UOAA Discussion Board

My stoma is "Alice" at first it had many names, most not printable..but after 3 months Alice became like a baby on my tummy that needed care, diaper changed etc... Its just how i dealt with this new addition and still do..I've learned to have fun with all this and "Alice even wrote her own version of arriving which my hollister support lady said, anyone who reads that missy would have to be dead to not roll on floor laughing...

Reason for the name is because my BUTT is on my backside and my brain would not allow me to call this new thing on my tummy a butt....

sassie

I called my stoma "old faithful" and my incision "the grand canyon". The foot long incision was left open with a wound vac covering it most of the time. Because I had a fatty abdomen, it truly looked like a canyon!

No name.
It's a stoma.
But I've heard some pretty good ones.

“Button” is the name given to my stoma.

As I came to look at my stoma, it seemed to share resemblance to a small button on a shirt. My stoma is small (3/4 inch in diameter) and even with the skin level. Just like a small button on a garment.

Stomas can have distinct personalities. Some are irritable with untimely eruptions of fecal output. Mt Vesuvius has earned the name of a stoma of a prior member. Some stomas are quiet and play hide and seek, retracting inward. Peek-a-boo was another named given to a stoma of a prior member. I recall both because I thought the names were appropriate to the stoma and it’s behavior while providing a dose of humor.

Giving a stoma a name is one way of adapting and adjusting to sharing space with one’s abdomen with a segment of intestine. I think it can be helpful especially during the early months of healing. It also allows for conversation with family members/friends when needed (ex. A water leak and needing to leave a party or event early) without embarrassment of the issue at hand.

I am curious to see what creative identification people have found to identify with their stoma.
Karen

Mine is Sam, because...I don't know why. It just is.

Mr. Sputters. Sputts, for short. This is especially apt since i irrigate and this is the noise it usually makes near the end of that process.

And hi to everyone!

All is well. Sputts works great. It will be 10 years on December 17.

I’ve been riding a stationary bike and am on a careful but tasty diet. Lost 39.8 pounds so far. I am down to my normal size of about 152 pounds. It took 6 months. Still riding and eating carefully but with great enjoyment.

Happy as a clam. Whatever that means!

For those new here and having problems or you are uncomfortable or unhappy, this group is the best. And things will likely get better especially with their help.

Hope to be on here again sometime soon!

Hi Karen (Button) and JimBob And lms1 (Linda)!!! And everybody who helped me over the years with this contraption. So sorry to hear about Linda/Baglady. She was a special person and I liked her very much.

Karen, Molly is gone??? I thought I saw something in the post about Baglady. If so, I am so sorry to hear this.

Nancy

Pua, the Hawaiian word for flower. Pronounced "pooh-ah".

I just call mine "New Guy", because I've had it revised several times, and the healing process has been like the beginning stages in a new relationship. Plus, I don't have to change the name if I get a new one.

I named mine Bernard. I truly don’t know why, it just came to me in the hospital. Of course, I was on heavy pain meds and a half dozen antibiotics to treat the sepsis I had following the perforation due to diverticulitis. All I could think of was the British pronunciation “Bher-nud“ and how funny I thought it was.

Naming it Bernard, though, has helped me normalize this weird pink thing on my tummy. He turned 1 last Friday. And, with luck, he’ll be gone by the summer. But, he saved my life and taught me so much about myself. In the end, I am grateful for him. I thought I couldn’t do this at first. Indeed, I am almost declined to consent to the surgery. But, I did and I can. And I am stronger than I ever thought possible!

I named mine Lucy. I find it very convenient to have a name because it allows you to talk in “code” with relatives and friends who know who Lucy is.

Nancy it was great to see your post and congratulations on the weight loss. I’ve lost nearly 100 lbs since late June due to my hernia/ostomy issue. The weight loss is the absolute silver lining in my recent challenges. I still have some more weight to lose but thankfully the weight loss has slowed significantly. Hope to see you at a meeting, perhaps Philadelphia next year?

Happy Thanksgiving all,

Linda

Mmm. Now you guys got me thinking of a name.
I had one in mind at the beginning.
But it had a four letter word in it I can't use here.

funny, I know just where your coming from, I had lots of unprintable name for 3 months at least....

You will finally get a printable one,lol

best of luck sassie.

I had my first stoma from 1993 to '95 and never thought to give it a name. Second/current stoma (2008-forever) is named Jabba. Short for Star Wars' Jabba the Hutt.

My first stoma was a perfect and perfectly behaved little red rose which I regret having reversed. (Reversal caused 13 yrs of misery & ended up needing to be replaced anyway, due to chronic Crohns/Ulcerative Colitis.)

Jabba earned its name early on by looking & acting like its horrible namesake. He/it was often "angry" and domineering, often obstructed and often protruded several inches, up to six inches! (2 surgeries to repair the prolapse were ineffective.) Jabba saved my life, but also gave me all kinds of grief.

Only in the past year has it calmed down--to the point where, until seeing this post, I actually forgot that it was called Jabba for the previous 9 yrs. Ha. Good sign, eh? Always a work in progress, I've finally gotten a decent handle on my health. Jabba and I are buddies now instead of enemies. We're both much happier for it.

Now when it prolapses I call it Snuffaluppagus--from Sesame Street--Big Bird's large, shy/imaginary/bashful friend with the elephant-style trunk. A much more benign character than Jabba.

Snuffie would only morph into Jabba now if I didn't manage inputs properly and got too stressed. Keeping liquids & solids (beverages & foods) separate (by nearly an hour each time) I can stay in happy Snuffie mode.

Peace to all,
MtnMama

Mine is called Archie...for grumpy Archie Bunker on that old show "All In The Family". It rumbles and makes embarrassing noises at times and I found that if it does that when others are around as has happened at work, I just put my hand on it at say something like "Oh dear, Archie just woke up" or "shush Archie". Generally gets a laugh and is quickly forgotten so works for me.

My favorite movie, the big Lebowski. I named mine, THE DUDE, because he was always shit on.