Linda this is interesting . I too recieve my supplies through insurance via my surgeon . But you do bring to my mind about things like wraps . I wear a wrap day and night . I will have to see if they can be written off . Everything helps when it comes to write offs for taxes here in the US .

Posted by: @dlkfiretruck

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As far as claims on incomtax, all im aware of is the Disability Tax Coverage which is annually as far as I know, about $10,000.00 a year IF you are working & have an income, I do not,

To clarify, the Disability Tax Credit doesn't give money, like the Ontario Assistive Devices Program does.

What it does is lower your taxable income, which can be helpful... if you have an income to begin with. This could result in a tax refund, which is giving you money back.

But the thing that really bothers me about it is that it benefits those with a higher income more than it does low-income or no-income ostomates. Which, is the opposite of what it should be like.

That's where provincial support can be more beneficial, if you're lucky enough to have it in your province. 😫 

Posted by: @dlkfiretruck

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Is anyone in Canada & the USA able to keep a spread sheet of these sort of coverages & who to go to to receive them? It may help newbies relieve some stresses over these things. 

I have a list of some of the benefits we get in Canada ( https://www.veganostomy.ca/ostomy-supply-costs-canada/), but I don't know if any of those have changed recently! The last time I went over it all was in 2019 😣

with a colostomy, i find toilet paper highly inferior.   kitchen paper towel is stronger and thicker.   if you are rinsing, why are you using so much?  isn't  that the job of the water rinse?

@dogtalkerer i have a high output ostomy so sometimes i can stand there for 30 minutes rinsing and the stimulation  of the water keeps making it put out more stool. Then i also go more than the normal due to the high output. Im on immodium and it still does this. 

Posted by: @dogtalkerer

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if you are rinsing, why are you using so much?  isn't  that the job of the water rinse?

With my ileostomy, it can be two-fold:

After a rinse, the outlet needs to be dried (not just the lip, but the first 2" inside), and a rinse doesn't often make it completely clean, either.

And, many times, my stoma will just be happy to continue outputting, even as I'm over the toilet.

I could be cleaning it many times over, not knowing when it will actually stop.

Most of the time, I simply have to decide to finish up and be done with it, even if my bag is back to 1/4 full by the time I'm washing my hands.

And some output... let's just say, is *very* difficult to actually clean. Imaging trying to rinse out a peanut butter jar by just swishing water around. LOL

@veganostomy thank you, you said that perfectly! The words I could not think of to explain it.

yes vo, with a colostomy i'm well use to peanutbutter.  but with a very active stoma, it seems attempting to full clean it is pointless.   i have rinsed many times before.  a lot of times i just don't bother anymore.    rinsing doesn't seem to help reduce odor from migrating thru the plastic.   if you rinse the output from between the baseplate and your skin, you allow new acidic output into the now cleaned gap.  so really i think rinsing reduces wear time.   plus i too need a toilet paper plug in the tail to collect the water that remains in the freshly rinsed bag.  otherwise water tends to leak out.     

Posted by: @dogtalkerer

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but with a very active stoma, it seems attempting to full clean it is pointless. 

The problem is the unpredictability. If the stoma behaves, then rinsing is much easier than TP only.

And some output can exit *very* cleanly with a bit of water, so it's often worth doing it then.

But I rarely rinse. And most of the time, it might be just before an appliance change.