New to stoma bag

Hi Renfrew lady 

I’d like to try and reassure you that it soon becomes second nature to change a stoma bag. I have 2 stomas so double the work but it becomes very quickly second nature and it doesn’t stop you having a completely normal life doing everything you did before.

I’ve been on many flights of that duration and longer and yes, I’ve had to change my bag in the plane loo. It was very straightforward and I had no issues. 

What type of stoma is your husband having? I have a permanent end colostomy, so am speaking from that point of view. Output is much more frequent and a different consistency with an ileostomy so that may impact on the advice people will give you.

Sarah xx

Hi Renfrew lady,

I had an ileostomy not quite 7 weeks ago and still a novice, unlike SarahH21. I have a stoma bag that you empty when full and change it once a day. I empty it about 4 to 5 times a day, a very simple procedure and takes a couple of minutes. I remove the bag every morning, shower, then put on a new bag. Ignoring the shower bit, it literally takes 5 minutes to remove the bag, clean around the stoma and put on a new bag. That is speaking as a novice and while I cannot say it is yet second nature, it is something you do pick up very quickly and easily. As it is for your husband though, he might have to occasionally shave the area around the stoma too, but again it doesn't take long at all.

Gavin

I’ve had my stoma for almost 4 years now and went in my first international flight to New York in September 2022. I didn’t need to change my bag but did empty it a couple of times. I would recommend taking a bottle of water in the loo to help with flushing.

Hi there

I found that it if I cut down on my food intake the day before eating food I knew was safe and my travel day I drank plenty of water I was absolutely fine. So I didn’t have to change but maybe think about prep before could help 

I had an Ileostomy which I emptied when it was a third full so like Sarah said it’s a different bag altogether. I couldn’t resist that pun 

Please don’t worry about a stoma. I enjoyed life to the full with mine. The stoma support group really helped me 

Renfrew Lady had mine fitted 07 04 2022 not flown yet but if if i go out somewhere i do a no eat no drink from door to door so far its worked well  4 hr flight and transfers i would not have a problem with, certainly would not want to change on a plane no thank you, need a disabled toilet with sink and area to put your different stuff out and cleanup yourself  up  we are entitled to the special key and lanyard allowing entry to those loos. takes about 15/20 minutes from when all stuff set out being clean is very important hence the  disabled loo hope that helps its really no big deal after a while