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(@squeakyandliza)
Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 992
Topic starter  

So, after my horrendous first week of half days in the office and half days at home, where I had 7 ostomy changes from Monday to Friday, things picked up. My Friday evening change lasted until Monday at noon. That one leaked in the shower Wednesday morning, so had to change then.  That lasted until a blowout in the wee hours Saturday morning. ?  All things considered, week 2 was a huge improvement from an ostomy standpoint. 

Last week was a 3 day work week for me, thanks to the holiday, so that helped a lot. This week is my first week back in the office for full days. Today was hard, but I made it through. I came home for lunch. I am fortunate to live pretty close to the office, so my commute is 10 minutes, at most. It was hard to go back after lunch, rather than staying home to work for the afternoon, but I blasted my song on my phone while I drove back. I also put my earphones on a couple times during the day to listen to it, to keep me going. 

I am pretty tired today, but am feeling more confident. Still struggling a bit with clothes, but working it out. I ordered some super big shirts on Amazon, that will hopefully hide the ostomy well and give me some variety. I haven't been sleeping well, so hopefully being this tired will mean I will sleep hard tonight

One day down, four to go. I might just make it after all. ?

-Liza
Ileostomy 6/18/2018
“May your day be bright and your bag be light.”


   
VeganOstomy, john68 and LK reacted
 LK
(@dlkfiretruck)
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 1450
 

Liza, I am glad to almost, hear the bounce in your step and the beat on  your steering wheel! Everything eventually falls into place. Change times,activities, foods, you name it, even leaks will have there place, mostly when you skip an "I should have checked moment".  They all go hand and hand. Add Dolly to your play list and dance it out! Forgive me if I failed to mention it, but I have my Alterations lady, on speed dial. Do not toss your favs. Without checking with her. Some can create new out of old...including Jean's. Have a great week. ;)


 

 

 

Linda


   
(@squeakyandliza)
Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 992
Topic starter  

Thanks Linda!!  I decided you are right and I am lucky I am able to go to work.  That helped me improve my outlook. And yes, I will add Dolly to my playlist. My commute is probably just long enough to hear both "9 to 5" and my "Love is All Around"

Funny you mentioned not tossing my clothes. Just Sunday I spent the afternoon taking all the clothes I can't wear with the ostomy out of my closet and boxing them up. I am keeping them to see how things go as my wound heals and my hernia hopefully gets fixed. I don't have an alterations person. Maybe I'll have to grab some clothes and my passport and have a road trip to borrow yours. ?

It is so nice of you to take the time to respond to me when you are feeling so bad yourself. I really hope things get better for you. When will you get the results from your blood work? I'm hoping for the best!!

-Liza
Ileostomy 6/18/2018
“May your day be bright and your bag be light.”


   
LK reacted
sjlovestosing
(@sjlovestosing)
Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 651
 

Hi both Liza and Linda,

Liza, I am glad that things are picking up for you. It DOES get better - sometimes little-by-little and sometimes in leaps and bounds.

Linda, you are an amazing person. God definitely is at work in your life giving you encouragement and strength to keep on keeping on. As you know, He is always with us in our trials.

God bless you both,

Stella


   
SqueakyandLiza and LK reacted
VeganOstomy
(@veganostomy)
Admin
Joined: 10 years ago
Posts: 4188
 

Liza, thank you for sharing that. Despite the troubles, it makes me happy to see that you pushed through it - remember that every "bad day" is a learning experience that you can take with you moving forward. 

Things will become more consistent for you, so look forward to those days :)

Just your friendly neighborhood ostomate.
~ Crohn's Disease ¦ Ileostomy ~


   
SqueakyandLiza and LK reacted
 LK
(@dlkfiretruck)
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 1450
 

Stella, thankyou. That is so kind of you to say.  Truth is, at least I feel like I am doing something besides laying around collecting dust! If it helps, all the better. :)

Liza, I learned the hard way about loosing clothes I was annoyed with because naughty body changed. .... welcomed my stoma in 2009, 3 yrs later thyroid took holiday, weight gain 40+ lbs! in 1 mth. Total weight 185 lbs, not happy, Thyroid  pill added, 5 yrs. tried  to loose lbs, so  angry at thyroid, did all I could to loose weight, failed, gave away clothes, had a good cry, recovered from cry, started seeing fats floating on toilet water, uh-oh, problem???...started loosing said lbs., found VO, began searching closet for something that did not fit like a potatoe sack on me, cont'd losing lbs., used safety pin to secure undies, wearing potatoes sack pants & tops, undies fell off,  bought new undies, expensive, accepted wearing pot.sack clothes, losing too many lbs , found joy in lost extra lbs., at least I had it to loose, refusing to buy cloths that fit, insisting mal.nutr. from mal. Absorption will right itself again as did 12 yrs ago., wishing I had kept clothes in the 3 different sizes! Found alterations lady...lady on speed dial, in love, hate relationship with hindsight! Hahaha! Lesson learned big time! Advising keep old clothes. Very long story edited. Point made. Still collecting dust but smiling.

 

Linda


   
Dona
 Dona
(@dona)
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 832
 

Hey SqueekyandLisa,

Hang on to some of the cloths you think you won't be able to wear. You will get better at this. Your wound will heal and you will get your health back. It does take some time. There can be setbacks and a steep learning curve at times, but you will get there. It took me at least an entire year to get really confidant. You WILL get to the point where you just forget about it.

The only clothes I have given up for good are lower waisted things ( pants, underwear etc), and dresses. I just can't get access to my bag with a dress on, at least not with any discretion! HA.

I use the Osto EZ Vents and need to get the gas out fairy regularly. Two piece outfits work best for me .. also a vest, scarf or shawl will help with camouflage. Happy to hear you are doing well and learning and looking forward. That is huge!

Onset of severe Ulcerative Colitus Oct.2012. Subtotal colectomy with illiostomy July 2015; Peristomal hernia repair ( Sugarbaker, mesh, laparoscopic) May 2017.


   
(@squeakyandliza)
Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 992
Topic starter  
Posted by: SqueakyandLiza
 
 I ordered some super big shirts on Amazon, that will hopefully hide the ostomy well and give me some variety.

Ha ha. I got a little carried away with the super big shirts. They are more like short dresses on me. At least they hide the ostomy well. But I probably could have gone a couple sizes smaller. 

I'm definitely hanging on to all my clothes for now. It is hard to imagine how to wear jeans but you never know. 

Two days down, three to go. ?

-Liza
Ileostomy 6/18/2018
“May your day be bright and your bag be light.”


   
(@squeakyandliza)
Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 992
Topic starter  

Happy Friday Ostobuddies!!

Do you guys need a chuckle this morning?  I got up this morning to shower and do a wound dressing and ostomy change before work. I got out of the shower and got all ready to change the bag. I had my garbage bag tucked into my pants and got the old bag removed, gave Squeaky a nice wash down, applied my Marathon and some paste and peeled the back off of my new bag and stuck it down really good. Then I went to pull the trash bag out of my pants, and felt some resistance. I had part of the trash bag trapped under the new wafer. I called my hubby in to see if he could help me fix it. After he stopped laughing, he tried but to no avail. I had to take it off and start over. 

We have a friendly wager if this has happened to someone else. Anyone else as goofy as I am?

-Liza
Ileostomy 6/18/2018
“May your day be bright and your bag be light.”


   
john68 reacted
(@john68)
Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 2021
 

Hi Lisa, I have only one thing to say “You Muppet” ??? have dropped my new wafer down the toilet but that’s a new one. That’s certainly put a grin on my face. ?

ileostomy 31st August 1994 for Crohns


   
VeganOstomy
(@veganostomy)
Admin
Joined: 10 years ago
Posts: 4188
 

Liza, that's a funny story that I honestly expect will happen to me at some point! LOL

Just your friendly neighborhood ostomate.
~ Crohn's Disease ¦ Ileostomy ~


   
(@squeakyandliza)
Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 992
Topic starter  
Posted by: @veganostomy

Liza, that's a funny story that I honestly expect will happen to me at some point! LOL

Think of me when it does. ?

-Liza
Ileostomy 6/18/2018
“May your day be bright and your bag be light.”


   
VeganOstomy reacted
(@john68)
Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 2021
 

From now on sticking the waste bag to yer self should be known as “Doing a Lisa” ?

ileostomy 31st August 1994 for Crohns


   
(@squeakyandliza)
Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 992
Topic starter  
Posted by: @john68

From now on sticking the waste bag to yer self should be known as “Doing a Lisa” ?

I've never had anything named after me before!!  ?

-Liza
Ileostomy 6/18/2018
“May your day be bright and your bag be light.”


   
Dona
 Dona
(@dona)
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 832
 

Thats funny Lisa. I haven't done that, but I had had to pull the odd piece of cat fur out from under my wafer. Keep smiling!

Onset of severe Ulcerative Colitus Oct.2012. Subtotal colectomy with illiostomy July 2015; Peristomal hernia repair ( Sugarbaker, mesh, laparoscopic) May 2017.


   
sjlovestosing
(@sjlovestosing)
Joined: 6 years ago
Posts: 651
 

I am so glad that you can laugh at yourself, Lisa. My "embarrassing story" is last summer I went into a very exclusive dress shop - I was not planning on buying anything there, because it was WAY too expensive - and my stoma decided to give a HUGE "Bronx cheer". I wanted to slink on out of there before anyone knew it was me! At least it's good for a laugh now.

Stella


   
(@squeakyandliza)
Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 992
Topic starter  

Thanks Stella. I needed that laugh. ?

-Liza
Ileostomy 6/18/2018
“May your day be bright and your bag be light.”


   
(@squeakyandliza)
Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 992
Topic starter  

It has been a month now and things have been getting better. There are emotional highs and lows, but that seems to be the new norm. I expected a mob of people to come see me the first day wanting to know where I had been and what had happened, but it has been very gradual--one person at a time as I run into different people in the company. It is a big employer--3 big buildings at our corporate offices. That has made it easier for me  

I have been open with telling people what I have been through and almost half when I tell them my colon was removed, know to ask about having a bag. @veganostomy I think about your post every time someone tells me how sorry they are. But then again I have felt pretty sorry for myself too, so it doesn't really bother me. ?

Just one really bad thing so far. Had a conversation with my boss last week and the promotion that they told me I was getting right before I went out sick, and has been postponed until I was back in the office, has now been cancelled. He is saying it is because of the bad review I got, which was directly related to being out and working from home for 6 months. And this promotion was a year overdue in June 2018 when they told me I was finally getting it. I guess the good thing is I am feeling good enough to be upset about it. A year ago I wouldn't have cared. 

And one last thing. In the year I was out of the office, they got a professional popcorn machine, and the other 3 people in my cubicle section are all eating popcorn and it smells so good!!  ?

Liza

-Liza
Ileostomy 6/18/2018
“May your day be bright and your bag be light.”


   
Dona
 Dona
(@dona)
Joined: 7 years ago
Posts: 832
 

 Liza, at least you have come through this with your life, your job, and your since of humor. Pretty great!

 

Onset of severe Ulcerative Colitus Oct.2012. Subtotal colectomy with illiostomy July 2015; Peristomal hernia repair ( Sugarbaker, mesh, laparoscopic) May 2017.


   
(@squeakyandliza)
Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 992
Topic starter  

@dona

Thanks Dona. I try so hard to keep my sense of humor through all this, but some days it is really really hard. ? You are right though, I am lucky and need to keep reminding myself of that. 

-Liza
Ileostomy 6/18/2018
“May your day be bright and your bag be light.”


   
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