Judith56
04-27-2006, 02:58 PM
Just wanted to talk to you about stomas and hopefully clear up some questions people may have.Stomas come in all shapes and sizes. In general colostomy stomas are the largest and usually located on the left side of the body. Ileostomy and urostomy stomas tend to be on the right side. For the internal or continent pouch stomas can be located in the belly button or the right side. Of course you will see variations for all of these, but this tends to be the general rule about locations.
They come in all shapes and sizes, but they tend to be mostly round or oval. Some people say they look like little rosebuds. A healthy stoma is pink and it looks like the inside of your mouth, in fact it is the same type of tissue. Stomas vary greatly in size, the key factors to the size they are, have to do with the size of your bowel and the piece the surgeon uses to create it. Continent stomas in general are pretty small and tend to be flush(flat) with the skin, or indented. For all the other types it is preferable to have it stick out so that when a pouch is put over it, it is easy for the urine or stool to go into the pouch. The opening on the pouch will be cut to fit over the stoma, and many pouch manufacturers make pre-cut pouches, so you dont have to cut it yourself. At first the stoma is swollen and with time it shrinks, so what it looks like intially is not how it will look after the healing is done. For those wearing external pouches you need to periodically measure your stoma and they make stoma measuring guides to do this. Pouches also come in all different sizes and types. If the one you are given in the hospital does not work there are many, many ones to choose from.
Stomas do not have nerve endings so they have no feeling. They do have a rich blood supply and it is easy for them to bleed. For this reason you need to be gentle when cleaning them and it is important to keep them covered so to avoid injury. Continent stomas also have a tendency to leak or discharge mucus even after they have been trained, it is just the way they are. There are special nurses trained in the care of ostomies and they are called ET nurses, short for Enterostomal Nurse. In general these nurses are wonderful! They can be a real Godsend to a new ostomate or someone who is hainvg problems. They tend to be the ones with all the answers postop when it comes to stomas, sureons know how to create them but the ET will teach you how to live with them.
The best part about stomas is they let people be free from disease and help them to live a more normal life. In some cases it is a second chance at living. I hope this answers some of the questions surrounding them. Please do ask questions if there is something you want explained in more detail.
They come in all shapes and sizes, but they tend to be mostly round or oval. Some people say they look like little rosebuds. A healthy stoma is pink and it looks like the inside of your mouth, in fact it is the same type of tissue. Stomas vary greatly in size, the key factors to the size they are, have to do with the size of your bowel and the piece the surgeon uses to create it. Continent stomas in general are pretty small and tend to be flush(flat) with the skin, or indented. For all the other types it is preferable to have it stick out so that when a pouch is put over it, it is easy for the urine or stool to go into the pouch. The opening on the pouch will be cut to fit over the stoma, and many pouch manufacturers make pre-cut pouches, so you dont have to cut it yourself. At first the stoma is swollen and with time it shrinks, so what it looks like intially is not how it will look after the healing is done. For those wearing external pouches you need to periodically measure your stoma and they make stoma measuring guides to do this. Pouches also come in all different sizes and types. If the one you are given in the hospital does not work there are many, many ones to choose from.
Stomas do not have nerve endings so they have no feeling. They do have a rich blood supply and it is easy for them to bleed. For this reason you need to be gentle when cleaning them and it is important to keep them covered so to avoid injury. Continent stomas also have a tendency to leak or discharge mucus even after they have been trained, it is just the way they are. There are special nurses trained in the care of ostomies and they are called ET nurses, short for Enterostomal Nurse. In general these nurses are wonderful! They can be a real Godsend to a new ostomate or someone who is hainvg problems. They tend to be the ones with all the answers postop when it comes to stomas, sureons know how to create them but the ET will teach you how to live with them.
The best part about stomas is they let people be free from disease and help them to live a more normal life. In some cases it is a second chance at living. I hope this answers some of the questions surrounding them. Please do ask questions if there is something you want explained in more detail.