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Tips for new Urostomy Patients

As a patient with a new Urostomy, we are sure you have many questions or concerns about your new medical appliance.  With these tips we hope to alleviate some of your concerns and hopefully bring some helpful tips to make your new urostomy more manageable and easier to care for.

  • Train yourself to shut the pouch valve as soon as you have emptied the pouch! If you forget, the resulting disaster within the next 10 minutes could ruin your day.
  • Be sure to take the plastic washbasin and clean measuring container home from the hospital. They are very helpful as you establish a daily routine of washing your nighttime equipment.
  • Gallon bottles of white vinegar and cheap liquid detergent make the daily washing-up an inexpensive chore.
  • If you change the pouch first thing in the morning, there is less chance of the stoma misbehaving as you do the change.
  • Irrigate the pouch daily with a solution of 4/5 water and 1/5 vinegar.
  • The hospital plastic washbasin is an ideal container for supplies when traveling and can be used to hold the night drainage bag. In the morning, it is handy for washing-up wherever you are. It fits nicely into most carry-on bags and is not heavy.
  • In most cases, urostomy patients enjoy a completely normal diet.
  • Cranberry juice, yogurt, or buttermilk will help combat urinary odors.
  • Asparagus should be avoided by urostomates as it produces a strong odor in urine.

With these tips, we hope that you can avoid some of the common pitfalls we see routinely.  As always, if you have serious issues or experience pain it is vital that you contact your physician or ET Nurse for an evaluation and professional assistance. If you have any more tips or comments, please feel free to let us know!

Excerpted via The Ostomy Association of Long Island and Express Medical Supply
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