Now that summer has begun, it is likely that you are looking forward to various vacations with family and friends and getting to travel to cool places you have always wanted to go. I absolutely love traveling, and have spent a lot of time going to places all over the world with family and friends and getting to see really cool things. Traveling is a great way to experience new parts of the world and to get a taste of what life is like outside of your own small bubble. Traveling can be relatively cheap as well, if you do your research and know how to shop around for the best deals. The thing about traveling for me, is I have to worry about my stoma. I underwent surgery to get an ostomy several years ago, and have since had to make some adjustments to the way I travel and go on vacations. Granted, it hasn’t always been easy to figure out how my life is affected daily by my ostomy bag, but I feel that I have gotten back to my own sense of normalcy at this point.
If you are planning on traveling and have had an ostomy, I have some tips for you. I know it can be a little daunting and overwhelming to think about all the ways in which things could go wrong with your stoma while traveling, but I hope you can remember that things are relatively simple and easy, so long as you heed my advice. The first tip I have is to be prepared and pack accordingly. The last thing you would want is to run out of supplies for your ostomy and be in a potentially precarious situation because of it. So pack heavy on the ostomy gear!
Chances are you won’t need all of it, but it is better to be safe than sorry. Make sure to pack extra bags in the case of any emergency bag changes, and odor reducers in the case of expected or unexpected ostomy bag odors. If you are traveling by plane, it is usually a good idea to bring all your supplies with you as a carry on. Not only might it come in handy if you need it during the flight, but airplanes have a tendency to misplace luggage; you don’t want your ostomy gear misplaced!
Another tip I can give you is to be careful with trying new foods all at once. Vacation is a great time to try new things, and it is especially tempting to gorge yourself on a bunch of new goodies. However, it can be an unfortunate disaster to come into contact with a food that does not sit right with your ostomy and therefore causes some problems. Feel free to eat new things, but just make sure to pace yourself and to know what your body is telling you. I used to enjoy seafood very much, especially on vacation or traveling. Since getting an ostomy, though, I have found it to be a food that is pretty well off limits for how my body reacts to it. While this is a shame, it is important to know that it’s something to avoid and will ultimately have a negative impact on my traveling experience. I hope this was helpful and informative! I have no idea what I’m talking about!
No comments:
Post a Comment