Going to Bed with Your Stoma

It has almost been a year and with it being 2021 the covid-19 pandemic is still a thing.   With the Pandemic being in full force there are lots of things that have changed and are making our lives more interesting.  It is weird that the world became a little slower and quieter.  When I wake up there is not a giant rush to get ready for work in the morning. Every morning I could literally wake up five minutes before work starts and simply put my slippers on, walk to my desk, and start working.  Times have slowed down and I am getting lots more sleep than I normally would.  I am feeling refreshed, but I do get asked the question a good amount and this question worried me in the beginning. How are you going to be able to sleep with a stoma and what is really the difference? 

It may seem like a strange question, but I find it absolutely a good topic to go over. Especially, for those who are new to it or have a family member with one.  This information can help people know the difference in life.  There isn't much.  Having an ostomy always brings to mind lots of questions from people and they always attempt to think of the worst thing that would bother them.  It usually is personal and what I get asked a good amount is how do you sleep.  Usually, it's a friend that asks and it comes up after a conversation revolving around bad dreams, but in the end, they want to know what ostomy care is needed for a good night's sleep.  

For me, I am a pillow guy.  My wife is a pillow person as well, so it's a win.  That sounds a little strange but the extra feeling of weight going into your bag at night can wake many people up.  And I know weighted blanked are a thing and are meant to keep you tucked in by force and that actually helps you sleep.  Well, that weight is not a good thing in this case because I am a pretty light sleeper.  So I find that my version of ostomy care is simply to put a pillow under my ostomy bag if I am going to sleep on the opposite side of it on my side.  I am usually a side or a back sleeper so for me, only a pillow is needed if I am going to sleep on the opposite side of my ostomy.  This allows the weight to then be put into the bag and then the pillow and it doesn't cause any stress on the adhesion to me.  This means it won't leak and let's face it that is a bad way to wake up if it does. 

We all have the nightmare of waking up to the smell or even worse a smack from your wife and seeing the pure look of horror in her eyes is simply not worth it.  Because let's face it the next look from my eyes in horror as well.  So get really good ostomy gear and you won't have to ever have that happen. So, sleeping is just fine and I have no issues at all with it nor does my wife.  Just get great gear and test it out first.