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Everybody has trouble eating right. When you have an ostomy, though, the challenges can be even tempts to control diarrhea, fluid balance, gas, and odor can stop you from eating enough healthy foods. And even if you do eat right, you may worry that your intestines don’t absorb the vitamins and minerals you need. The first thing to know: people with an ostomy

What happens? Permanent stomas are just that — permanent. But a temporary ostomy can be closed (reversed) quite easily depending on the type of surgery. When the surgeon decides to reverse your surgery, (and that can vary from days to years and anytime frame in between), it's a good idea to take some simple steps so that the recovery time is faster and you can help potentially avoid other issues that may occur.

Exercise, sports and leisure activities are pleasurable and fun pastimes. Quite often there is nothing better than a day out in the fresh air or the chance to play hard in a challenging event. Knowing the best way to get fitter, faster, is to do it smarter. Learn some tips from your friends here or share your own hints and tips for getting back on track to excellent fitness. Stronger, better, faster – smarter!

Spouse and Family Support for Ostomates produced by UOA for spouse and family members, especially written for those new to the ostomy experience. Those who have had years of experience as an ostomy family member may also find it valuable.

With so many ostomy products available, it’s hard to know which one is right for you. Regardless of the brand of product or type of surgery you have, there are a few basic features an ostomy pouching system must have to give you a sense of security and confidence. First, it must contain urine or stool, gas and odor without leaking. Second, it must help protect the skin around the stoma from damaging effects of stool or urine. Third, the systems should remain in place for a sustained and predictable wear time. Wear time—This means you should be fairly certain your pouching system will remain intact without leakage for a definite period of time. That time period varies among individuals and ranges from 24 hours to 7-10 days.

Skin Therapy for Urostomates, Urostomy Dr. Shennon has been a urostomate since 1980 and from that time has suffered from many peristomal skin problems such as inflammation and red raw skin around the stoma caused by seepage from his urostomy appliance. Through his experience, he has found relief from for his skin irritations by using a common antibacterial gel hand sanitizer.

Upon reflection, most people view their ostomy as a relief from years or even a lifetime of suffering. Most view this new lifestyle as liberating and welcome the healthy changes it brings to their lives. However, this freedom and healthy change still has some drawbacks and pitfalls to watch for. Two of those pitfalls we are going to discuss today are blockages and hernias. Ostomy Blockages

We live in stressful times, there really is no avoiding it. Most of us have heavy concerns with try to balance our work life and home life, raising our children, providing opportunities for our children to go to college, weddings, dating, concerns about the economy, our future retirement, and the list could go on indefinitely. As well as the numerous other complications that these stressors bring, we often feel these stresses in our stomachs.

Everybody gets some form of heartburn from time to time, but as we get older, it often seems to be more frequent and more severe. Reflux esophagitis refers to a backup of stomach contents into the lower esophagus, where the stomach acids produce a burning sensation. It is commonly known as GERD, or gastroesophageal reflux disease.

I had ulcerative colitis for 14 years before I became so ill that my colon had to be removed. I was so afraid of having an ostomy that I postponed treatment and nearly died. Knowing my feelings about ostomies, my doctor performed a rarely done straight ileoanal anostomosis when he couldn’t make me a J-pouch. I lived three years of hell with that “straight shot” and had an ileostomy installed in December, 1996. It was the best Christmas I ever gave myself!