Hi TD2000. It’s a few years since I had my ileostomy but I seem to remember the first couple of weeks were very smelly and then it seemed to settle down and not be too bad - unless I had fish and chips! Striking a match then blowing it out is supposed to clear nasty niffs and a good air freshner - I particularly like febreze spring awakening. Perhaps you could wear a face mask with a couple of drops of a nice essential oil on? A lot of the bag suppliers make bag deodorises or neutralisers so you could perhaps send off for some free samples? I googled stoma bag neutralisers and it brought up links for Respond, Pelican and Salts. Different foods can also affect the smell and output consistency so it could be worth keeping a food diary to see if there is any sort of link?
Hope this helps and the stoma is starting to settle down a bit now
Thank you very much for your long, helpful reply. Some good ideas, I'll give them a try.
I guess so much of this is psychological. I hate the stoma and it's easy to feel negative about everything associated with it, particularly the smell. But I'm already beginning to get used to it. It feels a bit limiting at the moment but I'm sure it not as bad as I imagine now. And nothing is as limiting as being dead, which was the other option.
I think, when it comes to cancer, whether you see the glass half full or half empty, if you're one of the ones who gets to have a glass with something in it, you're one of the lucky ones.
TD2000. That’s very true - somebody once said better a stoma bag than a body bag. It’s very early days for you yet and it will settle down a bit and shrink in size too so make sure you measure before you cut your bags. I used to see the stoma nurse every couple of weeks, get her to cut me a couple of bags and then use the peel off bit that she’d cut as a template. Once your stoma has stopped shrinking then you can get your bags ready cut from your supplier if you want.
Youll probably be a bit wary with food initially but you can gradually try re-introducing things and seeing how they affect your output - just remember to chew, chew, chew. It will settle into a bit of a routine and you’ll know the best time to change your bag although I recommend standing over the bathroom sink just in case.
Its a bit quiet on here at the minute but post if you’ve anymore questions and I’m sure someone will pick it up
