OstomyMan

This last weekend I headed out with some friends to go rafting. For more details about the trip itself, you can read about them on my personal blog here. I actually had a really good time despite the fact that I had my first real problem with a bag that I was unprepared to handle. We camped the night before and that went really well. And my stoma behaved itself very well the whole time. I had very little output unless it was an appropriate time when I could use a bathroom.

I didn’t really know what to expect, so I didn’t bring my extra supplies on the boat with me (dumb move). But then I got in some water fights and was actually thrown overboard with another guy and somewhere during that the seal on my bag started to come undone. There were still a couple hours left to go and it wasn’t that bad so I just wiped it off a bit and pulled my swimming trunks over it to contain anything. After a while it started to get worse and leak a bit more. Some got on the inside of my shirt. Anyway, when we were out of the boat, I ended up just holding my side to keep the bag on and to hide the small spots that were showing through. It definitely dampened the fun a bit for the second half of the trip, but was more of a learning experience than a turn off from doing it again.

So here’s what I learned from my trip. First off, bring a pillow because sleeping on the ground without one just plain sucks. Two, physically it wasn’t a problem at all. I didn’t get sore or anything so that wasn’t an issue. Three, make sure that I reinforce the seal as best as I can with tape and whatever else to help it hold on and to keep the water out. Four, bring “emergency supplies” on the boat just in case they are needed. It would have been a non-issue if I had had my extra supplies as I could have easily changed my bag quickly behind a bush when we stopped (I was already going back there to wipe things off and make sure my bag was as empty as possible). And finally, even with a “blow out”, it’s still possible to have a good time and not ruin everyone else’s time.

So, basically I’m back in the game for physical activities and am on the list to go again next year!

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 31st, 2008 at 6:37 pm and is filed under activities, outlook, recovery. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site. Your comments will be moderated but will appear as soon as humanly possible.