Learn how you can not only swim with your ostomy, but you can participate in other water sports!

It was an unseasonably cold Fall here in Alaska, so when my sister Jeanine suggested a trip to the Florida Keys, Tyler and I were on board with the idea in an instant! I go swimming with my ostomy in New Hampshire when I go back home to see family, but it had been almost 3 or 4 years since I had been on a tropical vacation where most of my time would be spent in the water. So in planning for the trip, I had to take a little extra time to think about what I would need to pack to make sure that I didn’t have any ostomy issues while in the Keys.

Here’s a look at some of the items I packed with a little bit of information on why I used them on this type of trip (and if you just want to learn about my FL Keys trip, you can skip down to the bottom):

Bathing Suit

I’m not somebody who cares whether or whether not my ostomy shows when I’m wearing a bathing suit. I tend to purchase a bathing suit more for comfort and the style I like. On this trip, I just packed two regular bikinis. If I know I’m going to participate in a sport where there will be waves pulling on my ostomy (like surfing or boogie boarding), I’ll wear the support bottom I have from Comfizz because it helps prevent my ostomy from getting ripped off in the surf. But since I was mostly going to be swimming and paddling in gentle conditions, I went for regular swim bottoms on this trip.

Here are a few other options for ostomy-specific swimwear:

Comfizz: https://comfizz.com/collections/medium-support/Swimwear

Vanilla Blush Women’s: https://www.vblush.com/product-category/swimwear

Vanilla Blush Men’s: https://www.vblush.com/product-category/mens-swimwear

Ostomy Secrets Women’s: https://www.ostomysecrets.com/collections/womens-swim

Ostomy Secrets Men’s: https://www.ostomysecrets.com/collections/mens-swim

A side note on ostomy support belts…I have tried various belts in the past, but as a female, the belts tend to ride up and pull on my ostomy more. This is why I’ve found the most success with my support swimwear. I have heard of better success from men who use ostomy belts, particularly the Stealth Belt.

Stealth Belt Neoprene: https://www.stealthbelt.com/neoprene-extreme-belt

2. Sure Seals:

I didn’t end up using any Sure Seals on this trip, but packed them “just in case.” Typically I will wear these if I’m really worried about my appliance wear time in the water, if I’m swimming in a public pool, or going in a public hot tub. Basically I typically wear them for extra security. I didn’t have too much trouble with wear time on this trip though, so they stayed packed away in my suitcase. I wrote a similar blog in 2019 where I went into more details on the Sure Seals, so check it out if you’re interested in learning more!

3. Barrier Extenders:

It might be hard to see, but after a day of swimming and going out on the boat, my wafer started to lift, so I threw on a barrier extender for a little extra wear time, so that I could spend more time fishing and less time worrying about my ostomy.

I packed a few barrier extenders that my ostomy nurse had given me a few years ago. If I notice that my wafer is starting to lift on the edges, I will occasionally throw one of them on to increase my wear time. After a day of snorkeling, I noticed that my wafer was lifting a bit, so I put one on until my next bag change day. I have used barrier extenders from both Coloplast and Hollister and I find them to be pretty similar. Like I said, I happened to have the Hollister ones, so that’s what I took on this trip.

4. Sunscreen/Sun Shirt:

I made sure to pack plenty of sunscreen and brought along a couple of sun shirts since I’m a pasty white Alaskan now. When I’m going to be out in the sun for days on end, it’s important to have both items for a couple of reasons. The first is that I have a large fairly new scar from my most recent stoma revision and the sun can not only cause discoloration to a scar, but it can also thicken the scar tissue. I’ve been working a lot on scar tissue management, so I did not want to mess with that. The second reason I try to be more cautious is that I’m also on a biologic medication for my Crohn’s. I’ve been told the biologic can increase my risk factors for Melanoma, and I also have a family history of Melanoma, so I do what I can to protect myself. When it comes to sun shirts, a lot of shirts tend to be tighter fitting, which can be fine. But when my ostomy is on the fuller side, it is very obvious under that type of shirt. An example is this NRS shirt I have that I wear quite frequently: https://www.nrs.com/nrs-womens-h2core-silkweight-hoodie/pn95. I did recently find this Marmot shirt that is a little looser fitting and hides my ostomy well if I’m in the mood to be more discrete: https://www.marmot.com/sale/women/tops/womens-lorey-hoody/AFS_889169519321.html

6. Dry Bag For Supplies:

While we were out on 4-6 hour snorkeling and paddle boarding adventures, I made sure to bring along extra ostomy supplies and waste disposal supplies in a dry bag in case I needed to change or empty my ostomy. Fortunately, I didn’t have to do either, but I was prepared nonetheless.

I used a small 10L dry bag that fit the case I typically use for my spare supplies. And then I also brought along my typical disposal system of small bags with kitty litter as I shared in a past post on disposal systems.

8. Water/Hydration Tabs:

Trying NOT to pose for a photo. And keeping my water nearby to avoid getting dehydrated while out on the boat.

Finally, we all know that staying hydrated with an ostomy is VERY important. I carried a 1L Nalgene with a carabiner wherever we went. The carabiner was key to tie down my water bottle so that it wouldn’t go rolling off the boat or paddle board. But at the same time, I still had easy access to my water. On this trip, I brought along some Nuun hydration tabs because they were available at my local grocery store before I left on vacation.

Hopefully you found these tips helpful! I think the most important thing is to trial a variety of systems to see what works for you to help you get back to swimming or participating in any water sports with your ostomy.

And now, here’s a little bit more about our trip to the Florida Keys!

On our first day, we headed into Key West to walk around and see the sites. We went on a tour of the Hemingway House which was very interesting with 53 polydactyl cats on the property! We also stopped by the Southernmost Point of the Continental US, watched a boat parade (this was a new one for me, since I had never head or offshore boat racing before…), and saw plenty of chickens and roosters.

One of my favorite days of the trip was the day we went to Bahia Honda State Park. We spent most of the time snorkeling and looking for lobsters. JP caught one for dinner! And Jeanine, Tyler, and I put in a joint effort to catch one, but it was too small, so we couldn’t keep it. We also saw plenty of Key deer.

On a day that ocean was a little choppier on the open Atlantic side, JP took us out on the boat to go fishing and to check out the sand bars at Marvin Key. There was a King tide, so the sandbars were covered, but we were still able to walk around and explore.

Jeanine, Tyler, and I did a bunch of paddle boarding near the house. And once we were comfortable and the wind was cooperating, we went on some longer paddle board adventures out around Lower Sugarloaf Island. The first day, we headed out to the open Atlantic side. I definitely struggled to keep up that day, but it was a good experience, and JP picked us up to head back to the house. The second day we did a full loop from the house and had much nicer conditions on the gulf side of the islands. We had fun exploring the mangrove islands and testing our skills back at the house.

We didn’t take any pictures on our snorkeling trip, but we did go on a 4-hour snorkeling trip out to Looe Key which was incredible (other than some sea sickness in the group). The rest of the time, we spent exploring closer to the house, biking on the trails on the island, fishing, looking for lobsters, and hanging out on the sea wall watching the sunsets!