If you just got out of surgery or are pretty new to the whole world of having a stoma then this may be a good article for you. I struggled to find the right things that would allow me to live the life that I wanted. This is not because I am unique or have a strangely shaped stoma, although some people do. I think it is because I didn't want to change my life at all. I enjoy being an active person and love being outside and enjoying the great outdoors. I think this is why I struggled with finding gear that simply worked for me. Now, I am by no means the most athletic person and don't pretend to be an expert but I know that we are all different that what works for one person with a stoma does not work for another necessarily. So that whole issue got me into trouble and I want you to be able to avoid my mistakes and to find the perfect ostomy gear for you. So here is how I go about learning about gear and where to find it. There are many places to look and most have problems, but they all have benefits as well.
Now in real life, I still admit that there usually is nothing better than in person information from a professional. That means that the best advice that I can give is to find knowledgeable people who have used the gear or create the gear to be the best option. That means that my first suggestion is to go find professionals in the field and most people only have to look to their phone or right down the road to the pharmacy. For me, it was going to my local pharmacy to talk to the head pharmacist that put me on the right path for learning.
This gentleman worked for 30 years in the industry and had purchased tons of brands and talked with thousands of people who had a stoma. He stocked the gear that worked for them and he had had hundreds of conversations about it. This means that this doctor had a lot of experience in why he liked certain companies and what they did for his customers. He spends probably 20 minutes talking me through all his gear and gave suggestions for me and also other places to look and shop. His goal was to have the best basics for most situations, but he knew that for specialty gear that others could get it at better prices from online locations and he led people to those locations. He also told me to talk to the big companies because they had customer service agents who were knowledgeable in their products and how they worked for different people.
So I took his advice and called those companies up and asked all the questions I had. In the end, they gave me way more questions and knowledge than I had even thought of. This was amazing and they sent me some free samples to see what may work best for me. The experience was positive and all these people and companies earned some loyalty.
But I also cross analyzed this information with social media and online forums from people with stomas. It was a great way to learn what worked best for me and I hope it does for you.
