Colostomy... Anyone out there with advice????!

Colostomy... Anyone out there with advice????

My beautiful, 36 year old daughter had a 5 hour surgery on the 20th of this month, to remove what was left of her cancerous rectal tumor. Surgeons were forced to remove her rectum, anus, and 8 inches of colon. A colostomy was put in, and now she is home and trying to come to grips with this. She is in deep depression as I write this (lives on her own) and recently told me, "I'm now not sure whether I made this decision (to have the surgery) for myself, or for everyone else." In other words... she has severe doubts about her future. She says she is "disgusted" with herself, and I take that to mean the entire colostomy experience. My daughter is also an RN and has never in her career, dealt well with this particular area and infact, would "trade" patients with another nurse, if she had one in her care.

Does anyone out there with a colostomy have words of wisdom, advice or encouragement to share with my daughter? She could sure use some about now. Thank you so much.

Hi, I am a 31 year old rectal cancer survivor, and I am also an RN. I had to keep a temporary loop ileostomy for almost 5 months after a low anterior resection to remove part of my colon and rectum.
In the beginning, I was unsure of my future, I was afraid of what would happen to me, could I care for myself and my patients, could I work again? I was frustrated because caring for the ostomy was a new area for me, all I knew of them was what they were. I even had some skin issues in my peristomal area that I was not sure how to care for. I had to be strong for my family, they fell apart with the diagnosis of cancer and I had to let them know that I was OK, once they realized that I was fine, they were able to go on with life normally.
I looked at having the ostomy as a thing that saven my life. I was prepared to keep it forever, and once I learned how to care for it very well and figured out how to extend the wear time of the wafer, I was almost sad to see it go. When I had my reversal surgery, I wished the ostomy was back, I had severe diarrhea and incontinance. There are days now that I wish I still had it.
The thing that helped the the most was going back to work. After 6 weeks I went back to work and eased back in slowly, I started with 4 hours a day light duty. I felt better getting out and keeping my life normal. By the time I was back to 12 hour shifts, it was time for surgery again. I was off for 6 more weeks, then I was back full force.
Something that helped me the most was going to the united ostomy associations website and joining their discussion forum (http://www.uoaa.org/forum/viewforum.php?... ) . The people there are great, there are people who have ostomy's for all reasons, and they know all of the tips and tricks to caring for ostomies, and they also are a great support system. The people there have inspirational stories, and sometimes hearing other's stories makes you realize that things can be much worse, I am a memeber as well. My screen name is Lucky1.
Did your daughter have to do chemo or radiation? If the surgery is all she needed for the cure of her cancer, then she is lucky that the cancer could be cured so easily.
I would be happy to answer any questions that you might have, or if there is anything I can do to help. When I went back to work, I realized that I could have a very normal life with the ostomy.
Has her doctor talked to her about continent diversions such as a koch pouch, that type of surgery removes the need to wear a colostomy bag, It is a sifferent type of surgery though.
Let me know If I can be of any assistance.
Shannon