This is my honest to God experience with a colostomy or bag or whatever you want to call it. I had an APR January 16, 2012. I was nervous and not exactly thrilled but thought O.K. if it gets rid of the cancer I can live with this.
The first week in the hospital they do most of it and they have you help while they watch. Then you go home and you're on your own. First thing I had trouble with was "pancaking", that's when the poop adheres to the stoma and skin and builds out from there and smells. Ahh, then I remembered the ostomy nurse telling me to spray the inside of my bag with PAM for cooking. It makes the poo fall down into the bottom of the bag and you get less sore. 2nd, don't use baby wipes they cause like a prickly heat irritation. I use t.p. with warm water to wash it off and then lay a clean wash cloth over it for a few minutes. Now that my incision is 95% closed I live it packed and take everything off the stomach and just take a normal shower. No problems with skin breakdown sense. Do get the lubricating odor stuff that adapt makes it does help. I was told to use vanilla extract and in a pinch it does help for a very short time. Of course my problem was I had a little of the adhesive coming up and a little poo sticking out so nothing to help that but a new flange. Luckily with a colostomy it's usually thick enough that a small amount of leak doesn't do much. I had the thing fill up one night with a little looser than usual and was full of shieet from hip to arm pit and it was gross! I think it was the bloody Mary (virgin) with the pickled asparagus, brussel sprouts, beans and okra that blew the sucker off:)
I hated the thing the first 2 to 3 weeks, then something changed and I figured out that if I had diahrea and nausea I didn't have to worry about running to the bathroom and having it come out of both ends. Also now with chemo I don't have the same worry although I usually get constipated. I live an hour to an hour and a half away from town so this is actually a Godsend. It also makes for a little humor. Herman passes gas loudly and when he chooses and I just say "that wasn't me and just like every other man I have no control over him". and they usually laugh.
I don't mind it any more and it's actually become a convenience. I use the disposables, medicare pays for 2 a day, some days I use 1 over 2 days and other I might use 3 in one day but most I use 2, one in the a.m. and 1 in the p.m. No emptying, bag it up and throw it out. Do use the calk it does help it not to leak under the flange. They have these little flange wipes to get off the extra calk when you change it, I use them but they take longer to dry before putting on the new one. Just place your warm rag on during that time and then dab it dry with a towel. They gave me one that was so hard my husband couldn't get it out of the tube and they exchanged it. It's not cheap and you need to be able to get it out.
So I hope this helps some of you that are going through this to feel better. It is liveable the longer you have it the easier it is to accept.