THANKYOU!!!... get the feeling you may become my new bestie!!….will keep in touch, chat with surgeon on Friday, then ill get my head in gear with it all. Telling kids, as up to now have just been told ive had some tests.
If they are youngish you could ask the stoma nurse when you meet her for a new stoma patient training pack which contains useful information, a dummy stoma, pouch and thickening gel. I even got a pen from Salts to help with marking out the size of the stoma.
I got copies of the packs from Salts Medical and also Coloplast and I think every new ostomate should be given one whilst they are waiting for surgery to get the hang of wearing one and in your case showing the kids your new fashion accessory that you'll have after the surgery.
Please keep asking, even from your hospital bed and if you don't understand anything about the procedure after you meet with the surgery.
Out suggestions about appointments is to go armed with a prepared list of questions, have someone with you to write down the answers to the questions and importantly if you don't understand something ask the surgeon to repeat it in plain layman language.
Good luck on Friday let's know how you get on and we can start to move forward and get you match fit to become an ostomate and a fully fledged member of Poo corner!
I am in a similar position with a bowel cancer very low down, impossible to repair. So I have the choice of carrying on regardless with my treated tumour in place, an APER operation with a stoma, a second bag if they remove the prostate as well and an optional wheelchair or imminent bleeding to death on the table as they detach some nerves and grind down my pelvis. Plenty of options for me to choose from. I have had the weekend to do some research and watching Hanna Witton on YouTube was quite useful in getting a first idea of having a stoma. The broken sleep nights are offputting, but being an old fogey of 57 years, it is part of nightlife anyway.
It would be good to see someone with a stoma close up and personal soon and that should be reassurance enough to go through with the basic APER operation.
Contact your people and see if you can meet some local patients of your gender and age.
