Today I had my second scheduled appointment at the stoma clinic – the first one was a fortnight ago today and all being well, I should not have been back again until today, but because of the leaking problems I had last week, I had to have two extra emergency appointments to get sorted out.
On Thursday when I saw the HCA, she said they only had one type of convex bag in stock so I’d have to go with that (the Oakmed Hydrocolloidal Soft Convex bag # SC45 4120KV) which I wasn’t too keen on, and over the ensuing days, I did not change my opinion of this bag.
The opening proved a real pain, and I never managed to empty the bag and clean the opening without getting output on my hands, and I really didn’t like the closure. I was hoping that today she would have some different ones in stock for me to try.
They don’t have much choice in convex bags at the clinic. She produced the only other one they have: the Salts Confidence Natural Convex bag #XNDL 1338.
This bag has a shallower convexity than the Oakmed one, and it is slightly softer. As you can see from the photo, the flange is divided into sections so that it fits any skin contours better. It has a viewing window over the stoma but it is not quite so easy to see more of the inside of the bag as it was with the Oakmed one. I much prefer the closure on the Salts bag, though; being more like my original Coloplast bags, with the Velcro wings, and the Salts bag has a nice large Velcro patch to hold the closure when you want to tuck it up inside the lining, giving a nice smooth profile at the bottom so that it doesn’t dig into your leg – I hated this about the Oakmed one! The flange is impregnated with aloe vera for skin health, and the bag has a nice anatomical shape too. Finally, the closure has a stiff plastic strip on either side so that you can press the sides together to open the bag, like the Coloplast bag – this is going to be nice and easy to empty and clean.
As long as there are no leaks, this seems quite a nice bag and I should be happy enough with it, but being a convex bag, the flange is somewhat rigid. It has belt loops like the Oakmed bag and although the HCA suggested I use the belt, I don’t think I will as I didn’t find it that comfortable and felt much too trussed up.
I was a bit disappointed not to see a stoma care CNS for the second time running – in my experience they have been a bit more willing to listen to my opinions and wishes. Again, the HCA was quite dismissive of the Trio products and said they’d seen them at a product show last year and she “hadn’t been impressed.” She did not like the idea of them being non-absorbent – she said that with the absorbent hycrocholoidal adhesives, any effluent was absorbed into the product, away from the skin, but on the Trio website they emphasise the fact that if the effluent is absorbed by the product it is in contact with the skin for longer. Not sure what I think about this now! Anyway, I told her how very impressed I’d been with the Trio samples I had had, and how easy it was to fit the ring, which shrinks automatically to a perfect fit around the stoma. I said I liked the idea of using a ring because it made the fitting of the bag less critical, but she dismissed this saying that once my supplies were set up, the bags would be pre-cut anyway. In the meantime, she has cut the bags for me, to last until my next appointment on Friday week (8th May) and what I do if Kermit shrinks any further during that time, I am not sure.
When she changed the bag, I had to ask her again to use more adhesive remover spray because she really hurt me last time by using insufficient spray and pulling the bag off too quickly. It wasn’t quite so bad this time but I still winced a bit!!
She cleaned the area with water and wipes, and then simply dried it and put the new bag straight on. I asked if she wasn’t going to use a barrier wipe and she said no; if you use these every time, they build up and stop the bags adhering properly! This is certainly not what I have been told before (or read online), and she also did not use any adhesive remover wipes to remove any residual adhesive still on my skin. She said “less is more” and said that my skin was beautiful and shouldn’t be interfered with – to me, the irritation is a lot better than it was, but it is still there – it is still a bit red and there are a few little red spots. She said she likes to keep the whole process as simple as possible and use the minimum amount of different products, but I don’t mind how much stuff I use if the result is going to be better! The specialist nurses seemed to take a different approach.
This makes my appointments somewhat confusing. I know I am still very much a beginner and should bow to their expert advice, but when it is conflicting, and when it conflicts with the advice of seasoned ostomates (who after all are living with a stoma every day, unlike any of the professionals, and know what works from experience), it is often quite hard to know what to do. I do know that I should be free to try different things and discover for myself what works best for me.
I have my own views and opinions, albeit based on fairly limited experience so far, but I do know what I like, and what I feel confident about, and over my past two appointments I didn’t really feel that these views and opinions were sufficiently acknowledged, but were simply dismissed.
My preferred option is still to have a mouldable ring (if necessary, a convex one) topped with my original flat-flanged Coloplast bag (the updated one: new Sensura Mio One-Piece Drainable). A ring will allow a better seal and make the fitting of the bag less critical, whether or not it is pre-cut. I would feel more confident with that extra layer of security; I have had enough problems with leaks and skin irritation and do NOT want to go down that route again!!!
When the sample convex ring I have ordered from Trio arrives, I shall try this combination and see how it goes.
I am now getting to the stage when I can’t wait for my body to settle down to its permanent state post-surgery, and to be able to exercise more of my own personal choice as to what products I use, and get a home delivery system set up which suits my needs and desires.
When we got back, there was a message from CliniMed, whom I had contacted yesterday for samples, and we had a long chat about different products, and she is sending me a pack of things to try. I also contacted Salts for some of their samples (including a sample of the bag the HCA gave me today), and I have ordered a sample of the Trio convex flange. All of these samples should arrive in the next few days, and I shall be very interested to try them in different combinations. More news on this later.
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