Hi everyone, my family don't like discussing the details of my like with a stoma, they understand I take medication, have to eat regularly, drink carefully and when I say I need a loo, it means now! Apart from that it's the old fingers in the ears, la la la routine! So what was going to be a post asking for advice has fortunately turned into me sharing what the family considers too much info as I come down from my panic stricken, adrenaline fuelled 8-9 hours.
I have a fairly active, high output ileostomy of about 3 months old. I take 14mg of loperimide 4 times a day to keep it under control, in addition to the odd jelly, jellybabies and marshmallows. You get the picture?
So today I had my breakfast and went to yoga, thinking ita little odd that there wasn't much to empty before the class. Had a banana en route home, did a few chores and had lunch of last nights leftover sausage and mash.
Settled down with a cuppa, 2 dogs and the remote control for my afternoon rest. Again thought it odd that I've not had to empty my bag. Then I started to feel nauseous and had tummy and back ache - for the ladies it felt like period pain. My output was dark water with some very dry solids around 2pm.
Throughout the afternoon the nausea and tummy/back pain continued, no further visible activity from my stoma. A fair bit of gurgling was audible. I tried to keep drinking to keep hydrated and lubricated!
By 5.30pm I started searching on here for guidance and consulted Dr Google. I took anti nausea meds and oromorph for the pain. I changed my bag to have a look at the stoma, it was pretty swollen.
Stupidly I ate dinner of fish and chips (not usual for us but hubby had driven our son to Derbyshire from Herts/Beds border and was exhausted when he got home). I now know that Ian suggests fish and chips to thicken output so not the ideal choice tonight!
Still no change to output, or lack off. Swift exit to bed by hubby when I mentioned A&E if this continues. More googling, tummy massage, rolling around on the floor and drinking lots of St Mark's fluid.
10pm microwaved the heat pad in preparation for bed. Thought I should change my bag again to check how it's looking. My stoma looked double its usual size so I cut the hole in the bag larger and luckily had sticky "donuts" to pack out any gaps. Before I bagged it again I thought I'd massage directly around the stoma, which I did for several minutes before it spluttered back into life. Starting with the dark water with a few very dry solid bits. Then gradually the activity increased dramatically until it was like an explosive chocolate fountain!
Finally the pain and nausea are subsiding. Tea and enhanced squash have gone down well. I think I've been lucky this time. I really thought I was off to A&E a few hours ago. I think it must have been my Alice of homemade tea bread/fruit cake. I soaked the fruit for 24 hours so it was softùýàGO
Hi
Glad to hear you made it through the blockage OK! I was diagnosed exactly because of a blockage, and it was not a pleasant experience. And if you can't get the issue with the bags sorted, don't feel guilty about changing to a new supplier. It is important that they get this right.
As for not talking about poo: Before my resection operation I went to have my hair cut, for the first time going to the hairdressers in my village. Walking up to the salon the bag had inflated a little, and in those early days I was still in the habit of occasionally touching it. So when I sat down the hairdresser asked how far along I was (obviously thinking I was pregnant). I laughed a little and explained to her. Imagine my shock when her next words were: "my sister has exactly the same thing". We had a great conversation about bowel cancer and stomas, and she kept saying to me that we should talk about poo more.
In the office I was fairly open about it, and everyone in my immediate team knew I had a stoma. There was one incident where we had a meeting right over lunch time, and I was shovelling in food just as we started the meeting. Obviously the stoma then let out a mighty roar minutes later! Everyone had their heads down, staring very intently at laptops, notebooks and such. Until I piped up and said "Serves me right for eating my lunch so fast", then they all burst out laughing! 
All the best,
Yolande
