We asked Megan @moogpoos how she found her perfect pouch regimen and this is what she had to say…
“Finding your perfect pouching system is very important. Sadly it can take some time, but you will find your stoma specific items and pouching regimen.
My first stoma went fairly smoothly with finding products right away. Minus trying to work around incisions, but that is bound to happen after surgery. I was using what they started me out with in the hospital. I also wore a flat wafer then.
My second stoma had a few complications. There were multiple leaks after surgery, and then the struggle of navigating many incisions. Due to the size of this stoma and retracting, I needed a convex wafer. So once I started utilizing that, things went well. I do prefer this stoma compared to my first.
Several years later I started having some pretty chronic skin issues. It was very upsetting to me and really affected my mental health. A plethora of leaks on top of painful itchy peristomal skin. I was to the point that I was wearing a hernia type of belt to keep my bag on me.
I changed Ostomy bag brands and started using ointment for my skin. This combination is what has been helping me even to this day.
I also have discovered that less is more. Our skin needs to breath and have some breaks. Another thing is sometimes I wear a different brand of bag and wafer depending on how my skin is and what I think will be best during that time.
It is okay to make changes to what you went home from the hospital with. It is also okay to use different items from different companies. You have to find what works best for you.”