, a peri- bottle for rinsing my pouch, as well as supplies in case I ever need to change the wafer at work. So far so good! I empty my pouch 3-6 times in a 12-hour shift (depending on what I eat and how much coffee...) My first visit sounds like yours @granddayout. Nervous and I waited too long to get there. Poufffy and stinky but got 'er done. These firsts can be a little nerve wracking sometimes. We'll get there! We're practically pros! @granddayout You did it! And thank you for sharing in such an entertaining way 😆 I agree with @john68 that you are being too hard on yourself. Trust me, it will get easier in the sense that you'll adapt and improvise with confidence the more often you visit those public restrooms. Bravo for planning ahead and having all your supplies! Just your friendly neighborhood ostomate. Oh my gosh but all y'all are so supportive! Wishing all of you Grand Days Out! Flying free. Its true! This will all be 2nd nature at some point! My 1st time out experience was more of a "granddayout" for my output then it was for Me! It included a very tiny & busy gas station stall & a change of clothing over a long weekend & a five hour car trip. Now, 14 plus years down the road, its as easy as I am prepared. I have manufactured plans & equipment for a forced emptying session in the car & for a forestry pit stop too... lol! I LOVE being able to say this so... here it is, Ostimates, lolol, we've got this in the bag!! Linda I have manufactured plans & equipment for a forced emptying session in the car & for a forestry pit stop too... lol! Which reminds me... I need to come up with a plan/device/setup for emptying my bag discreetly while out on really long (often remote) bike rides. I'm not a fan of risking ticks to empty off trail. 😱 Just your friendly neighborhood ostomate. I have manufactured plans & equipment for a forced emptying session in the car & for a forestry pit stop too... lol! Which reminds me... I need to come up with a plan/device/setup for emptying my bag discreetly while out on really long (often remote) bike rides. I'm not a fan of risking ticks to empty off trail. 😱 Good Morning, VO have you considered changing out bags rather than emptying it? Another thought is to have a doggie poop bag on hand and just put the end of the ostomy bag in it and do just a quick wipe when done, assuming you can easily do this with bag outside of pants. granddayout - I think you did very well and it is good to know how to do a quick no water clean for days when you don't have water on hand. I have splashed my rinse water on a bathroom floor from letting out of the bag too fast. I cleaned it up best I could and had to go tell the store person so they could better clean it up than I was able to. They were kind and gracious as most people are. So you are way ahead of me. :) cygo cygo I did TWO road trips this weekend, touring universities with my youngest daughter. It was quite a mixed BAG (hahaha) of restrooms. The first had no hooks, the toilet was wall mounted... Absolutely no place to put anything! I ducked out to find an accessible washroom - what a difference! There was a table beside the toilet so I was able to put out my rinse bottle and deodorant drops, plenty of hooks for bags and sinks at different heights, easy to fill a rinse bottle. And the toilet was big enough to comfortably empty without sitting backwards! The next was one of those "washroom of the future" situations, automatic everything, including seat covers! A small fold down shelf was lovely. I draped some TP over the flusher sensors to avoid surprises. The last one was old old old school - like 100+ years old, heritage! I managed to put my bag around my neck and reach what I needed okay. The smallest toilet ever though - like, kindergarten class small! All in all it went ok! No one yelled at me or kicked me out of anywhere... Lol! HOWEVER! As soon as I got home I went to the washroom and pulled down my pants... Snap! Off came the bag! I had pulled off the belt which took the bag with it! The mess would have been considerably less but for the few seconds of stunned confusion in which I stood absolutely still and sort of watched things unfold 😳. So glad I was at home when that happened! It made me realize, I traveled for 2 days without a change of clothes! 😁🙄 VO have you considered changing out bags rather than emptying it? Another thought is to have a doggie poop bag on hand and just put the end of the ostomy bag in it and do just a quick wipe when done, assuming you can easily do this with bag outside of pants. Swapping bags would be an option, but the cost is just too prohibitive to consider. Hanging a bag off my pants is my planned setup, since I'm quite comfortable with that when doing appliance changes already. I think I can stop and empty in less than a minute, so way faster than someone squatting out in the bush and digging a hole. LOL Just your friendly neighborhood ostomate. I have been in that predicament before to where I bring nothing with me. And have done the same as you but usually I bring a kit. Either a back pack or even one of those lunch box type things that have a handle on them. I the bag I keep a roll of my own toilet paper (due to not having to reach down so far trying to grab thier stuff ) then I keep a plastic water bottle with lid, some water wipes, gloves and my pouch deoderant. I put each of these things in seperate large baggies for cleanliness reasons. 
I love the smell of coffee in the morning. It smells like .... victory.
~ Crohn's Disease ¦ Ileostomy ~
~ Crohn's Disease ¦ Ileostomy ~
Ileostomy
~ Crohn's Disease ¦ Ileostomy ~
it makes it so much more simple.
put your bag or backpack on the hook on the door and open it. I leave it open till I’m done.
First lay some toilet paper on the back of the Toilet or use a paper towel and go fill your water bottle. Set down your water bottle and get out the rest of the supplies and set them out. Or you can just grab the rest of the supplies from your open kit bag on the door.
just have to watch some public toilets when they flush as they will shoot the stuff up at you when you flush do I always hit the flusher and quickly stand back while holding the end of the bag with a piece of toilet paper.
the only problem I find is the kit bags can become smelly if you don’t stay on top of wiping down your things or changing out baggies and items. I’ve also bought some mini empty travel shampoo bottles to put some pouch deoderant into as to leave more room in my bag.
in a pinch when I don’t have my kit with me I have been known to ask establishments for a pair of gloves and to purchase a bottled water just to get things done right.
it’s s struggle isn’t it? But it is what it is and we creatively find ways to make things work.
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