Travelling abroad with an illeostomy/ practical advice

Hi ianD2478 and welcome to our group.

I was hoping that someone who copes with drainable bags with an ileostomy might post to say how they’ve coped, but maybe they will now I’ve given your posts a nudge.

I have a permanent colostomy, for which I use closed bags, and a urostomy because I’ve lost my bladder. I travel abroad regularly in Europe mainly, but not in Venice. I am however familiar with tiny toilets, starting with the plane journey to get there! 

When I first had my surgery I used a drainable bag as my output was high initially, but I haven’t used them for several years now. Could you lay some loose paper in the bowl and empty while standing up? There is no way I would ever have been able to kneel down on a floor to empty, so using paper in the bowl, although not ideal, was better than nothing.

The other thing to consider might be changing temporarily to a two piece system, where you could remove the bag itself and replace/dispose of instead of draining into the loo? Then you’d just need to clean round the stoma and fit a new bag? 

I hope you can get some more replies with some advice-I think it’s really important to be able to have a holiday and not be worrying about how we can manage a stoma. I consider myself very well practised in travelling with my 2 stomas now after nearly 7 years and I’ve gone as far as the Maldives very successfully. 

I hope you have a lovely trip and don’t have to attempt kneeling on the floor!

Sarah xx

Hello ianD2478,

I have a drainable loop ileostomy (active) and a simple colostomy (passive) for the past five years. I avoid aircraft lavatories like the plague as they are just too small, so I severely limit food and drink before flying and remain seated for five hours on the way to the Canary Islands. It's a small price to pay. With regard to conventional toilets - whether home or abroad - I simply bend my knees to reduce the drop of the discharge having set a strip of toilet paper within the wc pan to resist splashing. This seems to work OK, but I always check and clean up any stray drops before leaving; it's only fair to others. Flush twice if necessary and use a so-called 'disabled' facility if it is available. These are not just for those with mobility problems and the extra room and shelves, etc are handy for the likes of us. Under the Equality Act people with stomas and the like can use these facilities with a clear conscience. However, when in Rome.....

I'm off to Italy this week but on recent trips abroad (Amsterdam I think) I have noticed special high level appliances, with a trap and flush, just like a wc pan, which I discovered are for emptying stoma bags. These were in airports and I suppose there are a lot of people with stomas for all sorts of reasons. Incidentally, Morrisons supermarkets have made their store lavatories a bit more stoma-friendly.

Best

Dulac

Many thanks for the helpful response. 

As a female I just sit well back on the seat and empty between my thighs.although I expect it depends on the siting of your ileostomy

Have a great break.I loved Venice.it felt like being on a film set 

Kath