I thought I'd do a post on stoma nurses because if you're about to go through surgery, or even have the slight possibility of having it, you might be wondering what support there will be for you. Well, look no further! Your stoma nurses will become your best friend around the time you have your surgery; before, during (sort of) and after.
So, what is a stoma nurse? I hear you ask. Well, they are specialist nurses who know all about stomas. If you know you're going to have surgery, it is likely that your local stoma nurse will come and see you before to talk to you. When I met with my stoma nurses, they spent a good hour with me and we did lots of things including:
Explaining the surgery to me at the time when the stoma nurses first came to see me, I hadn't actually met the surgeon yet because surgery wasn't 100% happening at the time. My consultant had wanted me to start thinking about it though and that's why they sent to stoma nurses. To be honest, I'm pretty sure surgery was defiantly on the cards at that point but no one wanted to scare me until they knew they had space in surgery that week...I don't know but I just have a feeling!
Gave me lots of booklets I was given lots of booklets ranging from explaining the surgery, to living with an ileostomy and a nutritional booklet explaining different foods and things like that. It's actually been really useful having these booklets because I was able to keep reassuring myself of things before I went for surgery and I was able to show my parents (who also met with the stoma nurses) and it also answered some of the questions I had
Deciding where my stoma would be placed I was lucky that I had two days before my surgery because it meant I could be involved in deciding where they would put my stoma. We figured out the best place for it to go so I could still wear my beloved skinny jeans and that the waistband of my leggings and stuff wouldn't be right on the stoma. There was the chance that during surgery they wouldn't be able to place it there but I was lucky and it got placed exactly where we decided!
Look at different bags the first time the stoma nurses came, I didn't have a go at changing a bag myself but they showed me how you change a bag and also the different sized bags which I may or may not use. The nurses actually came to see me again the day after and brought a torso model thing which meant I could have a practice of changing a bag. This actually really helped and I think it made me more confident after the surgery when it came to changing my bag myself.
Ask questions I was able to ask questions about everything and anything however a lot of these I saved for when they came the next day. It's really important that if you have any questions to just ask them, no matter how silly you think they are because at the end of the day if something's worrying you, you need to be reassured and that is part of what your stoma nurse is there for! You can read some of the questions I asked in this blog post.
I had my surgery on a Friday which meant I didn't actually get to see my stoma nurses again till the following Monday after the op. Don't worry if that happens to you too because the nurses on the ward you'll be on know all about stomas and bags...you won't be left to fend for yourself! But once Monday did come, the friendly faces of my stoma nurse came and I had my first go at changing my bag which was actually quite scary, especially because it was the first time that I myself had a proper look at the stoma and was able to touch it...it was a bizarre moment. I was also able to ask more questions (you might've guessed by now that I'm quite inquisitive!). Mine were mainly about food because I was (and still am to an extent) scared of eating...I had visions of the food getting stuck inside me and then bursting through the stoma and I thought that every food was going to hurt me. I was completely wrong but it was a genuine fear and the nurses helped me understand more how it all worked.
Whilst I was in hospital, a stoma nurse came every day to see me. I had a very bad day on the Thursday I was in; I was sick and I got really down and upset about the stoma and not being at uni and I was just sad. It just so happened that my stoma nurse, Gill, came to see me quite early and she was absolutely brilliant and offered so much emotional support. That's the thing about your stoma nurses, they aren't just there for the practical and medical support, they offer emotional support too. Now that I'm at home, I have a weekly home visit where they look at my stoma to check it's alright and just have a general chat about everything. There's also a phone line I can ring which goes direct to the stoma nurses which I can ring if I have any questions, problems or worries.
The stoma nurses who come and see me are actually provided by SecuriCare (I don't know if this is the same for all hospitals) so there's also their phoneline I can use. The stoma nurses also get into place all your prescriptions for your stoma care (for your bags, LBF wipes, cotton wipes, adhesive sprays...everything) and sort out the delivery. It makes everything so much easier!
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