Bowel (Colorectal) Cancer
Feelings about stomas
Dealing with bodily waste in a different way: worrying about hygiene or social embarrassment and having a part of your insides sticking out can profoundly affect one's self-image and social confidence. Our usual ways of thinking about cleanliness, adulthood, sexual and gender identity, or even what it means to be 'normal' can seem as if they do not apply when we have a stoma. While many people soon come to feel that having a stoma is simply different rather than abnormal; for some, feelings of discomfort may persist.
People whose surgery for colorectal cancer did not require them to have a stoma often saw this as a lucky escape. As one woman put it 'There's a lot worse could happen but I must admit that when I didn't have it, I could have shouted through the roof.' Many people said that their first conscious act after surgery was to feel around for a stoma bag.
One or two people expressed no distress at having a stoma, but the majority, including those who later adjusted successfully, vividly remembered their fears. Many said their fears were worse than the reality of the situation. One woman agreed that the fear was worse than the reality but still felt she had lost control of her life until she began to practise colonic irrigation.
Having known other people with ileostomies helped him feel positive about his own.
Having known other people with ileostomies helped him feel positive about his own.
If you didn't know anybody who had an ileostomy do you think it would have been a daunting prospect for you?
Yes, yes I think so. I think it would have been simply because in my opinion there is such an attitude towards people who have a stoma and have to wear a bag, for whatever reason it's sort of not accepted socially.
And it's ridiculous, totally and utterly ridiculous that is. You, you know you might as well having an ileostomy is in my opinion less of a stigma than having athlete's foot, and I would put it as simply as that.
Remembers his early fears about having a colostomy.
Remembers his early fears about having a colostomy.
And it took me a couple of weeks of walking around in the street and nobody took the slightest bit of notice of me at all and therefore you know I'd just imagined this.
So it didn't take long to throw that one away and dismiss it because it wasn't so. Everybody is a different person and therefore it has a different psychological effect on anybody I would think.
The only thing is to know what is likely to happen and know that these things will come along and you either can or you can't handle them, that's just the point.
Having a colostomy left her constantly anxious about possible accidents and social embarrassment.
Having a colostomy left her constantly anxious about possible accidents and social embarrassment.
It wasn't so bad at home but at work, being in meetings so frequently, seeing patients, as well as socially it was very embarrassing and I was very, very aware of that all the time, yes. So while I was determined to live I was experiencing a lot of distress in the first few years, especially the first year.
Was the fear actually worse than the practical reality of managing it?
Yes I think it was, I think the fear was worse. I was always aware of odour or, I just generally felt very self conscious. I'm a person who'd been quite competent and confident in the past and here I was very, very self conscious, very aware of myself, asking my husband "can you smell anything?" you know all the time "can you see anything?" the whole time.
I changed clothes for the first year or two wearing fuller clothes because I was worried that the bag would swell or it took me a while to adapt and accommodate to the change in me.
I couldn't get used to bowel movements coming through the front of the body, it horrified me. But eventually I got used to it. I think when I started irrigating and I felt a sense of control and cleanliness come back into my life, that made a very big difference.
Feelings about hygiene
Many people described themselves as 'fastidious' or 'meticulous' about personal hygiene and worried that, with a stoma, they would never feel entirely clean. This feeling often subsided as they gained confidence with stoma management and developed a new cleanliness regime. One man describes his initial feelings about his stoma and how he eventually overcame them and learned to deal with it. A woman explains that even after many years her stoma still makes her feel unclean.
Describes how he overcame his initial negative feelings about his stoma and developed a new regime of personal hygiene.
Describes how he overcame his initial negative feelings about his stoma and developed a new regime of personal hygiene.
I thought to myself, blimey am I going to cope with this I can't, you know, because I'm a very fastidious man and it couldn't have happened to a worse person than me because I'm very fussy, cleanliness is very, very important, but on reflection, sitting back and thinking to myself what alternatives has one got, you've got to cope with it because otherwise there's no other way out.
You never think that you're going to be able to put the appliance on, wash yourself, see to yourself, look at it, do it.
I couldn't look at it, I couldn't look at it and they knew that so my stay in hospital was an extra week because of that situation. But that was difficult.
But after a few times going to the bathroom with the stoma nurse and she put you through a kind of regime. You have to get things prepared, wash, get your appliance ready, get the stoma paste ready, to apply it and all the rest of it, and you go through all this, all of a sudden this becomes a ritual and you start doing it yourself and you become quite amazed and you become quite good at it. So by the time I left the hospital I could handle it.
After many years she still worries about her stoma.
After many years she still worries about her stoma.
Oh terrible, I still do.
Do you?
Mm I know it might sound silly to someone else but I never feel clean. You know I mean, well I have a bath every morning but I dunno I just don't ever feel, like while there's nothing in it I'm alright but as soon as it works I just feel as though I'm dirty.
Like it's a horrible feeling really I just like and as I say if I'm in company, and it's not so bad now because obviously I basically know what to eat and what not to eat, but at first I didn't and oh the noises it used to make, it used to be horrendous and I used to feel so embarrassed.
Like my niece got married in May and I dreaded it, as much as I was looking forward to it, she's my goddaughter, I was dreading it because I thought I bet this will go wrong, I bet that'll go wrong, I've always got that fear.
Feelings of discomfort
While there was little concern about stoma bags being visible under clothing, almost everyone said that one of their greatest fears was offensive smells. There was also widespread concern about the possibility of leaks or other accidents in public. Many people were embarrassed by the noises their stomas made. One man describes his concerns as he tried to carry on with his usual activities.
He recalls trying to carry on with normal activities while adjusting to having a stoma.
He recalls trying to carry on with normal activities while adjusting to having a stoma.
No one ever said to me they could smell anything, no one ever took offence, no one ever said or moved seating if I was sitting somewhere.
And I was also involved in quite a lot of voluntary organisations, but because of my sickness I had to let quite a few of them go. But I am still involved in, in two or three, and I'm still going to, I started going back to the committee meetings and uh, but there was always a concern about these extraneous noises from this bag, caused by a build-up of gas, and you've no control over it, I was most embarrassed the first time it happened. And of course nobody was gonna turn around and say you know, "Was that you?" or whatever.
Is it quite a loud noise?
Oh yes. Oh yes, very, it's just like someone breaking wind you know, and that, but I, it actually went on longer, if you, if you're breaking wind naturally you tend to try and stop it, this thing you've no control over. How it exudes itself.
Many people disliked having to carry around and consciously dispose of bodily waste but found it particularly distressing when others were or wanted to be involved. Several people found it disturbing to have part of their insides on the outside of their body. One woman quickly learned how to manage her stoma so she could re-establish a sense of privacy. Another woman recalls her feelings about her stoma and how she disliked having other people help her with it.
She was anxious to regain a sense of privacy after having a colostomy.
She was anxious to regain a sense of privacy after having a colostomy.
So you're talking about when the bag was being changed?
Yes.
Not all the time, but when the bag was being changed?
No, no, just purely when the bag was being changed. So I think within one or two days I was dealing with it entirely myself and that initial smell that was in, in the bag very quickly went and I think it was purely because a lot of the system had been lying dormant for a period of time and it was when, see when you have this operation one of the things is that your insides fills with quite a lot of gas.
Last reviewed November 2024.
Copyright © 2024 University of Oxford. All rights reserved.