Hi, I'm Laura Cox, Shield HealthCare's Ostomy Lifestyle Specialist. Today's
video is all about ostomy basics: what an ostomy is. And we're out here hiking
today because I had my ostomy surgery in 2011 and I wanted to show you that life
with an ostomy can still be full of physical exercise and the things that
you love. If you're watching this video it may be because you have just heard
the word "ostomy" for the first time. What is an ostomy?
There are three types of ostomies: urostomy, ileostomy and colostomy.
Urostomies are given for a multitude of reasons, but they have to do with the
urinary tract. Before surgery, there's something called ureters that connect
from your kidneys to your bladder and after surgery those ureters connect from
their kidneys to an ileal conduit, which is a piece of the intestine, which is
brought outside of the body and surrounded by a pouch, and urine is
collected in that pouch. Before ileostomy or colostomy surgery, the small intestine
is connected to the large intestine, which, in turn, is connected to the rectum.
With an ileostomy, the end portion of the small intestine, or the ileum, is brought
outside of the body to create a stoma, or opening, which is surrounded by an ostomy
pouch. With a colostomy, a part of the colon, or large intestine, is brought
outside of the body to create that stoma, and is surrounded by a pouch, or, in some
instances, a stoma cap.
There are many reasons why someone may get an ostomy.
It can be inflammatory bowel disease; types of cancer, including bladder cancer and
colon cancer; polyps; sometimes an accident or a gunshot wound will require
ostomy surgery; and then also some types of paralysis can also require ostomy surgery.
My story starts at diagnosis. I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis after
going into my doctor with some symptoms that I was concerned about. And then, just
over a year later, I had ostomy surgery. I was given an option from my surgeon: he
said that I could either have surgery now or in a couple months it would be
emergency surgery. So I made the decision to go in when I was as healthy as
possible, instead of going in when it was an emergency.
Recovery for me took about three months until I felt like I had a substantial
amount of energy. And seven months after surgery I traveled to Seattle and hiked
around and backpacked and ran a 5K.
I had a friend ask me recently, "Is the pouch on the inside or the outside of
your body?" And it really can be both. So, if you have a stoma, you have an ostomy
bag or pouch surrounding the stoma on the outside of your body. But if you get
reconnected, you can have something called a J-pouch, which is an internal
pouch made of your own intestines.
Some ostomies are reversible. I can tell you
that with ileostomies, the J-pouch can be created, which is a way that your body
can hold waste internally and you are able to go to the restroom in a typical fashion.
Many people are concerned that there will be a smell coming from the
ostomy which is not true they also are concerned that people will be able to
tell that they have an osotmy bag on them, but I'm wearing a pouch right now.
Or, people are concerned they won't be able to do the things that they love.
Well, that's why we're out here. We're out here for a nice hike to prove that you
can do the things that you love to do. If you have any more concerns we have a
whole video on the top ten ostomy concerns and we address them there.
When a medical professional mentions the word "ostomy" for the first time, I know
that it can be really scary and that some people dismiss it and put off
having ostomy surgery for years. But I can tell you from personal experience,
and from talking to people who have ostomies now, that many of us wish that
we would have had surgery earlier, because it has wildly increased our
quality of life.