“Can I watch you change your ostomy?” asked a friend one evening a few weeks ago. This was a new question for me. I paused for an awkward minute, and responded, “Sure, but you have to be okay with poop and blood.” I don’t remember his response, but he must have been okay with it because I proceeded to show him how I change my ostomy appliance.
My friend and I were on night two of a three day backpacking trip in Hatcher Pass. The weekend had been brutally hot by Alaska standards and my ostomy bag was leaking for the second time in two days (I typically make it 4 days between bag changes, but my sweat got the better of me that weekend). I was frustrated, but happy that it leaked before bedtime instead of while I was asleep in my sleeping bag. I have woken up with a messy sleeping bag before, and did not want a repeat experience.
Anyway, I gathered my supplies and we meandered over to a quiet place away from the crowd that was staying at/around the Holden Hut that night. I talked my friend through my bag change, which took less than five minutes. He asked a few questions, including whether or not I was ever worried about infection around my stoma, and that was that. We finished out a grueling weekend of steep and hot hiking with a third bag change for me on night three of the trip.
Reflecting on the trip, I appreciate my friend’s unique question. I’ve shown plenty of people my ostomy bag, but the opportunity has never arisen to show anyone other than family my stoma and the process I go through for my weekly bag changes. I remember being seventeen with my first ostomy. My mom would help me with my bag changes that took at least 30 minutes if not an hour to complete. I was scared to touch my stoma. Poop exploded out of my stoma mid change and I had to start over. My mom would meticulously set up all of my supplies for me while I lay in my bed or on the couch changing my bag. I was worried about messing up the process. In fact, the whole process was so laborious, time consuming, and frustrating, that it’s no wonder I simplified my technique. I felt like all I ever did was take care of my ostomy.
It’s interesting to reflect on my bag change process twelve years later, and how normal it is for me to complete a bag change. I live a busy life, and I enjoy the efficiency of the processes, and systems that I have created for my outdoor adventures. I can’t be bothered to spend too much time taking care of my ostomy while I’m supposed to be soaking up nature and the world around me. So in response to my friend’s question, no, I don’t worry about infections. My stoma bleeds during every bag change, but that’s the way it’s been for as long as I can remember. When I finish a trip and get back to civilization, I take a little more time with my bag changes and make sure that my skin is healthy. I couldn’t even say what the textbook way to care for a stoma or change an ostomy appliance is at this point. My system works for me, and it’s the best I’ve come up with using the tools I have with me while in the backcountry.
Since my one friend asked to watch me change my bag, another friend recently asked for more details on how my ostomy works, and it seems to be the hip thing to do to create a bag change video, I decided to create my own video on how I change my ostomy appliance in the backcountry. Enjoy!
