Focus on Colorectal Cancer
Before your operation, ask your surgeon about the plan to reduce the risk of adhesions for you.
Managing the Impact of Colorectal Cancer Surgery
Immediate and long-term complications that occur after surgical treatment for colorectal cancer can include pain, infection, scarring, adhesions, and fecal incontinence. Managing an ostomy may also be a new part of your life after surgery.
Surviving – Even Thriving – with an Ostomy
by Dorothy Doughty, MN, RN, CWOCN, FAAN
Coping with a cancer diagnosis is a huge challenge for anyone – but if your cancer involved the bladder, rectum, or cervix, you may also be coping with an ostomy. An ostomy is an opening on the abdominal wall that provides for elimination of stool or urine. A person with an ostomy must wear a pouch to collect the stool or urine.
Summertime Tips for People with Ostomies
by Jan Colwell, RN, MS, CWOCN, FAAN
As summer sets in, the weather becomes warmer, the sun a bit hotter, and we may look forward to participation in sports, such as swimming, cycling, tennis, and traveling. However, people with ostomies may have some concerns about participating in summer activities. Some people may worry that the pouch seal may become compromised when they sweat or are physically active. You may need to make some minor changes to ensure that your pouch seal will remain intact, but having an ostomy should not prevent you from participating in the summer activities you enjoy.
