In this video, Shield HealthCare’s Ostomy Lifestyle Specialist, Laura Cox, answers the question: what is an ostomy? Laura goes over ostomy basics: what an stoma is and why someone would have ostomy surgery. She also covers how anatomy works before and after surgery (surgery for urostomies, ileostomies and colostomies), the difference between an external ostomy pouch and an internal J-pouch, and whether or not ostomies are permanent. Additionally, Laura discusses her own reasons for having ostomy surgery and what her recovery was like. In this video, we show Laura doing one of her favorite activities, hiking, because we want to show people that life doesn’t stop after ostomy surgery – it gets better! Laura is hiking Franklin Canyon in Los Angeles, California in this video, but she’s also backpacked through the Canadian Rockies!
Check out these links for more videos and articles about living with an ostomy bag:
- I Don’t Want an Ostomy Bag – Top Concerns for Those Facing Ostomy Surgery
- Body Image With an Ostomy Video
- Before Ostomy Surgery
- What is an Ostomy? | Ostomy 101
- How to Tell Someone You Have an Ostomy Video
You can also find all Laura’s videos on Shield HealthCare’s Vimeo channel.
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