Being an ET nurse and surgeon, or a normal person, you meet hundreds and thousands of people having a stoma in your daily life. Globally, there are millions of patients who have to go through the ostomy surgery. Being a family member, caregiver, colleague, friend, surgeon, and nurse, you can help them to come out of the stress and challenges they are going through. Ostomates become frightened while going out in the process of managing the ostomy supplies and stoma, but they need support, assistance, and a genuine guideline. This can regain their independence, confidence, and a stress-free lifestyle.

The ostomy patients go through different challenges and adjustments in their life, regarding staying up-t-date with the advanced tools, managing stoma, emergencies, procedures, regular care, meeting people, joining the previous life, coup up with new life, the hunger of independence, and many other things.

The Right Pouching System can Help you in Regaining your Independence

To retrieve your independence, the foremost thing is wearing the right pouching system for the stoma. When a patient wears and buys the wrong size, style, and shape of the pouch for their stoma, it brings distress, low confidence, difficulties in managing healthy stoma, problems in facing the public, challenges in choosing the right clothes, and many other adjustments and problems in following daily activities.

The wrong pouching system generates leakage. When the waste material (urine and stool) comes out of the stoma bag, it touches your peristomal skin and clothes. Therefore, it makes embarrassment, difficulties, and challenges to change it. Especially, when you are in the office or public, and the system cause leakage, it will be the most difficult situation of life. It can damage your dress, pouching system, and the entire day. Therefore, choosing the right size and style of the ostomy pouching system is essential.

The Right Diet for Ostomy Patients

Many ostomy patients think that eating everything can cause leakage or other problems in tackling life and affects their independence. Thus, many ostomates do not want to eat. This generates other diseases and problems in a patient. Moreover, some ostomates think that they cannot eat what they like or wish. Well, both concepts are wrong for living a happy and independent ostomy life.

A patient should not give up on eating; however, he/she adopts a few adjustments in life. Make less intake of gastric food items, such as onion, red beans, eggplant, cauliflower, broccoli, dry fruits, red meat, garlic, and carbonated drinks. Some people face constipation due to meat and processed foods; thus, they must not eat them. Moreover, a few eatables cause loose motion, gas, and odor. Thus, you know your stomach and digestive habit the best, do not eat such things that can cause problems in your ostomy life.

Regain Independence in your Personal and Professional Life

When a person faces the stoma and ostomy surgery, it is natural that he/she will think that the personal and professional life is going to end. But, being a nurse, caretaker, and doctor, you are the one who knows the truth of ostomy and its after-effects. Thus, guide them in spending a free life after the operation.

Make sure that you have taught them all the rules regarding the care and management of the stoma and its supplies. An ostomy patient should know the right ways of going back to the office and following other physical and personal activities. Moreover, prepare your patient to deal with the peristomal challenges. A person must know what to wear while swimming, running, and what to put on in the office. If a stoma patient has all the information, knowledge, and guidelines about the devices, he/she can live a happy and independent life.

Moreover, if a patient needs some emotional and psychological support, you should be the one who works as a mentor and counselor.