Just the Bag

Anybody got any tips for changing only the bag on a two piece system?  i always make the most horrible mess when i try to do that.  Not becuase my stoma is active, but because the stuff that is up around the stoma, comes out when i take the bag off, and it goes all down onto the bandaid part, and it also gets all caked up on the ring thing. 

I am always pushing the poo down my bag anyway throughout the day so anytime I open the 2-piece for a "burp" or to take off the bag part, I just make sure that the poo is pushed down to the bottom of the bag.  It is like I wipe it with the inside of the bag so it is slippery and soft but I do it from the outside.  That way when I open it, I do not have crap coming out.  I slide the inside of the bag in a circular motion around my stoma and then push it all down and it has never hurt my stoma or caused any damage or bleeding at all.  I hope that helps.

If you are using a drainable pouch then you could empty it first then fill it part way with water and slosh it around to clean any excess from around the stoma area.  If you are using a closed pouch then maybe try having some TP held under the bottom part of the seal to catch any run off and wipe around the seal once you have the bag off.  If you felt like you were talented enough (I know I wouldn't be) you could open the bag like when you burp it and add some water that way, reconnect the seal and slosh up around the stoma to "liquify" the poo first causing it to drain to the bottom of the bag. Again I know if I tried that with a closed pouch I would make a bigger mess, LOL.

John

---

Total Colectomy with End Ileostomy May 27th, 2008

i use a drainable pouch, i am not brave enough to try it from the top like that, lol.
I will try rinsing it first though, and spinning those both sound like good ideas.
thanks!

Do it in the shower! I'd wash off everything above the waist, then stand with the spray right on the bag and remove it. Any output immediately got washed away (I'd usually soap up below the waist afterwards anyway). Have a new bag ready to go beforehand. As soon as you get done rinsing, lean out of the shower and grab the new bag, then lean back in (but out of the spray) and pop the new bag on. Then shut off the shower. The new bag may get a few drops of water on it, but that's it.

PS I was hesitant to do this at first because I was afraid of compromising the barrier seal, but I routinely got 7-8 days out of them. So it doesn't seem to have had much of an impact.

yeah water is what i use, squirt from the bottom, swish around at the top :o)

---

25 y/o female- crohns disease since 14
Ileostomy pending-very worried
Tried asacol,pentasa,prednisone,remicade,6mp,azasan, no avail
Seatons placed
Worst year ever!

"For God has not given us the spirit of fear....."
Where does mine come from?!

the shower would be a good idea, but usually when i have to change just the bag, it's because there is a leak in the bag, so i have to do it really quickly.

A leak in the bag? What kinds of bags are you using, if you don't mind my asking--and what part of the bag are they leaking from? I had a temp ileo (granted, for only three months) and never had a bag itself leak.

I rinse my drainable bag after everytime I empty it. An ostomy nurse told me not to get water up around the adhesive seal, but I do everytime and it's never caused a leak. *Pause to knock on wood*

well i have had a few problems with the tails of the bags, got a bad batch once, it's the hollister's ones. But what happened the other day was i ate some stuff, that came out rather chunky (eww i know!) and it punched a hole in the filter thingy. I have had my bag for over a year and except for the bad batch of bags, haven't had much trouble, at least that wasn't my own stupid fault, lol. Like the day i forgot to close the end of the bag after changing the system, or at the very first when i would change it and didnt' always get it snapped on good. Other than that, i really haven't had much trouble.
Another reason i was asking is that if we have people over to swim, i like to wear the mini bags, but it has been such a pain to change from regular bag to mini bags, i just gave up!

If you don't have time to rinse off in the shower, then I would remove the pouch while sitting on the toilet and use toilet paper to clean the area around your stoma. Have a ziploc bag ready to throw the old pouch away and have a new pouch ready to put on.

see that's what i have been doing, i think i must just be messy and clumsy!

As long as you don't get anything in your hair, you're doing great!! he he he

smartie pants! this has nothing to do with this topic, but that made me think of this. My little boy came into the living room with this box of stuff, tryign to figure out how to work it, and he comes up to me and he has foudn a box of these NuHope seals that for some reason i keep getting sent, and he has them out and i guess he thinks they are some type of play-doh! so he is trying to mold them and stuff, lol.

2 words.. disposable liners.

---

a perforated Diverticlum survivor and colostomy wearer, awaiting resection

May 02/2008