One of the things I feared the most after my ostomy surgery, besides the stoma and the ostomy pouch bag that I was now going to be carrying around for the foreseeable future, was the limitations I believed I was going to experience in my physical life. Up until getting sick and having all my complications, I was extremely active and partook in all sorts of events, including my most favorite, swimming. But as you can imagine, I couldn’t foresee a future where my pouch and a swimming pool or lake could co-exist. Thankfully, I was wrong. (Boy, I never thought I’d say that.) Thanks to research, lots of chats with my amazing doctor, and the right apparel, I’ve been able to dive (pun intended, sorry not sorry) right back into the deep end of the swimming pool. 

My journey back into swimming wasn’t an overnight one. First, I had to let my body heal from the procedure, and then I went through a readjusting stage in order to get my sea legs, so to speak, with the new pouch I was carrying around. However, after some time had passed, I started to feel more comfortable, not necessarily confident, but more comfortable with knowing what to do and when to do it. The next stage of the journey then came with out of the pool exercise. To me it was one thing to do physical activity where the most contact with water you’d have would be your own sweat, it was entirely another to jump into water with a bag full of well, you know. Heaven forbid it would break or leak, and then I would be that person that caused the pool to close for cleaning. So instead, I went for short jogs and did light body weight training. And it was through that I learned about how to best secure my pouch in place. My favorite method was with athletic tape, but my doctor also said that an ostomy pouch belt was also an option. Although you can’t really go wrong with either. 

Finally, the day came where I was brave enough to reenter the pool. But I had done my homework. I knew that I needed to empty my pouch prior to getting in, and more importantly I made sure to check that my baseplate was sticking properly. This is what actually causes the most problems in the pool and other aquatic realms. If your adhesion is strong enough, that’s when you’ll find yourself in trouble. So, if swimming is your passion like it is mine, make sure you change your product out more frequently to avoid any slips. And speaking of slips, the very last thing I did was secure my pouch by wrapping it in waterproof self-sticking athletic tape and by wearing a tighter fitting suit. Both helped to keep it in place and to conceal the pouch a little bit more. 

After I had checked (and rechecked) all the boxes, I stood at the edge of water, looked down, held my breath, and jumped. And I have to say, it was honestly the best feeling I could have ever asked for. It was in that moment I knew my life, while different, didn’t have to be without the things I loved most. And it doesn’t haven’t to be that way for you either. So here’s to a wonderful, sometimes challenging, new life.