My outdoor experience with my stoma

This year I had an amazing time.  It was indeed to covid-19 pandemic but that didn’t stop me from having a good time.  The fact is that in a whole year only three people I know even knew people who got covid 19 and I live in a top 10 city in teh United States.  That means that nothing really changed in my area because the hype about the insanity was just that, hype.  SO I learned to not freak out and simply enjoy life because so many people locked themselves in and lost a whole year.  This year my outdoor excursions were really fun and revolved a lot around hunting.  This was such a cool thing because my year consisted of living with a stoma now as well and yet still I was happy and enjoyed my hunter experience, even more, this year. 

The reason why I thought I enjoyed this hunting season, even more, was because I was able to use my ostomy gear to my advantage.  I never thought I would really say this but the ability to not have to use a restroom or head to the bathroom is such an awesome part of having an ostomy bag.  I simply am able to go a lot longer if I need to without emptying my bag out.  This is incredible for hunting because I can simply stay out for longer.  I have also found this to be super awesome in other areas of my life as well.

When it comes to road trips can you think of anything that hurts your outdoor adventure more than bathroom breaks?  I know that I am not a fan of stopping hour after hour when I drink a big cup of coffee on the road.  It is an annoying part of travel, but if I am alone and have my ostomy bag, I am able to go a long time and save lots of time by not stopping.  It is super cool to go the distance without having to stop but for anything except gas.  That really is a cool thing to do and I have tried to make all of my ostomy gear work for me and help me out in my life. 

I was worried about smells as well when I was out on the road, but I made my gear work for me.  I found out through research that I could use pills that would help me keep my smell of stool down.  There are also some great drops you can add in your bag which keeps the smells down as well. For hunting I was able to use all of these items and also some scent blocking clothing and it worked great.  I was able to get within 25 yards of two deer this year in teh woods and my smell did not spook them away.  So I just want to let people know that I am able to do all of these things with a stoma.

Don’t let your ideas of what you cannot do stop you from doing what you actually can do.  I think that with a stoma I am just as capable as I was without.  In fact, I am in much less pain and my life has actually gotten much better.  So get outside and enjoy life!