What a stoma looks like

I was chatting with some friends the other day when they asked what my stoma bag looked like. 

I had no problem in showing them and explaining it but it made me realise that so many people may have never actually seen one. 

I'm going to post some pictures of my stoma bag and of my stoma. If you're a bit sqeemish you may want to look away now!

The bag attaches to the body by a sticky base plate. 

The size of the hole is cut to the size of your stoma- everyone had a different size. Baby ones can be as small as 10mm and they can go right up to 60mm. Mine is a rather average 30mm. They're not always an exact circle either. Some can be an oval shape and they can change size depending on whether you put weight on (or lose it), if it swells up due to illness or blockage or surgery. 

I also use elastic tape to give some extra security to the base plate and help to prevent leakages. 

I wear a belt too which clips onto the stoma bag and helps to pull the bag tighter onto the body to prevent leaks. Not all ostomists (people with stomas) need or want to use these extras but my stoma is a bit troublesome so I find they really help. 

I don't need to take the bag off everytime I use the loo or it fills up. At the bottom is a folding part held together with Velcro. When you unfold it you are able to empty the stool from the bag, give it a wipe and fold it back up again. 

I change my bag every day (and if it gets wet from a bath or shower) but some ostomists are able to leave theirs on longer. I was chatting to another patient in the dayroom at St Marks the other day and he can wear his for up to 7 days with no leakages. Most people get 2-3 days wear out of a bag before finding they have to change it. 

And here is the actual stoma:

It is part of the small bowel that has been pulled through the abdominal wall. You have no control over it and generally don't feel the stool passing through unless you've eaten something you shouldn't and it gets a bit blocked!

It doesn't hurt to touch it although the skin around it can get sore if stool gets into it as its very acidic and can burn the skin. 

It's taken me a long time to accept how my body has changed. You can see that I have a huge scar from the surgeries that stretches the length of my tummy, plus other scars from where I have had smaller surgeries and drains in place. My arms and feet are covered with marks from cannulations and blood tests and my chest is scarred from the lines being inserted and removed. 

A few years ago I would never have done this but I'm a lot happier in my skin now. If writing this helps someone else with a stoma or someone to understand that they're not gross, smelly or dirty then it's worth it. 

NB x