#ostomy

[burrito-child]

Unpopular Opinion-

I’m sick to death of people telling me I’m “brave”, “strong”, “a warrior”, “a fighter”.

I am not- I’m just a person who never had a choice.

Survival is not strength. It is forced endurance.

[gayaest]

[Description in Alt-Text] 🐛🍎⭐️

Re-done OC: TWIG 🧃

[crippl-hacker]

My number one priority for needed medical equipment: decoration.

[theblueboxscholar]

You know what I miss the most about not being an Ostomate? Tummy time.

I miss laying on the floor on my tummy. :[

I was always such a floor baby. One of the things Kathrine and I had in common. We both LOVED to sit or lay on the floor.

I also miss sleeping on my stomach, but it's been years so I'm used to sleeping on my back now. But... ugh. Sleeping on your tummy with your face gently cradled by a soft pillow? 🤌🏻

[piqu3d]

will this make sense without context? maybe not, but that just means you should read the proof is in the pudding by @star-byrd. In it Obi-Wan has an ostomy, Fox has an ng tube, shenanigans occur as well. a good time.

[oldfangirl81]

It just dawned on me to look up where my ostomy pouches are manufactured because it hit me tariffs will apply to medical supplies too. Fun. 🫠🙃

[disabledcharacters]

BOOKS: Freya (Sh!t Bag by Xena Knox) - Ostomy Bag

SH!T BAG is a dark humour, disability-positive YA about a feisty, sporty, sixteen-year-old girl called Freya who wakes up in hospital with a poo bag (aka an ileostomy) and has to learn to live with it and her new nickname Sh!t Bag.

When her dreams of the perfect summer partying in the Algarve go down the toilet, she's packed off to 'Poo Camp' - a place for kids with bowel disease to 'bond'.

[author's site]

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Join me as I celebrate and post about different Disabled Characters throughout the month. Tracking #dcotm

[cecile-dormeau]

[itslunchboxworld]

Tummy Tuesday!

[hezenkossed]

growing up, i had an illness. i was born with it, no one thought i'd survive, or that i'd be frail and sickly my whole life if i did. i am pretty sickly, i'll give them that, but i grew up to be about a foot taller and 200lbs heavier than they thought i’d ever be. i am my parents' miracle, and i have grappled with that my entire life.

read now on substack.

[crippl-hacker]

I am now the proud owner of an ostomy! My surgery went well and I have now reached 24 hours of having a bag. The surgery was actually easier than anticipated according to my surgeon!

[gailyinthedark]

I think

I think I may desperately need to design myself an ostomy cover in the style of a Jacobean-era under-skirt pocket

[phdbabygirlism]

Self projecting at its finest

[gwyndisabilityblog]

Guys I'm setting up a store for disability themed items. Feel free to support me if you want or give me ideas if you're looking to see yourself represented. Already made a deaf/hard of hearing pin for my grandma who requested and hoping to get more disabilities represented.

These designs are very simple/low spoons required to make. And I am taking requests. Give me a theme, a statement, and I'll cook something up for ya. :)

Currently just doing pins but will eventually start doing masks and tees.

[space-spring]

Ostomy Awareness

October 7th 2023 is Ostomy Awareness Day! So I'm going to make you aware of ostomies whether you like it or not!

If you've never heard of an ostomy before, the first definition I get searching it is, "Surgical construction of an artificial excretory opening, as a colostomy or ileostomy." Which is just sort of a complicated way of saying, "the end of your intestines/urinary tract is surgically placed outside the skin such that the stuff that comes out of it ends up in a disposable bag."

Ostomies are, in general, considered a gross thing to talk about for a lot of people (which, alright. it's poop/pee. fair). But getting an ostomy is a life-saving procedure that about 100,000 people undergo in the US alone each year. The most common reasons for getting an ostomy are:

medical issues where the intestine or urinary tract is causing active harm to the individual, e.g. ulcerative colitis or colorectal cancer

specific injuries like car crashes that result in trauma to the abdomen

things like bowel obstructions that require surgery or removal of parts of the intestines

I couldn't find a great public domain image of what they look like, so here's a quick drawing:

The red bit is called a stoma, and is made up of a part of your intestines/urinary tract. The placement will differ slightly depending on the situation, but it'll always be roughly in that lower abdominal area. The bag is made up of plastic and rubber, and is made up of two parts: a base and the pouch itself. The base is made of a circular rubber "wafer" adhered to the skin using strong glue, and is replaced every few days or once a week. The pouch is attached to the wafer, and is replaced more often as needed. The one I have pictured here has a clear plastic front, but most people who have ostomies for an extended period of time end up using ones with non-transparent fronts (some people also get cloth coverings to go over the pouch that have fun designs).

I had an ostomy nearly a decade ago as just a temporary thing between surgeries, but I still think about it a lot. For me personally, my ostomy ended up being a really painful, embarrassing experience. I was in high school at the time, and having the whole "there is bodily waste coming out of my stomach" thing going on on top of just the general stress of having severe health issues was a lot. Nowadays I feel strongly about making it a more normal, commonplace thing to talk about, if just for kids who have to go through that sort of thing themselves.

But all of that said, I'd be wrong not to mention that there's a ton of people who have had ostomies for the majority of their lives and feel really happy with them. Ostomies can mean a huge relief in terms of chronic pain, and over time, it just becomes a normal part of people's lives. Chances are you've met someone with an ostomy before and never realized, due to the fact that it's often hidden under clothing.