Permanent colostomy

Hi OrcaEagle.

Like you I’ve been diagnosed with rectal cancer, had surgery on 1 April with chemo and radiotherapy planned in a couple of weeks.

Please try not to worry too much having a stoma, mine was formed over 20 years ago following a bad bout of Crohn’s Disease. Yes it’s difficult at first but you’ll soon learn to live with it. 

It hasn’t stopped me from doing the things I enjoy, I’ve been  on many holidays, including USA and Canada, Caribbean cruises, without any issues. I love swimming and have  been scuba diving, The one thing I have learnt is not to let the stoma become your master, it’s a life saver, not to be feared.

Your best friend initially will be your stoma nurse, who is incredibly knowledgeable and will support you through the first difficult weeks. Once you have found the appliances that suit you best you’ll soon find that the management of the stoma is straightforward and won’t impact your day to day life. There are so many products on the market that can help with smells, soreness of the skin, your stoma nurse will be able to advise. 

Yes you can get the odd leaks but easily sorted. Please don’t focus on the horror stories, it’s really not that bad.

I wish you all the best for your surgery on 1 June. Sending you hugs.

Thank you for your encouraging words hugs

Hi,

It's a lot to take in and is scary and we inevitably think "how will I cope and life will never be the same". As the other contributor said, we get used to it and it becomes a normal part of our life and really doesn't prevent us from doing anything. It will take a little time to get used to, your bowel will take a little while to settle back down having been handled and the size of your stoma will change at least during the first month at least. Your stoma nurse will help you through it and make sure you have the appliances and other bits you need. Similar to you, my surgery was very low, one positive of being so low down is that it made no difference to my diet and I still enjoy a good varied diet.

Best of luck

Martin

Hi , I’ve had senga for 10 wks (I named her) helped me cope, it’s okay , it’s a whole new world and you should get the number of a stoma nurse to help you deal with any problems and prescription for bags etc . There’s lots of things that you CAN eat .. I eat almost everything I want , you learn what your body tolerance is . I’ve never had any smell , leaks , irritation. My stoma nurse is brilliant, I personally saw it as necessary evil that was part of my cancer journey.. mines maybe permanent I don’t know yet 

hope you will be ok 

Thanks Stomagirl your words are encouraging mine will definitely be permanent 

Thanks Martin