Caring For Intestinal Stoma In Children

Parents of children with stomas have to be very cautious about their stoma and peristomal skin health because it is the area that has to support the weight of an ostomy pouch.

Intestinal stoma care is needed for neonates who suffer from congenital bowel conditions and Necrotising Enterocolitis (NEC). These temporary stomas remain there for up to 12 months. Older children and adolescents will also need intestinal stoma care. These children usually suffer from conditions such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

There are two types of intestinal stomas: colostomy and ileostomy.

• A colostomy brings a part of the colon out through a cut in the belly, creating a stoma.
• An ileostomy also creates a stoma but by bringing a part of the small intestine or ileum.

Referral to the stoma therapist

Parents will need to refer to a stoma therapist as soon as the child is admitted or is already an inpatient, waiting for the stoma surgery day. A stoma therapist will:

• Advise and assist the nursing staff in teaching parents, caregivers, or children how to take care of a stoma
• Provide information on how to contact a local community stoma therapist for ongoing stoma care support

Caring for a new stoma

Parents need to meet a stoma care nurse within the first five days of the occurrence of stoma necrosis. They will observe, assess, and document the stoma status in response to the following conditions.

• Perfusion
• Bleeding
• Skin integrity
• Prolapse
• Problem attaching an ostomy pouch
• Stoma retraction
• Signs of infection in the incision wound

Stoma output

During the first couple of days after surgery, the stoma output will be watery. The colostomy output will tend to be semi-formed.

• You will need to report to the medical staff if the ileostomy output is greater than 20-30mls per kg per day.
• Report to the medical staff if the output is greater than 30-49mls per kg per day.

Removing the ostomy pouch

While removing an ostomy pouch,

• Use warm water and a soft cloth
• Peel the skin barrier downwards
• push down the skin and lift the flange up

After removing the skin barrier, pat the peristomal skin dry.

Applying the ostomy appliance

A stoma therapist will recommend the right ostomy pouch for your child. Be sure to follow a few standard steps while applying a new ostomy pouch.

• Clean the skin with warm water. Pat it dry and use the skin barrier cream if needed.
• Use a flange cutter to create a hole in the ostomy barrier. Make sure that the hole is of the exact shape and size of the stoma.
• Smooth rough edges of the skin barrier’s hole by running a finger through it.
• Use your palms to warm the skin barrier. It will ensure a good seal.
• Place the skin barrier on the peristomal skin and smooth down at the edges.

Skincare

Ensuring skin integrity of the area around the stoma is crucial for comfortable stoma management. Skin complications in the peristomal skin area occur due to contact with fecal materials, moisture, and chemical or biological irritants. Ensuring proper adhesion of the ostomy appliance is the best way to prevent any skin complications. You may need to speak to your stoma therapist to get information on what to do to avoid these complications.

Meeting Others Through Online Play

Playing video games has been a huge part of my life, from a time that I was almost too young to remember anything up to this point in my life when I’m nearly 30. It’s been such a large part of my life, in fact, that I would largely attribute a lot of the things I’ve chosen to do and say to video games themselves. There have been great things about them along the years. And there have been some negative effects. No matter what, though, video games have never caused anything to be out of hand like you would choose to believe had you read the latest piece of media demonizing the medium.

Ultimately, video games are an artform that happened to come much later than anything else in the world of art. While I’m sure it took film awhile to be regarded as art, at least it’s an extension of theater. But video games are an entirely different beast, and that’s mostly because the game is able to be played by someone. When a piece of art becomes useable by someone for a long period of time, people start to question whether it truly is a form of art or a negative tool.

Nonetheless, I never quite started seeing video games as a form of art until I realized how much music really made sense as an art. And then it hit me: there’s music in video games as well as amazing graphics.

What video games have done outside of provide me with many rich experiences and close friends: they’ve introduced me to a wide diversity of people. One of my closest friends, whom I met online playing a first person shooter, had an ostomy when he was just 5 years old. And since that point, he’s learned to live with it as if nothing was abnormal. In fact, nothing is abnormal for him. Practicing basic ostomy care has become second nature to him, and he actually finds normal (in terms of normal to the vast majority of people) trips to the bathroom to be interesting, since he doesn’t have to use specific parts of his body to use the bathroom.

So it’s funny how someone who has to do ostomy care every single day can make you realize how different all of our experiences are. And that allows for a greater feeling of community with not only those people but others.

Common Myths about Stoma

According to a survey, about 750,000 Americans live with an ostomy, which is a life-saving surgical treatment done to allow the body waste to pass through an opening in the abdominal area into an ostomy pouch. This procedure sometimes becomes necessary to treat Crohn’s disease, colon or bladder cancer, ulcerative colitis, and injury to the bowel or urinary tract.

Since this treatment affects physical and mental characteristics of an individual, it can result in a change in lifestyle. But then, it is worth remembering that there are many successful people out there living with an ostomy.

There are many misconceptions about this treatment and its aftermaths. So, debunking those prevailing myths is very important. In this article, we are going to debunk some well-known, infamous to be precise, myths.

People get to know about your ostomy pretty quickly

You may wonder if your ostomy bag is noticeable; and it could be one of the bigger concerns. The matter of fact is that people will get to know about your ostomy bag only if you opt to tell them about it. So, whether or not people know about your ostomy is entirely your personal matter.

Since these bags are available in different sizes and types, you can buy one that fits your lifestyle, meaning that you can make sure that people do not know you are carrying an ostomy bag.

All ostomy procedures are permanent

Not all stomas are permanent. Certain conditions, such as inflammatory bowel disease, require the ostomy that is temporary. Such ostomy procedures are done in order to allow certain parts of the excretory tract to heal within a certain period of time. Once that portion is healed, the pouch is removed.

However, there are certain conditions for which the ostomy tends to be permanent. Those conditions mainly involve removal of certain parts of large intestines.

Ostomy bags always smell bad

This problem has been true in the past but not anymore. Modern technologies have helped well in reducing the smell coming out of an ostomy bag to zero. The only time you might feel noticeable odor is when you change or empty the bag.

You will have to be on a special diet for the rest of your life

You might have to make small adjustment in your diet but that doesn’t mean you have to be on a specific diet for the rest of your life. All it takes is the proper healing of your stoma for you to be able to start eating your normal foods. However, there are the food restrictions you need to follow while your stoma is healing.

Traveling with stoma is stressful

Having a stoma doesn’t restrict you from going anywhere in the world. The thought of long journeys is concerning for the people with stomas due to the reason that there is a planning required ahead of time; and it is not something very difficult. The key is to make sure that you have all of the ostomy supplies that you think you will need.

Tips To Live With a Colostomy Bag

An ostomy is a small opening which is made through a surgery when a person’s bowel or bladder stops functioning normally. The stoma created as a result of surgery allows the wastes to be removed from the body. The types of ostomy include urostomy, ileostomy, and colostomy. Each of these different types is made to perform on the opening of a particular organ.

Colostomy Bags and Supplies

Colostomy bags are made to collect the bodily wastes which are passed out through the stoma. The colostomy bags are used to collect stool, which is firm in most of the cases. In such cases, the colostomy bags that are used are the closed pouches. However, if the stoma output is more liquid, the preferable colostomy bags are the drainable ostomy pouches.

Ostomy bags are easy to carry, and you don’t need to wear special clothes to adjust those bags. Those bags are designed to lie flat against the abdomen, and so they remain undetected. If adjustment and management of your stoma is difficult to you, you can consult your doctor.

Traveling with a colostomy bag

There shouldn’t be any problem in traveling after a colostomy surgery. However, some planning is suggested.

First of all, think about the number of appliance changes that you will need while you are away. And make sure that you have all of the ostomy supplies that you are going to need while traveling. Having some extra supplies will ensure peace of mind. And you are going to be careful about the food intake. Be careful while putting on seat belts, as your stoma needs to be prevented from the pressure which is caused by seat belt.

If you have to take flight, make sure that all of your colostomy bag supplies are in the hand-carry bag. You need to be fully prepared to manage the colostomy bag during flight.

Going back to work

Going back to your office with a colostomy bag is not going to be quite challenging. But you have to make sure that you are recovered enough to return to your office.

You can talk to your employer about gradually building your working hours. Moreover, you will have to inform your employer about your inability to carry heavy items for a while. Since carrying a colostomy bag is not going to change your appearance, you don’t need to tell your colleagues about it unless it is absolutely necessary.

Odor management with a colostomy

Individuals carrying colostomy bags worry a lot about the possibility of emitting the smells which people can notice. This odor can be managed by limiting the intake of foods that can produce odor. You can also use certain products to reduce the odor coming out of the ostomy pouch.

Trucker with an ostomy

As a trucker with an ostomy procedure, life has been relatively easy for me, all things considered. In reality, I actually have some advantages of being a trucker with an ostomy bag. I suffered a very serious injury that required me to get a permanent colostomy procedure. As a trucker, my life is a relatively simple. I was just driving from one end of the continent to another. I do get to go home from time to time and relax, which is very nice to take a break and just relax. 

One day after picking up my haul, I began hedging to the destination. It was not any more than a few states over, so it was a relatively easy trek. On my way to the destination, I had encountered another trucker with a bit of road rage. This is not a good thing to have as a trucker because you are hauling thousands of pounds of cargo, and people are depending on you. Somehow I made him mad, and he tried to cut me off. Just before he could, I slowed down so nothing would happen. When he missed me per se, he got back over to his lane and matched my speed. He then rammed me with his truck. I wish I were joking. He rammed me with his truck and shoved me off the road into a ditch, where I came flying out of the front windshield and landed on a guard rail. 

When I woke up, I was in the back of an ambulance being rushed to the emergency room. The doctors in the back with me told me that I had severe damage to my stomach area and should be prepared for the worst. When I got to the emergency room, the doctor immediately wanted to get a scan of my stomach after seeing all the bruising that had developed. After the scan, he told me that my large intestine had taken some severe damage, and I also had a broken rib. To fix this, I needed to get a permanent colostomy bag. I was not all that worried about the procedure because I knew it would help me. 

After a few weeks of healing, I was contacted by an insurance company saying I was at fault. Without bothering to reply with words, I set them the dashcam footage from my truck and photos of my situation as well as my truck after that fool did what he did. They apologized profusely and went after the guy who was really at fault. As a trucker having this ostomy bag has actually been a help. I don’t need to stop for the bathroom at all unless I need to empty my bag. Also, since I do not have any crazy movements or anything like that, I am able to do my job with ease. 

I really don’t mind having an ostomy bag as my career can actually benefit from not needing to stop as much. I’m able to make more money now because I can make fewer stops which means I get to my destination faster. Having an ostomy as a truck driver has not been bad one bit. I enjoy my job, and I’m glad my situation does not prevent me from doing what I need to do to make money and support myself and my family.