Wet Colostomy Care

A wet colostomy consists of a double-barrel stoma that allows both fecal wastes and urine to leave the body. Therefore, it consists of two parts.

• The first part of this colostomy is a urinary diversion that directs urine out of the body through the stoma.
• The second part of it is a fecal diversion, which allows fecal wastes to leave your body.

The stoma you get after wet colostomy surgery is deep pink or red the entire time. It usually contracts or expands during the bowel movement. At that time, the color of the stoma may turn a bit paler. It should revert to its natural color after a few minutes. You will need to call your doctor immediately if the stoma looks grey, dark maroon, black, or brown.

The stoma becomes smaller as the colostomy heals. It will generally take six to eight months.

You will learn more about your stoma while you are in hospital. The nursing staff will teach you how to take care of your stoma. The hospital management will arrange a home care nurse to visit you at home to make sure that you are doing well with your postoperative recovery. They will also give you a few supplies to help you with the wet colostomy care at home.

After you are discharged from the hospital, the home care nurse will visit you to help you care for your colostomy. During the first appointment, the nurse will review a few things, which may include:

• The way you empty your colostomy pouch
• The way you change your ostomy pouch
• The way you take care of your stoma
• Ordering supplies

Pouching system

You will have to wear an odor-proof ostomy pouch over your wet colostomy. This pouching system is usually a two-piece bag consisting of a skin barrier and a pouch.

• The skin barrier of the wafer sticks to the skin around the stoma. The purpose of this element is to protect the skin from irritation caused by urine and stool.
• The high-output pouch connects to the skin barrier and collects stools and urine from the wet colostomy. Because it passes out both urine and stools, you will need to empty it several times a day.

You will need to change the size of your pouching system during the first few weeks after surgery. It usually takes 6-8 weeks for the stoma to become smaller and settle to a permanent shape. After that, the pouching system you use will remain the permanent feature of your ostomy care regimen.

Emptying your pouching system

You will learn how to empty your pouch from the ostomy care nurse at the hospital. After you are discharged from the hospital, a home care nurse will teach you further about it to help you get comfortable with the new toilet routine.

Generally, you will need to empty your ostomy pouch when it is one-third to half full. You will also need to empty it before going to bed. To have full night sleep, you can use a night drainage system, which collects stool during the night, eliminating the need to go to the toilet to empty the ostomy pouch.

Changing your ostomy pouch

The ostomy care nurse will also tell you how to change your ostomy pouching system. Since you will be using a drainable pouching system, you may let the skin barrier remain connected to the skin around the stoma unless a leakage occurs underneath the skin barrier.

After you learn how to change your ostomy pouch, it will take some time for you to adapt to a new ostomy care routine. It may become difficult at times to manage a few things, such as skin irritation and other parastomal problems. Whenever you notice such an issue, speak to your doctor or ostomy care nurse immediately.