Emptying colostomy bag

[fayard]

Hello,

My father is about to have a permanent colostomy on Monday. He has colon cancer recurrence, and unfortunately there is nothing else doctors can do. My father just turned 89 and lives in Venezuela. I am trying to send him what he needs, since it's very difficult to even find alcohol in Venezuela. Here one of my questions:
What brand would you recommend for reusable bags?
Do you have to wash the inside of the bag after emptying it? The Hollister website (Ostomy brand) recommends not to wash the reusable bags, because it diminishes the bag's life spam.
Do you have to wear gloves while changing the bag? I watched a video in the Hollister (Ostomy brand) website, and it did not mention anything about gloves.

Every piece of advice is greatly appreciated: brands, skin barriers, tapes, accessories, etc.

[To Dream a Dream]

Welcome to our Discussion Board. I have always rinsed out the drainable pouch after emptying it with some clean water. I can never remember wearing gloves to change my own appliance system. Although ostomy nurses do wear gloves to prevent cross contamination
between patients, etc. You are on the right track by contacting the manufacturers directly. Many have wound, ostomy continence nurses available to help with questions. ConvaTec has always been a great source of information for me over the years.

Here is another website you might find of benefit: https://www.fowusa.org/

My prayers are with you & your father. Please post back to let us know of his progress.

[fayard]

Thank you very much for your feedback!

[sassie]

Welcome fayard ,
Happy to see your helping your Dad, I agree with "To Dream a Dream", I have rinsed many a drainable bag and reused it, they only allow so many and there not cheap and I've never had a issue rinsing them out, what is worse is running out of bags..And i do not wear gloves on my own but if it was another person then yes i would wear gloves..I have used both products mentioned but try to get your dad bags with filters so he doesn't have a bag full of gas all the time, after a bit the filters do seem to stop working but there my favorite anyhow..

God Bless, sassie

[fayard]

Thank you very much for your feedback!

[ot dave]

Hi Fayard,
Ostomy appliances are unique to each individual. I prefer the Hollister New Image 2 piece line of appliances, but others prefer coloplast, cymed, etc. You'll want to find out what appliance works best for him and his skin. Some products cause irritation to the skin while others don't, again, depending the person using the appliance. Definitely get samples from each manufacturer to see what works best for him.
When I have output, I always rinse with warm water. It removes the output from the pouch, which also helps to cut down on odor as there is nothing in there after rinsing it out. It does not affect the life span of the pouch. If anything, in my case, it extends the life span of the pouch.
As far as helping with ostomy changes, gloves aren't necessarily required, but as a care giver, you may want to use them as mentioned, to cut on cross contamination. But, it's no different than when changing a baby's diaper...except possibly the amount of output! As always, you would definitely want to wash your hands afterward...gloves or no gloves.

Hop that helps.

David

[fayard]

David,
Thank you very much for your detailed reply, I appreciate it!

[fayard]

Hello everyone,

I would like to give you an update on my father, since the procedure was schedule for today.
My father was told to be at the hospital at 7:00 am for admission. He actually was admitted, given a bed 5 hours later.
My poor father was exhausted and in pain

The surgery was scheduled for today, sometime. The doctors who do surgery in this specific hospital do it almost for free just to help others.
Today, almost at noon, he was finally taken to the OR. Once there, the medical students who were supposed to help the 2 surgeons misplaced my dad's cardio pre-op test. The cancelled the surgery
Now, we have to wait until next Tuesday.
I guess it was not meant to be, and we have to be grateful the rest is done and just have to wait another week.

Please keep us in your prayers, and thank you very much for your support!

[Rock_Robster]

Hi Fayard, it’s great that you’re helping out your dad like this! I’m sorry to hear about the surgery; I hope they can get it back on track soon and he can get some relief.

As others have said, product preferences are quite personal, but this is a great reason to contact EVERY manufacturer (e.g. Coloplast, Convatec, Hollister, Cymed, Omnigon, Dansac, Ainscorp, B.Braun) and ask them to send some samples of their products. Tell them he’s a new customer and trying to choose a brand - I’m sure they’d love to have him as a loyal customer.

Personally I like the Coloplast Sensura Mio range, with their Brava products (powder, protective seal and tape). This does seem to be one of the more popular lines too. I’ve heard great things too about Cymed’s product, but I think they’re quite a bit more expensive and perhaps harder to source.

Best of luck to you and your dad.

Rob

[fayard]

Hola Rob!

Thank you very much for your feedback! I am still waiting to get information about the type of bag my dad will have. After that, I will definitely be contacting every company

[fayard]

Hello everyone,
I just wanted to give everyone an update.
For the second time, my father's colostomy procedure was cancelled today.
He is now scheduled for Friday.
I have contacted a couple of colostomy bag's companies, but they asked
for specific questions that I can only answer once my dad has the procedure.
Please keep my father in your prayers, as I have everyone in mine

[fayard]

Good morning!
My father finally had the procedure yesterday,
and everything went well!
He still has some brain fogs: he wants to remove the colostomy bag and the catheter.
I hope it is still the anesthesia in his system, since this morning my brother sent me
a video and my father looked fine.

For now, he has a bag the hospital actually provided, but it seems to be
universal. I am not sure. It is very difficult to get detailed information.
I am praying that everything continues going well.

Thank yo very much for your support!

[Rock_Robster]

Congratulations to you both! So glad it’s all done and went well. Indeed hopefully the brain fog will clear posts-anaesthesia - he’s probably also on pain medication too which may not be helping?

Did he end up with a colostomy or ileostomy? If a colostomy he might find a 2-piece system easier, so he can quickly change bags without having to do a whole wafer change.

Two things to ask about which may help when ordering supplies for him:
- the size of the stoma. They can supply uncut wafers which he then cuts to size, but once it has shrunk down and stabilised (maybe 4 weeks) you can order them pre-cut which removes one fiddly step when changing bags.
- the skin around the stoma - in particular the shape. Does it bulge out or in, is it lumpy/wrinkled or flat, etc. Is it irritated or healthy looking. This might help them with choosing the right wafer type and other products to use. My nurse suggesting just taking a photo with the bag off to use as a reference.

I found the mouldable rings super helpful after the surgery (I use the Coloplast Brava ring). This way even if the wafer isn’t cut to the perfect size, you can use the ring to still get a perfect seal without any output getting on the skin. I have an ileostomy, and the Sensura Mio bag plus a mouldable ring easily gets me 2 days of good seal, and I can stretch to 4 days comfortably if need be. I had to change to a convex wafer about 6 weeks after my surgery once my stoma shrunk down, but that’s not a concern for now.

Also please make sure he uses an adhesive removal spray when changing the wafer, otherwise the skin around it will get beaten up really quickly.

Good luck to you guys for the next phase in recovery!

Cheers
Rob

[To Dream a Dream]

My prayers go out to you and your father. With the surgery behind him, may he be blessed with a good recovery. Our Board is always a source of information & hopeful suggestions by experienced people. The advice of taking a picture by Rob is a great idea & way to connect with medical professionals at a distance. Thank you for keeping us informed.

[fayard]

Rob and To Dream a Dream,

Thank you so much for your feedback!
Yes, my father is getting IV pain killers. Strangely, he has not complained about the severe pain gets on one his legs, which most of the time response to strong pain killer, shots, but the pains comes back. The doctor said the colostomy will not alleviate the pains, but I have a small hope that it might since there will be less pressure in the colon.

I went ahead and order some bags and stomas, Hollister, because i have a cousin who is in Florida right now and is going back to Venezuela on Wednesday. I am sending everything with her. Do you guys recommend having adhesive removal to change the stomas?

My brother told me that my father has not been able to poop since he had the procedure. Doctor said he can't be released until he has his first one. On the other hand, he has been passing gas.

I have a question, is it possible to sleep on the same side of the bag, if you don't eat or drink anything after emptying the bag before bed? I ask, because I remember this was an issue for my father 6 years ago when he had the first tumor removed. He also had an burst in the middle of the night.

Thank you guys very much for all your support!