My New Bum

The Psychological Effects of Having a Stoma

January 31, 2019 4:13 pmFebruary 25, 2019By Robert GaleIn Musings0 Comments517 Views

I originally started to formulate ideas for this post last weekend when I was feeling pretty low. I had been discharged from hospital and was the reality of everything was hitting home. There were so many things going through my mind that were being amplified by feeling unwell. I was going to compose the post, which would have overall been very negative, but instead I decided to take a step back, wait and try to turn the negatives into positives.

Follow Up Visit With Stoma Nurse

January 30, 2019 1:28 pmFebruary 25, 2019By Robert GaleIn Weekly Update1 Comment427 Views

Today was the first follow-up visit to the stoma team. The aim of the visit is to check everything is healing correctly, to check the size of the stoma, provide new supplies and it’s an opportunity to ask any questions.

Irritated Stoma

January 29, 2019 5:28 pmFebruary 25, 2019By Robert GaleIn Musings2 Comments502 Views

Upon changing my bag this morning I noticed the skin around the stoma was a little irritated. The irritation was around the circumference of the stoma and being new to the whole stoma game I’m wondering if it’s an irritation caused by the adhesive on the bag.

Two Weeks With a Stoma

January 28, 2019 11:14 amFebruary 25, 2019By Robert GaleIn Weekly Update0 Comments543 Views

I’ve been home from hospital for three days and recovering is hard work, both physically and mentally. Like most people I’m so used to being active and mobile so curbing what I do is hard and at times I have to remind myself to slow down.

Expectations vs Reality

January 25, 2019 2:15 pmFebruary 25, 2019By Robert GaleIn Musings0 Comments382 Views

Today is release day for me and after 12 days in hospital (11 if excluding the night before) I thought I would reflect on what I was told would happen and what actually happened. As day-to-day care from nursing staff in hospitals can vary widely, I will keep it just to the surgery, how long I was in hospital for and aftercare from doctors, stoma nurses and physio.

A Week With A Stoma

January 24, 2019 5:11 pmNovember 23, 2020By Robert GaleIn Hospital, Weekly Update4 Comments713 Views

I’ve now had the colostomy bag for over a week and I feel like we’re just getting acquainted with the new sensations, the new smells and the challenges it’s going to bring. Here’s what I’ve learned so far.

Infection Cured

January 24, 2019 2:46 pmFebruary 25, 2019By Robert GaleIn Hospital0 Comments354 Views

It’s amazing what some hardcore antibiotics can do! Yesterday afternoon I was given a single dose of Gentamicin, aka the Domestos of antibiotics, and started on a course of Tazocin, aka the Dettol of antibiotics. In addition to these two I was still taking Metronidazole. My specialist clearly wanted to eliminate this infection as soon as possible.

Source of Infection Determined?

January 23, 2019 6:29 pmFebruary 25, 2019By Robert GaleIn Hospital0 Comments363 Views

After waking up with a temperature of 39C and an early morning visit from the surgical registrar not really revealing anything new, I was just hoping that the antibiotics I was taking would fix things. He decided to adjust the approach and set me up with two different hardcore antibiotics — the type used for serious infections such as meningitis and pneumonia — which I would start to take later in the day.

Good News and Bad News

January 23, 2019 10:33 amFebruary 25, 2019By Robert GaleIn Hospital0 Comments331 Views

By now I should be at home recovering but I’m not, I’m still stuck in hospital.

Poop Watch

January 21, 2019 11:46 amFebruary 25, 2019By Robert GaleIn Hospital0 Comments377 Views

I was so hopeful yesterday that things would start to kick into action and the log jam would start to clear but the day progressed and there was very little action. I knew that if things started to move I’d have a good chance of being discharged as soon as I saw a doctor.