Yesterday I went down to Albuquerque for my first visit with an ostomy nurse. Tasya went with me and, as usual, when I was struck mute by the overload of information, she jumped in and asked the questions that needed asking. Thankfully, she’s had some experience with colostomies, with both her mother-in-law and her aunt having them! So she knew to ask all kinds of details I had no inkling about.
Besides getting some education about living with a colostomy, the main reason for this appointment was for Carla, the ostomy nurse, to mark the spot for the surgeon to place the stoma. In order to find the optimal place on my body, she had me stand, sit in a chair as I would normally, slouch in a chair (as I would when relaxing), bend over like I was picking something up off the floor, and generally move around as I normally do. She observed carefully as I did each of these things several times, then she placed a mark on my belly and had me do everything all over again. Carla watched the mark closely as I repeated each of the movements, then announced, “I like it.”
"X" marks the spot
I laughed and said I was glad she liked it! Any chance I was ever going to like it? Throughout the appointment, she was really very kind and told me over and over that I was going to do just fine.
She also spent some time showing me several different “bag systems” so I could get an idea of the many options out there to choose from. Carla said they’d work with me over time to find the system that seemed right for me. Of the bags she showed me, I naturally gravitated to the “Cadillac” of the group! (If you know me at all, you’re now thinking to yourself: of course she has to have the most elegant version, even in ostomy bags!)
I also learned a little something about stoma caps. Carla seemed to think I would be a good candidate for eventually trying a method of irrigating daily (essentially an enema given through the stoma) and then wearing a “cap” instead of a bag. I really liked this idea – but we also discussed that I would have to see how things went with a bag for a while and work toward the cap option over time. With a colostomy, you really have no control over when elimination is going to occur, hence the need to wear a bag all the time. But, apparently by irrigating daily, it’s possible to train the body to eliminate at the same time each day and then not need to wear a bag constantly. Hey, you learn something new everyday!
Tasya and I left there with an armful of literature, samples, catalogs and even a DVD for me to watch (honest to God, it’s called Ostomy Educational Theatre. Betcha won’t find that at Netflix!). We quickly dumped everything in the backseat of the car and high-tailed it to Starbucks.
On Friday I have my pre-op appointment at Presbyterian Hospital, where they’ll do lab work, take X-rays and do an EKG – all to make sure I’m healthy enough to have surgery. It will be my first chance to see how I like the hospital I’m going to spend about a week in soon.
A Different Wholeness 