Stoma Stories, Episode 15: Not Any Worse

I had another home nurse visit today to take a look at my stoma and wound healing. The troublesome right-side wound did not look any worse, but it also didn’t look much better. The skin remains raw and extremely sensitive/painful to the touch. According to my nurse, this is actually a sign of healing as new skin replaces dead skin in the wound, the nerve endings are right at the surface and extremely sensitive. I’ll take her word for it. All I know is it’s not pleasant.

I’m also somewhat concerned about the amount of scar tissue that must be forming, and which will make my eventual re-takedown surgery more difficult. An issue to discuss with my surgeon.

Another potential stoma issue is that because my stomach is neither super doughy, nor super firm, there’s not a great base to attach the appliance wafer and it does not easily stay “down” on my stoma, which means the stoma effectively recedes and the potential for under-wafer leakage increases. This is aggravated by the fact that my stoma doesn’t sit very high to begin with. The convex wafers help a bit, as does the belt, but according to my nurse, the only solution is to get fatter or skinnier. Not sure either option is really in my control right now, so it’s just something I’ll have to keep an eye on, hope for the best, and pile on the stoma paste to reduce the chance of leakage.

I’m meeting with my surgeon on Friday, and I look forward to not only getting her two cents about the state of my stoma and wound healing, but also to start planning a course of action to prepare for my re-takedown surgery. It’s undoubtedly going to involve lots of tests, scans, exams, and procedures, but I’ll do pretty much anything to avoid another midnight operation.

In other news, I’m still awaiting a final determination from my employer regarding my leave, but they agreed to extend my paid leave while I wait, which is good. Barring some new complication, I’m aiming to return to work next week. At last.