Super interesting question!  The only thing I could find that maybe helps is this Why don't our digestive acids corrode our stomach linings? - Scientific American which makes me think the small intestine mucosal cells themselves aren't corrosive, just what passes through and w/o the earlier digestive processes (ie mouth, stomach), just laying a piece of food on a piece of turned-inside-out intestine would not break it down.  Never thought I'd type such a sentence. :-)

So maybe the actual cells themselves bind and heal together, in spite of what they are doing. That makes pretty good sense. Under the thin surface they get along well enough to heal together. Or close enough to it. I would guess that at the near surface they are still at odds. But seem to keep more or less even. Eat and regenerate?

Such a fascinating observation. Some of the stuff our bodies do is truly amazing. When it works, it seems to know exactly what to do, even if we can't explain it!

Does the moisture/wetness of the intestine keep the acid from adhering to the tissue, perhaps? 

It must be quite a skill to stitch the rolled-back intestine to the skin, creating the stoma - I like to sew and craft, myself but don’t think I’ll offer my help to the surgeon!

Posted by: @kedikat

I always wonder how everything works. This is a very personal immediate thing. So it bugs me to have questions of it.

Wow!  There is actually someone out there that thinks like me.  I will sit and contemplate things like this too!  I am not finding any online explanations.  I guess the last resort will be to ask my surgeon when I see her next!!  I'll let you know what she says!

~Joanne

@llholiday 

That wetness is the digestive juices. Probably some other stuff too. Although it may not always be so. I think  it is more active when food matter is actually present. Too much and it is probably some of what ails us folks. I do notice it can be a bit oily feeling.

Yeah the surgery is amazing. Thinking about all that work. Took 6.5 hours on me. The young fellow who was assisting / observing had never seen it before. He actually said to me that it was amazing to see. My surgeon was also a very nice fellow. Very friendly. Took a lot of time talking with me before and after. Did a fine job.

@jattzl 

I make my living fixing, designing, creating a wide variety of things. I am always looking at some random thing and pondering it out. Learning all the time.

Its awhile since I studies the digestive system. I think you find the mouth produces saliva which contains enzymes to start pre digesting the food before you swallow it. The saliva starts before you even put the food in your mouth. On reaching the stomach the Acid level gets quite high to breakdown the food, before it passes to the small intestine the acid level lower and its starts its journey more nutrients are absorbed and the acid levels lower as it travel on in the colon here the chime is dried out by the colon to form a normal stool which by this point is around a ph of 7 neither  very acid or alkaline. In the first part of the small intestines more enzymes break done the food 

Therefore in a normal person the output should be neutral, typical exception are remember when you have a hot curry or diarrhea  and you get the "ring of fire" :cry: 

As our digestive tract has been interrupted and brought out as a stoma then the de- acidification of the digestive juices have been interrupted and will be more Acidic the amount depends on how much its been shorted and any adaption our amazing body under goes to function as normally as possible. so to my thinking its always going to be tough on the skin around the stoma.

Of course I have come to understand on my ostomy journey that the medical knowledge of how our gut works is not very well understood as several books written on the gut biome recently allude to. Example  the number of bacteria is higher then the number of cells in the digestive system, there is more neural signalling from the GI to the brain than the other way.

I take it that when the say everyone is different it really means we don't know!

Posted by: @lynne

Super interesting question!  The only thing I could find that maybe helps is this Why don't our digestive acids corrode our stomach linings? - Scientific American which makes me think the small intestine mucosal cells themselves aren't corrosive, just what passes through and w/o the earlier digestive processes (ie mouth, stomach), just laying a piece of food on a piece of turned-inside-out intestine would not break it down.  Never thought I'd type such a sentence. :-)

 

The stomach lining has a protective layer of mucosal cells that protect it from the acid. In Reflux the acid entering the oesophagus causes burning sensation as the cells are less resistant to the acid. In the intestines mucous secretion provides some protection. mucous secretion are one of the bodies way of protecting from inflammation and damage.

please this is only a simple answer- the true answers I reckon are probable more complicated and medical scientist will talk for years about it :roll: 

I've wondered this many times.  In fact, every time I do a bagless shower, I marvel at the interface of my stoma and my abdomen.  The two tissues are so different, yet seem to be perfectly healed.