Tag: active

My ostomy is going swimmingly

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Today I ventured to the town waterpark for a few hours. I shot down the slides, leaped off the diving board and played like a fish for several hours. Okay– going to the town pool may not qualify as an outdoor “adventure.” And plunging into the pool is a far cry from the dunks I have been known to take in frigid alpine lakes. Still, I had so much fun being in the water again. Hanging around in my swimsuit and feeling the sun on my skin was absolute bliss. I thought my gums might get sunburned I smiled and laughed so much.

Over the course of the afternoon, I checked on my appliance a few times. I fully expected to see the edges of my wafer peel up, but it held in place as if affixed with super glue. I am certain no one could tell I had an ostomy. My appliance could not be seen at all under my swimsuit– especially with the help of my Ostomy Secrets swim wrap. I am actually a little more self-conscious about those ribs that are showing. I lost a lot of weight and muscle when I was sick and it is only slowly coming back on.

I hope you’ll take my experience to heart if you’ve been hesitating about taking a swim yourself. Just get out there and give it a shot. You’ll be glad you did.

Starting to forget my ostomy is there

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After doing many backcountry adventures this season, Doug and I decided a fun weekend of car camping was in order. It was time to have a more luxurious trip complete with a larger tent, a cooler stocked with cold beer and soda, a guitar to make music, and pancakes and eggs for gourmet breakfasts.

Gluten-free pancakes!
No camping trip is complete without a little music

Some good friends from our original home state of Wisconsin were vacationing near Gunnison, CO, so we chose to camp along the nearby Taylor River so we could do some activities together. One of these was a three-hour zip-line adventure that I will write about in a future post. We also enjoyed fly fishing and mountain biking.

Suited up to begin my zip line adventure in Crested Butte, CO
Mountain biking on the Lower Loop Trail in Crested Butte, CO

Despite sweating in my waders for hours, bouncing down the trail on my bike, or wearing a harness when zip-lining, my appliance stayed on just fine. Making s’mores also had its benefits due to the output-thickening-power of marshmallows. I found that it was a wonderful excuse to eat many of these gooey, delectable treats.

Honestly, I hardly thought about my ostomy the entire time. In fact, on one afternoon fly fishing excursion, I forgot to bring along my toilet paper and other supplies in case I needed to go into the woods to empty my pouch. Fortunately, I was able to wait until I got back to camp that evening with no problems. Not the smartest situation, but it did prove to me that I am sometimes starting to forget my ostomy is there!

On the last day of the trip I had to change my appliance. The campsites were fairly close together, and we had a campground host that loved to stop by at random times. Therefore, I decided to head into our small pyramid-style gear tent for the change. It was the perfect spot to spread out my supplies and work, and before long I emerged with a new pouch on my belly, ready for the day’s adventures.

Changing my appliance in the gear tent

So, if you are not ready for a backpacking excursion, at least head out on a car camping trip. It is loads of fun. And as an added bonus, you will have a weekend free of splashback while emptying your ostomy appliance in the wonderfully deep campground pit toilets:)

Just get out there and do it!

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I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend. In between working full time, I have been planning, packing up for and carrying out successful hikes of a few of Colorado’s famed 14ers. This hasn’t left much computer time for blogging. Stay tuned for an entry and video highlighting these ascents soon!

Until then, suffice it to say that so far my ostomy has caused me no issues in returning to the things I love again. I spent a lot of time in the hospital and at home during recovery wondering how in the world I was going to get back into outdoor activities with a stoma and appliance. I have finally discovered the simple answer to this question: just get out there and do it!  Of course, you must keep in mind what is sensible in your healing progression, but beyond that, the answers of how to how to deal with your ostomy while you are out there will present themselves as you go. The will to succeed and enjoy your favorite activities again will go a long way in helping you overcome any challenges you might have.

Scaling the upper flank of Mt. Harvard, a Colorado 14er, on July 3, 2011.

Back to Biking and Running (feat. new video)

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Today was Bike to Work Day in Denver. I work up in the foothills, and my daily commute is 26 miles round-trip with roughly 2000 feet of elevation gain. Though I did successfully complete this lengthy excursion for this event last summer, I figured it would be a bit too much after surgery when I am not yet at full strength. Instead, I drove to the park-and-ride 5 miles from work, and made a shorter trip on my bike from that starting point. It ended up being perfect. The route had just enough uphill to work my muscles and get my heart rate up without making me too exhausted. As seems to be the case with all outdoor sports I have been trying so far, I had absolutely no issues with my appliance or ostomy. I wore my usual combo of a Nu Hope Cool-Comfort hernia prevention belt under Comfizz briefs to hold it in place. Over this, I wore the same chamois-padded mountain biking shorts I always wore before surgery. This may sound like a lot of layers, but I find it very comfortable, and I love the way my core muscles feel supported.

Actually, the funniest moment of the trip happened before I left the house. I sometimes get phantom urges where it feels like I have to take a BM even though it is physically impossible with my colon gone and everything sewn up. I got these sensations a lot in the first month after surgery; now I only feel them occasionally. Well, this morning as I was making breakfast and packing up when I witnessed one. Forgetting completely about my ostomy, I thought, “I better really try to go the bathroom before I leave, or I will be miserable holding it on the ride with no toilet possibilities on the way.” Then I remembered that this most definitely wouldn’t be an issue and laughed out loud! These are the moments when I really love having my ileostomy instead of ulcerative colitis!

Biking was not my only sport-related accomplishment this week. I also went for my first jog. I hadn’t really planned my grand entrance back into running. I figured my body would tell me when it was time. Well, last Monday, I gazed out the window and got this overwhelming urge to run. And so I did.

As my feet began to rhythmically hit the ground, I paid close attention to my abdomen. One of my silly fears with running was that my insides were going to shake like a maraca with all the space left where my colon once was. But, no, there were no strange sensations in my abdominal cavity. In fact, everything with running felt really natural, as if I had only been away from it for a few weeks and not almost a year. I went at a slow jog and interspersed it with walking as needed. I ended up going three more times during the past week, the last of which is filmed in the following video.

The Nature Nook

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Today I went in for a visit with my stoma nurse for a very minor skin irritation issue. Her office is right next to the hospital where I had my surgery and also next door to my surgeon’s office. As I was pulling into the parking lot, I realized I had not been back to this area of medical establishments since mid-March. Quite a record after driving there every couple of weeks for four months while I was preparing for and healing up from my ileostomy surgery. As I drove by, the tiny park next to the hospital caught my eye.

I had some complications after surgery due to my body being difficult and stubborn in its healing, which required some additional hospital stays. At first, I had no idea this little nature-nook-of-a-park even existed. One day, knowing of my love of the outdoors and my somewhat anxious state during one such hospital visit, my surgeon phoned my room and told me that the weather was gorgeous and that I should head outside to visit this place.

Though it was nice outside, it was a bit chilly and I had left my jacket in the trunk of the car before checking in to the hospital a few days prior. I also had a large drain hanging from my butt cheek. Not the most ideal situation, but I had been given permission to go outdoors!!! Nothing could have stopped me. As I headed through the gate of the park, and situated my sore butt carefully on the bench, peace came over me. It was winter, so there were no leaves on the plants, and I only saw one bird up in the branches. Still, this tiny bit of nature provided just the soothing effect I needed. For the first time since checking in, I found my mind wandering away from the hospital to thoughts of future adventures. I wrote in my journal for a while, soaking in the sunshine and fully enjoying the moment until the cool air finally hastened me back inside. I returned to my room feeling rejuvenated and hopeful.
Continue reading “The Nature Nook” →

Happy to be Trying, Blunders and All (feat. new video)

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There is nothing as satisfying as knowing that you have faced a challenge and succeeded beyond your wildest hopes. That is how my recent four-day backpacking trip to Rocky Mountain National Park over Memorial Day weekend felt. We hiked 3.5 miles from the car and camped for three nights at 10,500 feet, exploring some of the neighboring terrain on day hikes. (The trip is chronicled in a two-part video: Episode 5.)

Throughout the whole trip, I kept having to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t in some spectacular dream, feeling so strong and healthy. Was it really only four months ago that I was still toting around a wound vac to heal my stubborn abdominal incision? At that time, my wound still hurt too much to even go on the shortest hike. Now here I was in the middle of the remote and snowy mountains, toting a backpack instead of my vac, immersed in the beauty of nature and feeling pretty much unstoppable.

Continue reading “Happy to be Trying, Blunders and All (feat. new video)” →

Loving Life and My New Normal (feat. new video)

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What an amazing week of outdoor adventure it has been. We are still working on the video for our backpacking trip last weekend, as there is a lot of footage to sort through. We hope to get it on the site in the next week.

Until then, we created a short film covering a fun day-hike Doug and I completed along with Doug’s dad and our good friend. Shadow Canyon, leading to South Boulder Peak and Bear Peak in Boulder, Colorado’s famed Flatirons, has always been one of my favorite hikes. It is a challenging ascent that links up two peaks, and has around 3000 feet of elevation gain in a little over 3 miles. I have been day-hiking a bunch to get strong again, and figured I was finally up for something more strenuous. And was I ever! I could not believe how great I felt on the entire hike. Everyday I realize more and more how my diseased colon had held me back. Now that it is gone, I am blissfully getting used to my new “normal” and loving life!

There were a couple of new things to deal with on this excursion. One was scorching temperatures. The high today was 90 degrees–definitely my warmest hike since surgery. I had to really stay on top of hydration and ended up tanking up on water before getting to the trailhead, drinking about 4.5 liters of water on the actual hike and then guzzling another 1.5 liters when I returned home. I am finding that avoiding dehydration on the trail is not that difficult. It just takes planning to make sure you carry enough water, and then some self-discipline to make sure you drink, drink, drink.

Continue reading “Loving Life and My New Normal (feat. new video)” →

Here’s to 500 views!

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I had to do a double-take when I looked at my Ostomy Outdoors blog counter the other day and saw that it had hit the 500 views mark after only a couple of weeks. I never expected to have so much interest in the site. Thank you to everyone who has read, commented on, or included links on their own websites or Facebook accounts regarding the blog and videos.

I know firsthand the importance of hearing other people’s stories when facing ostomy surgery. The whole experience is a complex stew of hope, fear, excitement and worry. One needs help sorting through these feelings while trying to make sound decisions… usually while feeling very ill on top of it all.

Continue reading “Here’s to 500 views!” →

A Frigid Return to Backpacking (feat. new video)

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On April 16, Doug and I headed out for our first post-surgery backpacking trip. We chose an easy and short route for the overnight excursion, though weather threw us a challenging curve ball. Still, it felt wonderful to be out there again. There was one other unexpected bonus: the campsite had a privy. After years of constantly scoping out the closest bathroom due to UC, it was funny to find one in the wilderness.

My biggest concern on the trip was keeping my pack light. I wanted to make sure I took it easy on this first excursion to let my body adjust to carrying a load of gear again.

Continue reading “A Frigid Return to Backpacking (feat. new video)” →

Back on the slopes: snowboarding with an ostomy (feat. new video)

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I managed to get three days of snowboarding in this season which is more than I ever would have imagined!

Of course, one would hope that post-surgery improvement in sports would occur in a linear fashion, getting better and better each time. Unfortunately, that was not the case for me. My third day of snowboarding on May 8th (closing day at the resort) was the most frustrating.  It had nothing to do with my ostomy, which once again caused no problems at all. The problem was hard-packed snow and not knowing how much beating up my body could handle.

Continue reading “Back on the slopes: snowboarding with an ostomy (feat. new video)” →