Questions from a new Indiana Poucher

I don't know ..when i had to have my second open surgery 9 days after my cystectomy(which was done laproscopcally) due to my ileum being trapped under my ureter they made a cut from around my navel stoma at the top of it and then right down the middle. They didn't seem to damage anything. Maybe in the lesser hands of a less competent surgeon it could have been catastrophic??? Marry one of them......good idea......I'll check it out when i'm in Cleveland Monday....maybe i'll get lucky!!!
Pat

Pat,

I guess to get the real scoop, you gotta be "in" with the medical profession or married to one of em....

HUH? you don't think your bowel isn't 2 inches over from your navel? They make stuff up!!
Pat

Tammy,

I'm puzzled about how your doctor managed your care. My stoma has a slit look about it but it also looks like a small rosebud....size of a dime and is flat to the surface of the skin. I think if I had only a slit like you talk about, then it would close up quickly...as I heal quickly.

Also, my doctor had me sit down the night prior to surgery so he could mark where the stoma would be as he did not want it to bunch up or fold over when I went to sit down. Mine is not on my navel as my doctor doesn't think that is good in case there is a problem with the bowels and they have to go back in again, so mine is 2-3 inches over from the navel and down 2-3 inches from there. I can't wear a bikini like Pat but that's OK...at this point in my life, just wearing a swimsuit is risky.

As for the two of us warriors pulling down our pants...Pat, I was only showing my stoma dressing and he showed his bag...nothing exciting to anyone but a BC warrior.

Utube - if I knew how to do one, I would make an apperance as I think it would be very useful to those still to be dx'd. I have been thinking for a long time that I wanted to add some cathing process pixs to my website but haven't found the time or photographer. My daughter is home this weekend so maybe she can help with get that done ... will let you know if that happens. At 23, she's quite busy with her own life.

It is not in a crease but on the downward side of the roll. It is 1 1/2 inches below where the stoma nurses tatooed for an ileal conduit. Orginally the plan was to put it in the navel. I asked why it wasn't and doc said it just did not work out, not a clear answer. He cut my right uterer 5 times trying to get a clear margin but never did so I thought maybe that is why he had to put it there. He said they used to take the uterer and the kidney but now they feel it is better to leave it than take the kidney and 70% of the time it does not go into the kidney and will not go into the new bladder since it is bowel.
Tammy

Why oh Why would they put the stoma at a crease in the stomach where there is a belly roll???????? DOH.....The stoma nurses at Cleveland have you stand and mark the spot.....would make a lot more sense to have you sitting down so they could see what the abdomen does in a sitting position. Honestly the stoma nurse marked my lower abdomen and i just erased it a put a bullseye around my navel so Dr. Gill would remember we had discussed a navel stoma.
My stoma is just like Melodies....its the size of my belly button (or what my belly button was) and the slit is just below it and very small.
Pat