Hi Eric, Woh yer heart must have been in yer mouth. I hope all settles down and it’s not a problem. Take care lad.💪👍

Posted by: john68

Hi Eric, Woh yer heart must have been in yer mouth. I hope all settles down and it’s not a problem. Take care lad.💪👍

It was quite unnerving for sure - but I grasped onto reality and calmed down quickly so I didn't make things worse by panicking. 

I've definitely lifted heavier things, and over multiple days, but these were awkward so I was not using "best practices". 

Thanks for sharing your experience, Eric. It sounds scary, but good to know what to do.. mainly not panic.

So, you are pretty sure it was brought on by the heavy lifting?

Anyway, happy it resolved.

Hi Eric,

I am so sorry to hear of your experience. It does sound scary, but you handled it well. Hopefully, it won't happen again!

God Bless!

Stella

Wow, that was fast thinking! Glad it’s over!

Yes Eric, think you so much for sharing your experience, if I can have a vote, I would vote on the side of the video please.  It would be good to see the stoma and how you placed the sugar on it. I have seen or read something before on the sugar treatment, some time ago, when my stoma thought it would take a little walk and have some of its family along too. I had just vacuumed and washed all the floors and then went to empty the pouch because it felt like thicker output in it. Imagine my surprise when I saw Rose and the immediate family! I know that I had been told no heavy lifting after surgery, but no one told me I should not vacuum and wash floors and I could not find any volunteers, so I did. I did not know about the sugar treatment at that time. I reasoned out that there was not pain and her colour was good as usual so I did lay down and  took it easy for about two days and about a day or so later, it did return to its normal size. I know I do not have to explain this, but I was so relieved!!! 

I am so glad this turned out to be a good thing for you, and you had a right to feel the any alarm and dread you may have felt! Be well forever.

Linda

Posted by: Dona

So, you are pretty sure it was brought on by the heavy lifting?

Absolutely - 100%. If I push out with my abdomen

Posted by: LK

It would be good to see the stoma and how you placed the sugar on it.

Just to clarify - I had the sugar handy, but I didn't need to use it. Just laying on my back was enough to cause my stoma to go back in. If that didn't work, I would have tried the sugar trick. 

Eric,

I very much appreciate your posting this experience. You didn't panic as I probably would and your cool headed action led to a successful solution.  Thank you. Fred

Glad that all is well.  I didn't know about the sugar.  Looked it up and here is a web site that discusses the sugar treatment with photos.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3604428/

Eric, I am glad that everything turn out for the best and thank you very much for sharing this experience and the way you handled it. It is definitely worth writing about this topic.

Thank you

Posted by: Bill Bell

Glad that all is well.  I didn't know about the sugar.  Looked it up and here is a web site that discusses the sugar treatment with photos.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3604428/

Yeah, I learned about it through a friend's experience and it's always come to mind when I hear of prolapsed stomas. Pretty cool to see a low-tech, inexpensive, and widely available treatment option. 

So.. does that mean you are now st constant risk of prolapse? Or is this a one time deal kind of thing?

Eric,

I was reminded by my husband that my surgeon had the nurses put sugar on my stoma after surgery to bring down the swelling. It's something that he's done for a while.

Stella

Bill Bell...Thanks  to you and Eric for posting the sites where the sugar treatment was used. When it happened to me, I did not know what it was called, but I did say that I thought my stoma fell out, and that was exactly what it had done. It was not painful to me, and had come out about 6 inches.  Like Eric, laying down was what helped it rest enough to go back in.  By reading the article, it sounds like the percentage of prolapse patients is 2-26%.  It is wise to avoid heavy lifting if you have an ostomy anyways, and as for me I was only cleaning my floors but I used a mop.  I have avoided doing so since, and it says that a risk of a repeat can happen.  It also sounds like they used to rush the patient into surgery to fix the issue. From what I was told, it can repeat easier the next time.  Repeats would require a planned surgery if the stoma is producing its liquids all normally and the colour is good,  but they also specify bed rest as soon as it is noticed. If Its colours and fluids change that can be dangerous and surgery is required. My stoma has turned deep blue and black a few times in one week, this is how my heat condition showed itself. The body is capable of amazing things and these are all warning systems to us their owners, just the same way pain can be telling you that something is wrong with your body. Regardless as to whether the bowel retracted or not, it is best to keep and eye on the colours and fluid production, and as always, this can be serious stuff, so always tell your doctor about it after it happens, but if the colour and fluids are not good, get your stoma to the hospital stat.

Posted by: Chris

So.. does that mean you are now st constant risk of prolapse? Or is this a one time deal kind of thing?

From what I understand - yes, I'm more at risk for this happening again. 

I'm honestly glad that it was a prolapse and not a hernia - those don't "go away" as easily as this did, so I consider myself lucky. I really do have to be more mindful when lifting things.

Hi Eric,

Sorry to hear about your prolapse. After having two of those, I can tell you it is not dangerous or anything like that, it is however uncomfortable, specially when you need to change the wafer, being that in order to measure the Stoma in its normal size you need to do it while laying down, giving the Stoma time to return to the hole it crawled out from. Please do yourself a favor... DO NOT use the sugar trick, my surgeon warned me that sugar though it would do the trick, sometimes may cause the Stoma to get stuck outside, then it is an emergency, and time to go to the ER. One more thing I was told was No lifting anything heavier then 20 LB, and this is for life time, the lifting of heavy items will cause this to happen again, I know I did that.

I hope you have no more of these, and take care of yourself.

Dan

Danbh...Okay, on that note, of suggesting we not use the sugar,  does anyone know what the sugar is supposed to do to actually make it safe to use, and make the stoma retract?   Also, just a point here, when sugar is wet or warmed it will melt, and continue to do so as long as it is wet.  Stomas produce a fluid, we all know that. Our bodies are not warm enough to melt sugar into the caramel or toffee stage as it does when heated on the stove, so I have to ask,  how could it make a stoma stuck? Any takers on this question?

Linda

Danbh...just for the record, it can be dangerous to have a prolapse if the colour is bad and it is dry. Time to go to emergency.  Blue bowel is on its way to turning black and tissues can die and that leads to other dangerous situations. If in doubt, check it out.

Linda: Yes, if the Stoma changes color, stop functioning correctly, or gets dry it is dangerous, but that goes even with no prolapse. Any changes as such should be taken care of right away.

As for what the sugar does in a prolapse situation, here is a note from a Stoma nurse in Norfolk & Norwich Univercity hospital (NHS):

"The sugar works by drawing out fluid from the swollen stoma so helping to reduce the size. Be aware that as the sugar draws fluid out of the stoma you will end up with a syrupy fluid in the bag."

The best way to get the stoma to retract back to normal, and the easiest is here by the same above nurse, and this is what I did in the two times I had a prolapse:

" Lay flat so that your abdominal pressure is reduced. Lie with your head back, looking up at the ceiling. If you are trying to look at what you are doing you will be straining your abdominal muscles and hence increasing your abdominal pressure" - this worked for me every time, while waiting for the revision surgery.

I do not have an answer as to how can a sugar get the Stoma stuck, however my information comes from my sergeon whom I totally trust, and hid her advise to the letter. She never failed me.

Here is one more thing regarding prolapse:

"A prolapsed stoma can often become swollen If the stoma remains prolapsed for long periods of time then there is more risk that it will become swollen. This is because when the stoma hangs down, fluid pools at the tip of the stoma and causes it to become swollen. It may then be more difficult at the end of the day for the stoma to be reduced back to its normal size."

Dan