u/Huge_Raisin_142

At the hospital. Checked in and waiting to go back. Yikes. 😳😩😳

I am so terrified I can barely sit still! I haven’t even started the prep-will do I. the morning. The last time was so horrible and hurt so so badly that I just cannot imagine it will go well. I feel like I will be wearing diapers the rest of my life from the diarrhea. I just can’t wrap my head around anything positive to keep me off the ceiling. So anxious.

I have a date for my reversal. I AM. TERRIFIED. I led a very carefree life until 3/24 of this year. I had no clue I had any issue until I was in the ER. I woke up with a colostomy that I know saved my life (sepsis from undiagnosed diverticulitis/rupture). I’m not going to lie-I
had no clue my digestive health was bad until then. Anyway-on 8/25 I get “reconnected” for lack of a better term. All I hear in this page is the horror if the reversals-how they don’t work, how the recovery keeps you locked in you bathroom, diapers, hemorrhoid creams and on and on. What do I need to know? What do I need to expect/ buy for at home/have to eat? I don’t particularly love Fred but my digestive health has been so much easier having him around. And now that I know how messed up I was I am scared to return to status quo. Anyone that has been through this-I would love some guidance on how difficult this will be. Am I better off keeping Fred around? At least I poop regularly when he is here. Thanks-I know someone out there is/was as afraid as I am.

Still new-8 weeks in. Does anyone else’s eakin ring/flange get soggy and come off in small pieces when you change/clean bags up during maintenance? I use a 2 piece system from Coloplast with bags that do not drain but have venting if i want it with the stickers, change them 2-3 times in 24 hours and wipe the output off the flange etc when changing the bag to feel cleaner. I change the entire thing every other to every third day. It is a colostomy so I tend to get pancaking even with the lubricant spray. Maybe my clothes are still too tight and I get too warm? Too much lubricant spray? My output is still all over the place -sometimes formed, sometimes more liquidy and I am trying not to stress about that. What’s your experience been? I love this group-I could never ask anyone else!

Every medical professional that looks at my ostomy laughs and says that it is so tiny. I am kinda getting a complex about it. A new one just today. What’s the diameter of your colostomy stoma? Even if it is tiny I still get all the colostomy “stuff” that goes with it that is not cute. Mine is less than 2 inches across. Considerably less. Work just fine tho

I am sure it has been done a thousand times but could you please tell me your stoma’s names and why you chose that name? I am new to this and at first named him Dumpty but that isn’t so good for public conversation. I changed it to Friedrich. It is after Friedrich Nietzsche. I know not the happiest of philosophers but “What does not kill me makes me stronger” seems to go with this time in my life. Can you share yours?