Adjusting to life after an ostomy surgery seems a difficult affair, mainly because this change tends to seem affecting the normal way of life. An ostomy indeed is not an easy adjustment, but it is crucial to understand that an ostomy surgery aims at saving a person’s life.
Now, feeling depressed and lonely after ostomy surgery is perfectly normal for new ostomates. And getting out of this situation may seem like an uphill task. As we said, an ostomy is not an easy adjustment. However, once you aim for a life full of charms and remain committed to it, nothing can stop you from achieving that goal.
That said, you are going to need to follow a few simple tips that may help to embrace life after ostomy surgery.
Give yourself some time
Your urge to be up and running just a few days after the surgery is understandable if you have been an active person throughout your previous life. But remember, it’s different this time. You need proper rest to accelerate the healing process. Perhaps, it is one of the rare occasions in your life when you get a recommendation not to get out of your comfort zone.
After a few weeks, you will realize that life goes on. You will be very concerned about the new change that mainly involves taking care of an ostomy bag just like a body organ. But what may come as good news is that this bag won’t prove to be a hurdle in your routine life, even if you engage in physical workouts. However, you need to be wary about engaging in contact sports.
Ostomy support groups
Finding people who know what an ostomate goes through can help you get the right suggestions when you share your thoughts. The best way is to find people who already have ostomies. You can talk to them about your concerns and listen to their concerns as well. For this purpose, you are going to have to find ostomy support groups. You can easily find such groups in your town or locality.
The best thing coming out of joining an ostomy support group is that you will be able to make new friends. You will be able to know different ways of taking care of your ostomy. Similarly, if you know something better about ostomy management, you can share it with other ostomates in your group.
Learn about your condition
If you know how severe your condition was before the surgery and how this surgery has helped you get out of that condition, you will find enough motivation to embrace your post-ostomy surgery life. Moreover, you are going to have to learn about how ostomy management works. For this purpose, you can talk to your doctor or ostomy care nurse.
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