If anybody ever reads the blogs on J-Pouch Life you’d be familiar with Brevin, a good-natured guy who currently lives with an ileostomy. He posted a comic that he had done this week that captures one of the more interesting aspects of living with an ileostomy.
My output used to squirt out five feet or more in the shower.
Keep fighting,
~Dennis
It’s been six months now since my takedown surgery, and everything is working as it should. Again, I have no complaints about the surgery.
Keep fighting,
~Dennis
Question: How was your J-pouch working after six months? Respond to this post and share your experience!
Because Spanish-speaking ostomates have to sleep too.
Keep fighting,
~Dennis
I just finished a humor book by Brenda Elsagher titled I’d Like to Buy a Bowel Please! Ostomy A to Z. This book contains some of the best ostomy stories I’ve heard yet.
Brenda Elsagher–comedian, national speaker, and ostomate–set out to find the humor in living with an ostomy. She’s included stories from herself and dozens of other ostomates about some of the funny situations they’ve found themselves in over the years with their ostomies.
For those who face the prospect of ostomy surgery and are worried sick about what life will be like, I strongly suggest you check out this book. Life isn’t all doom and gloom when you have an ostomy.
Rating: 4.5/5
Keep fighting,
~Dennis
Here’s the second half of the story–the most important part: why this blood clot happened to me and what it means for the future.
I feel pretty good about the whole situation. It’s just one of those things.
Keep fighting,
~Dennis
This video describes the complication that arose three months after my takedown surgery: three small blood clots in my lungs. This first video covers what happened to me; the second video will cover the causes and treatment of the blood clots.
Keep fighting,
~Dennis
For whatever reason this video about emptying an ostomy pouch is one of my most popular videos ever. Now it’s available with Spanish subtitles.
Keep fighting,
~Dennis
This site’s been around for awhile, but maybe you haven’t heard of it: C3Life. The C’s stand for your “Ostomy Community Connection Center.” This community outreach service, sponsored by Hollister, is one of the most comprehensive ostomy support sites I’ve found yet.
The website features a plethora of useful and well-written articles about healthy living, travel, sports, work, and relationships. The site also features success stories from others, information on finding the right ostomy product, and news relevant to the ostomy community.
This is one site you will want to bookmark and come back to again and again. For new ostomates it will let you know that you are not alone in this way of life, and there are plenty of resources to support you.
Keep fighting,
~Dennis
Visit this site ASAP.
I’ve mentioned this ostomy fashion show before, and the group has a new video up, this one about model Rosemary Griffiths. Her tenure with an ostomy has been relatively short, though she suffered with IBD for years.
The point I want to make with this video is a point that I’ve made often already, both privately and publicly: avoiding surgery simply for fear of living with an ostomy is no way to live. As Rosemary states in this video, she avoided surgery for nine years, and now that she has the ostomy, she wishes she would’ve had surgery much sooner.
It’s worth noting that many people tell me the exact same thing after they finally get surgery.
Keep fighting,
~Dennis
Remember this disgusting video I did about the different colors of ostomy output? A viewer boasted to me recently that he’s had blue stool before. Apparently he was on a liquid diet for a couple days and only ate blue Jell-O and drank blue Gatorade. Next time I’m on a liquid diet I will have to try this diet and see if I get the same result.
And as a side quest for anybody else needing to be on a liquid diet for any reason, see if you can develop other colors, like pink, lavender, or pastel green.
Keep fighting,
~Dennis
You are currently browsing the The United Colon Vlog blog archives for June, 2009.
