HI CINDY<

You have some very excellent questions here... I'll be happy to offer
my advice for whatever it's worth, hope I'm of some help to
you...Regarding the beach trip by all means GOOO and have fun, you
will be suprised how little people notice and like I think I said
before you have to live your life and not let your ostomy become your
life...That is very important... The one thing I have come to realize
is you'll be a bit uncomfortable at first with your swimsuit on but
if you feel more comfortable wear shorts over it for the first time..
I absolutely love the water and the beach and laying in the sun and i
do spend alot of time there in the summer...

Regarding showering with or without the pouch...Thats a personal
preference but for me personally I normally 98% of the time shower
with the appliance on just because with a ileostomy I have no control
and if I changed my appliance daily Id never have enough to make it
thru the month. As far as it wearing out faster I would say no, not
from showers but definetly when im swimming or in the water alot in
the summer I do go thru a few more pouches per month but it's not a
big deal... I do shower without the pouch if im at a point where im
going to change the pouch and I am going to shower then too, I find
it's always easier to take the pouch off jump in the shower and then
put a fresh clean pouch on after words...From my experience thou,
make sure you don't get lotion around the stoma or your products
won't stick... I also stay away from any kind of shower gels that are
real greasy when I'm showering without my pouch, for the same reason
the pouches and wafers (appliances) need clean dry surface to stick.

Regarding using the two piece system or one piece system... That is
totally by trial and error... I personally like and have always used
the two piece system and I have a few reasons I like the two piece
system, one being the fact I can release gas in the bathroom from the
wafer if I have a build up at all...I personally guess I just got
hooked on them after surgery and for me feel it's easier to empty
when I'm out in public..I go on a canoe trip that is a 3 day trip
every summer for this the two piece system is crucial... I don't
always have the best restroom facilities so I usually carry extra
pouches and just take pouch off and replace with a clean one...This
is a great asset to having the two piece system...Other thing I find
I like is if my wafer gets a leak and that does happen and if I have
just put on a new appliance I can remove the wafer and then reattach
the same pouch to the new wafer so as not to waste a good
pouch...Again it's all personal preference...I would suggest calling
Hollister and Convatech and letting them know your a new ostomate and
would like some samples to try out of both two piece an one piece
appliances.. This is a good way to try out some new styles of pouches
and there always happy to help...

As for your question regarding body image... I deal with that all the
time too...I'm 36 yrs old and it is a part of who I am and always
will be.. I think I had the best comment about a year ago...Was
working at a part time job and the subject of my illness came up and
I said to 4 other co-workers that I have an ostomy and not one of
them believed me I had to literally put there hand on my abdomen over
my clothing so they could feel the appliance... They were amazed most
have seen elderly that are very ill with ostomies so they assumed
anybody with an ostomy is on deaths doorstep...NOT TRUE!!! I am very
cautious somewhat regarding what I wear...I dont' like anything
really snug over my stoma that is uncomfortable...You'll come to
realize in time that nobody even pays attention to you or your
ostomy.. I just had a CPR class yesterday and in the class was this
man in his 60's I would guess well we all had to get down on the
floor and do CPR, he raised his hand and said I can't do that because
I have a ileostomy.. The teacher was ready to excuse him from doing
the excersize at all, I about died...I've never thought of using my
ostomy as an excuse to why I can't do something..I didn't have the
heart to tell this guy I too have an ostomy but I felt pretty proud
that I don't put those restrictions on myself... I find people will
react to my ostomy the way I am acting when I tell them..by this I
mean if I am real negative about it they usually take a negative
reaction but when I'm positive and I say hey it's this or I wouldn't
even be alive they are usually suprised that they couldn't tell and
I'm told alot how well I do with "IT" hahaha... I have relatives I
see maybe every 2-3yrs and last year when we got together one of them
brought up how well I did when I had my ostomy when I was soo sick
and how impressed they were with my good attitude, I had to tell them
it's still there...I'll always have it..They were shocked!!!!

OK, I've rambled on enough here...I hope this was some help to you
Cindy and Id say your doing FANTASTIC for 3 days home, keep up the
good work and don't let the tuff days get you down... For now don't
even worry about your other surgery just take it here and now.. Were
all here for you if you need to talk...There is a chat room that goes
on Tuesday nights at 9pm Eastern time... that web site is
Stuartonline.com it's for ostomates or family or friends of people
with ostomies...If you have a chance stop by it's a great avenue to
talk with some others online and the support in that room is GREAT!!!

Take Care of Yourself...

Sincerly,
Shannon

--- In ostomatessupport@yahoogroups.com, Ponieboy96@a... wrote:
> Thanks so much for your reply- it really helped just knowing
there's other people out there. To answer your question, I have an
ileostomy, and I am scheduled to have j-pouch surgery in 2-4 months
(another thing I find very scary.)
>
> Tomorrow will be day 3 home from the hospital with my bag, and one
of the things I feel I am struggling with is an identity crisis. I
guess I don't really remember being the Cindy without the bag, and I
am not quite sure who the Cindy with the bag is. (Or how her friends
will react to her.) Did anyone else have this problem?
>
> Along a more technical line, I am debating a one-piece system vs.
a two-piece system. I am employed as a teacher, so I am trying to
determine what would be most convenient. So far my stoma (I've named
it Cal) seems to be less active during the day and more active at
night. Any tips from people who have used either of these systems?
>
> Finally, I was curious about showers. Do you shower with the bag on
or off. If you shower with it on, does that make the flange wear out
faster?
>
> And last, I am of course having some body image issues. I was
scheduled for a beach trip later this summer which I am now sort of
dreading. Do you find that a lot of people notice the bag under the
suit? And should I care if they do?
>
> Cindy