Things To Know About The Stoma

A stoma generally refers to an opening that allows bodily wastes to leave the body. Your surgeon will create a stoma on the digestive or urinary tract to bypass its diseased portion.

Why does a stoma become necessary?

There are several reasons why you may need a stoma. Some of those reasons include the following.

• Bladder cancer
• Bowel cancer
• Crohn’s disease
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Diverticulitis
• Ulcerative colitis
• Obstruction

Depending on the severity or type of the underlying reason, a stoma can be permanent or temporary.

What are the types of stoma?

Based on their location, there are three types of stoma: colostomy, ileostomy, and urostomy. No matter what the type of stoma is, you are going to have to wear a stoma bag to manage waste evacuations. A stoma doesn’t have any sphincters, meaning that waste materials would pass out of it unexpectedly. An ostomy bag worn over the stoma allows you to remain calm and relaxed until the bag is full. You will need to empty or change the bag when necessary.

Now, let’s discuss the types of the stoma.

• The first and most common type of stoma is the colostomy. This ostomy has a stoma on the colon, meaning that waste materials will pass out of the stoma without proceeding to the rest of the colon. The surgeon will give you a colostomy if a part of your colon is too diseased to function.
• The second type of stoma is ileostomy, which involves bypassing the entire colon. The surgeon creates a stoma on the small intestine after removing or resting the colon.
• A stoma created to reroute the flow of urine towards an opening in the abdomen is known as a urostomy. This stoma connects ureters to the outside of the body. This diversion uses a piece of the small intestine, also known as an ileal conduit, as a channel to transport urine from ureters to the opening in the abdomen.

Preparing for stoma surgery

Before surgery, you will have a meeting or two with a colorectal surgeon and ostomy care nurse. During this preoperative assessment appointment, the surgeon will tell you everything related to surgery and about post-surgery life. The nurse will show you samples of ostomy bags.

During this meeting, you should ask anything that confuses you. You may want to prepare a list of questions that you would ask your surgeon.

Stoma care support

You will not feel and remember anything that happened during surgery, as you will be under the influence of general anesthesia.

After surgery, you will need to stay in the hospital for 3-10 days. It is the postoperative critical recovery phase during which your doctor and surgical staff will monitor your ostomy. If the recovery process goes well, you will be allowed to go back home.

The overall recovery after surgery will take 6-8 weeks. During this period, you will need to make sure to follow every restriction related to your diet and physical movement. Generally, your doctor will ask you to take soft foods until your body recovers. You will not be able to lift heavy objects during this time. You can introduce your favorite foods back into your diet and return to your fitness training regimen once your body recovers.