Mountains and Trees all with a stoma

Now that the weather is finally getting cooler I am able to really start to appreciate the great outdoors.  One of my favorite things to do in teh entire world is simply to get outside and enjoy the beauty of creation and nature.  This is something that I end up saving up a whole lot of vacation time to go out and explore.  Now, this is also something that I have had to really split between vacation time with my wife on a beach or out in the mountains and woods.  It has been a fun transition with marriage, but I still end up spending a lot of time out in the wild.  What oftentimes surprises some is that I am able to go out and all of this with a stoma.  I know right?  Who can do all of this with an ostomy bag?  The fact is that most people with a stoma are really capable of doing just about anything that they could do before teh surgery and most likely more considering they needed the surgery. 

I am grateful for having my ostomy bag because I no longer feel all the abdominal or bathroom pain that I had before.  It has been a life-changing experience for sure and I now have some extra things to do on a daily basis.  Yes, I now need to have a study flow of medical supplies and also a huge amount of learning that had to be done in order to understand how to work my new part of my body.  But the truth is that it never held me back because I was always looking for ways to make sure I could get out and do the things that I need and want to do.  It has been a fun researching all the things that help me get out and enjoy the things that I love. 

Last year I decided to plan a nice trip to the west and visit the red rocks across the country.  I was able to take some time from a work conference off and head out to Zion National Park.  Being on the road I had to plan out all the ostomy gear I would need and it took me a little bit of time to plan how to get my hiking backpack setup and also my ostomy gear checked without taking up too much space.  But what really was fun was being able to hike all day long and really not have to worry about bathroom issues.  I also knew my water intake and what I was letting go as well.  It was pretty cool to be able to regulate my body in the mountains and even up angels landing.  I know what my body was doing even more now and it helped me to get to heights that I may not have done before without feeling exhausted or taking too much water with me.   

So what I am really just trying to get at is that not everyone needs to feel trapped with their stoma.  Really, you can get out and enjoy the big amazing world without much fear at all. I never felt scared or worried about my ostomy. Falling off Angels Landing was much more important to worry about than my stoma.