So I have been living with a stoma for quite some time now. If you happen to have stumbled across this article by mistake and you have no idea what a stoma is, then I suggest you quickly stop reading and go spend time with your family or something. Consider yourself lucky, because stomas are quite possibly the grossest thing that has ever existed since the dawn of time. Anyways, I had an ostomy a couple of months ago. As you can imagine, I have had to make quite a few adjustments in my life since getting a stoma put in. The recovery process after surgery was just such a pain in the behind, and I wouldn’t wish any of that entire experience on to anyone. Just so you know, I didn’t choose to get an ostomy. I was forcibly dragged into the hospital by my parents and basically drugged on the operating table. All things considered, it was probably for the best, because my colon was failing and I would have likely died without a colostomy, but I still didn’t want to live the rest of my life with a stoma, so dying didn’t sound too bad to me at the time. Anyways, now that I’ve somewhat recovered from my surgery, I have started looking around at different places to find the ostomy supplies and accessories that I will need to be buying until the day I die.
The first thing I have noticed when it comes to finding ostomy supplies is that it’s super embarrassing to buy ostomy products from a place unless they are a pharmacy or something like that. For example, if I am seen casually buying a week’s supply of ostomy pouches at a self checkout at Walmart, I suddenly find myself surrounded by people who are looking at my ostomy bag and it’s just the worst. I mean, I already hate being the center of attention, but this whole ostomy thing takes it to another level altogether.
So I stopped going to Walmart to buy my ostomy supplies, because I feel like I was always being watched and they also didn’t have the best supply in stock. They had some ostomy products that were useful, but any of the serious stuff was left out of Walmart’s supply chain I guess. Lesson learned in that area! So instead of going to supermarkets, I tried going to pharmacies instead. Pharmacies offer a bit more of a variety of ostomy supplies, and you can actually find some decent products on the shelves of Walgreens. People also don’t really judge you when you’re shopping at Walgreens, because everyone else is pretty much at their lowest anyways.
The only problem I’ve found there is that they don’t have some of the specific stoma adhesives and powders that I have been looking for, and their ostomy pouches are a bit more expensive than I’d like them to be. Well my friend, I have some good news for you if you are looking to buy some ostomy supplies anytime soon. I have recently begun to order my ostomy supplies and accessories exclusively online, and it has been an absolute pleasure. Never again will you catch me shopping in-store for some lame old ostomy brands and products that are way outdated. Plus, the prices on the internet are unbeatable.
Stoma Health Blog 