What is Colostomy Stoma?

What is Colostomy Procedure?

A colostomy is an operation that will conduct the colon to the abdominal outer wall. It will eject the solid waste of the body via the belly wall. The tummy of the patient will hold a new organ that will perform the function of the anus. It will discharge the stool and get collected into a complete pouching system. It will contain a bag, adhesive, flanges, skin barrier, and wipe to cover, protect, and collect the feces. Well, the colostomy is a medical term and a common type of ostomy. It refers to the surgical treatment and incisions of the digestive system. The colostomy directly belongs to the large intestine operation that includes the colon, rectum, and bowel. When a patient has inflammatory bowel disease, infection, injury, blockage, cancer, or any other serious disease in the colon, bowel, or rectum, then the person needs a colostomy. In this operation, doctors remove the diseased part of the colon, rectum, or bowel (sometimes the entire colon or rectum depending on the disease and treatment), and bring the remaining colon to the new part of the body (present on the abdomen, called a stoma). The colostomy procedure will eliminate the disease present in your large intestine and bowel. It will close the anal opening and the feces will come out from the opening or stoma. The colostomy operation will make your body disease-free and give you a new healthy life. This will only re-route your internal organs, it will not cause any other malfunction or problem in your body and lifestyle.

How to Create Colostomy Stoma?

When it comes to the colostomy stoma, it is the opening in the abdomen that will work in your body as a new anus. This is the result of the colostomy operation. The time of the stoma depends on the type of colostomy, either you are getting the permanent or temporary colostomy. Some colostomies are reversible, doctors shut the anal opening for a few months, until the patient's colon, rectum, or bowel gets healed. After the healing of the large intestine and when they can perform their natural function, doctors close the stoma present in the tummy and connect the colon to the anal canal. So, the colon will pass the solid stool to the rectum. It will hold the feces until the next movement of the bowel. Upon the bowel movement, the rectum will release the solid waste of the body via the anus. But, this is not the procedure of permanent colostomy. In the surgery, surgeons will permanently shut the anus hole, the patient will discharge the solid stool through the stoma for the rest of their lives. So, they will wear the ostomy pouch to collect the solid content.

Why a Patient Needs Colostomy Surgery?

A person needs a colostomy operation when they have some kind of large intestine and diseases. Some problems and infections are uncurable through medications. When medicines do not work on the colon, rectum, and bowel, then a person needs a scientific procedure and incision to treat the internal disease and live a normal healthy life. Thus, colostomy happens to heal colorectal cancer, diverticulitis, or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). When a patient goes through the intense pain and problems related to the large intestine, then colostomy surgery becomes necessary.

Why a Stoma is Necessary for Ostomates?

When it comes to stoma creation, it becomes necessary to release the waste material of the body. Due to the surgical procedure of the colostomy, doctors will have to shut the anus, then the ostomate will require a new hole or organ that will eject the stool. As a person cannot hold the stool in the body for a long time, then doctors fabricate the stoma and close the anus. It holds the colon and the colon will pass out the feces to the ostomy pouching system.

The Most Important Ladder to Climb with an Ostomy Bag

The air is getting cooler and the seasons are changing.  This means lots of holiday gatherings and many people getting together.  I personally love family get-togethers and hanging out with friends.  But where I live there is one weekend that this always falls on and it always falls second to me climbing up my favorite ladder.  I am talking about the ladder to my tree stand for deer season.  Yes, I am happily able to climb it with my ostomy bag in tow and many people think I am crazy when I show up to our family holiday get-togethers covered in mud, sometimes blood, but always with a giant smile on my face.  That is because it is my favorite thing to do and I have made sure that my stoma never gets in the way during this time.  I worried when I first got my stoma that it would be an issue, but with wise choices and a little preparation I still happily have to do physically do all the things needed to hunt in my location.

So what are some of the things that I do to prepare for this time?  Well, the first area that should come to mind to a good woodsman is the scent.  It was the first thing that worried me when I found out that I was going into surgery.  I knew that I would be carrying my own waste on my side for the rest of my life.  To me, it meant that I would smell more than I did before and since my favorite sport involves me being scentless it worried me.  But luckily there are several ways to lower your scent with an ostomy bag.  Many bags not only are scent blockers but also you can add drops of scent killing chemicals into the bag to eliminate odors.  This is one way, but you can also take pills that work with your body to lower your own wastes smell as well. 

But to me, the biggest thing when it comes to scent is doing all of the steps above and also getting the right clothing.  I honestly love that I can sit in my tree stand all day and not have to worry about bathroom breaks.  It is a great addition to hunting in my opinion and with my scent lock clothing, I am able to effectively be a good hunter.  

Another thing that is important when climbing that ladder is to be in good shape.  This means being careful to grow your muscles and body safely.  You have a stoma and are more prone to hernias now so you need to be careful not to overdo it.  But my sport is very physical, it involves climbing, hiking for miles, and carrying heavy animals or loads.  This means that training to be in shape is important and needs to be considered long ahead of time.   Depending on where you live you may need to have the strength to drag your deer for up to a mile.  Or simply be able to carry that much weight for that distance.  This is a huge consideration and should be trained for.  I suggest taking months out ahead of time to get your body ready. But whatever you do, don't stop climbing.