The United Colon Vlog

I recently met a man on YouTube who has uploaded 10 videos about how to care for a prolapsed stoma. If you don’t know what a prolapsed stoma is, you’re in for a treat. Sometimes, in his case, when surgery is done very quickly and in emergency situations, the stoma doesn’t get secured as well. Over time, the stoma can unfold on itself, or “telescope” out. Think of taking a sock off your foot so that it’s inside out. John had a loop ileostomy that does just that, and from both sides. So the producing end telescopes out a few inches, and the nonproducing end telescopes out nearly eight inches.

In this video series John shows how he changes his ostomy appliance. He does it a little differently than I did. First, he lies down when he changes it, and second, he stays lying down for nearly two hours to ensure a good seal. I’m not sure if this is necessary but that’s the routine he goes through.

You can find his videos here.

I’m not embedding the videos directly because I’m not sure how long they will remain unflagged. If you are in for something gross, check out videos 6 & 7. In video 6 John takes off his appliance and shows the world his prolapsed stoma. And in video 7, John pushes his prolapsed intestine back inside his abdomen. It’s truly disgusting and I like I said these two videos will surely be flagged (meaning you need a YouTube account that says you are over 18 to watch them). I was even disturbed watching this process. But it’s also very enlightening about the kinds of stoma complications there are in this world.

John tells me the prolapsed stoma isn’t a serious medical problem, and since he’s having his takedown surgery in roughly five months, the surgeon is just leaving it for now.

Keep fighting,
~Dennis