Tag: stoma care

Ostomy skateboarder

Lee Hawkins

As a professional skateboarder with a colostomy, life has not been that difficult as some people may think. I am glad to be a role model for the people that are like me. When I was born, I was born with an imperforate anus. I will explain what that means in a bit. As someone who is a pro skateboarder with an ostomy, there are a few obstacles I have come across, but I have managed to overcome them, and it has made me a better person for it. Due to being born how I was, I have to get a colostomy procedure when I was very young. This caused me to have to deal with a great deal of bullying. 

When I was born, I was born with a condition called the imperforate anus. This means an anal opening was not in the proper spot. In fact, I was born without one, which is also another form of this disease. Due to this, the doctors decided to operate as soon as I was born. My parent was horrified as they were just told their newborn baby would need to have surgery if I wanted to live. Due to my procedure, I had to deal with a lot of bullying as I grew up. I did not mind it that much because I just knew they were ignorant and did not know what they were talking about. I got into skateboarding when I was in the fifth grade when I met some friends who introduced me to the sport. 

As I got older, I stuck with skateboarding and got better at it, very good at it. One day at dinner with my parents and friends, they all bombarded me with the same question, why don’t I go pro? I sat there and thought about it for a minute before deciding it was worth a shot. As the years padded, I continued to skateboard and perfect all my abilities. I met with someone who could help me in my journey. He taught me about all there is to know about professional skateboarding. As he shared with me, I got more and more excited to take my first steps at becoming a professional skateboarder. 

Getting to do my first professional meet, I was ecstatic. I did my best and just had one mess up, which was due to my colostomy bag. I ended up coming in first place out of the ten people in this meet. I was so ecstatic I remember crying when I got on the podium. When I told the interviewers I had an ostomy bag, they were surprisingly supportive and proud that I was the winner. After this meet, I began getting quite a big following. I was thrilled to know I had a lot of people supporting me. As the years went on, I continued to do my best in the skateboarding meets. 

I am glad to have met those friends in the fifth grade that introduced me to skateboarding. I am also glad to have had the support of people to push me to do something they knew I loved. Having a colostomy as a skateboarder, I have not had many obstacles, but without them, I would not be the person I am today. I am glad to be a person that others like me can look up to and know that they can do anything, just like I believed I could. 

Learning about your stoma care

Lee Hawkins

Now being new to things is ok.  There is a starting point for all things in life and should not feel educated or inferior because you are new at something.  Especially, in 2020 when you can learn things so fast because the information is readily available.  Okay, so I’ve only been exposed to the world of ostomy care for roughly a year or so, but it’s honestly been a journey that has helped me grow and learn more about others who have completely different needs than my own. From learning about urostomies to meeting people who have had a colostomy and now have a permanent stoma, I’ve had my eyes opened to the part of the world that isn’t often talked about.  That is a part of the world that seems a little darker and no one likes to talk about, but I try to talk about it with a sense of humor. 

Now getting the best gear is really important.  I may be a super gear guy, but that does not mean that I should not be on the one thing that matters to my daily routine.  And things like making sure your ostomy supplies don’t leak or fall off your body can be tough if you’re new to the whole game of keeping care of your body with this change and learning about pouching system replacement. Learning about these things is huge and doing them right is important. But there do happen to be a few things you can do to keep things going smoothly. The main things to consider are proper cleaning and your own personal comfort level as well as having the right fitting system for your individual stoma. Nonetheless, we’ve got other tips for keeping everything clean and comfortable!  These clean things can be the difference between happy and miserable for life. 

That is why I want to jump into the important parts.  The first thing I’d ask someone new to having a stoma is if they sweat a lot. If that’s the case, you may feel like your adhesive barrier is prone to coming loose and allowing leakage. This is the worst possible scenario.  If this is the case, you could dust your skin with a powder specifically for your skin barrier. A sealant can then be applied which will act as cement between your skin and the barrier. It’s a little weird at first in terms of how it feels, but your ostomy supplies are meant to handle this kind of stuff and make your skin still feel mostly unnoticed. But if it doesn’t then you need to get with your doctor quick.

The main thing you want to keep in mind when caring for your abdomen and learning this new way of life is cleanliness. Make sure that you are being very careful. That’s really the number one concern for most ostomy patients because there’s a real chance of infection happening if you neglect proper care.

What you need to know is that it’s actually pretty darn hard to neglect your stoma and proper care in the first place. Because if you’re doing that, then you’re probably uncomfortable all the time. And who would actively allow their pouching system to bother the heck out of them all day? They’ll definitely do the right thing, clean it well, apply it properly, and then get back to their daily life with zero discomforts. Be good and be safe.