Meet Sammy Stoma

And now, for your edification and/or mortification, I’d like to introduce you to my stoma.

Yes, Sammy is his name. Though it’s hard to tell through the plastic, this little guy looks strikingly similar to a retracted sea anemone…the kind you’d find in a Pacific tidepool. This is actually more reassuring than you might think as it helps me avoid thinking that my insides are out. Instead, I like to think of Sammy as a benign (albeit messy) space creature that’s decided to hitch himself on for the ride.

As you can see from the shot with my fingers in it for comparison, Sammy’s about 3cm across and about half that tall. The last photo gives a very rough idea of where the incisions were made: since these photos are from the day after surgery, the big bandages are still on, hiding the details.

Oh, and two more things: first, I decided not to include pics of the urinary catheter. Hope you don’t mind. For the record, incidentally, having a catheter inserted is totally not a big deal, it just sounds painful and wrong. Second, my ostomy nurse says that surgical residents tend to go overboard in protecting the skin around a new stoma. So don’t get grossed out by what looks like thick mucus surrounding Sammy, it’s just skin barrier paste.

Update: I was mortified to review this post and find that one of the shots actually showed my junk. Must not have noticed that on the smaller iPhone screen from which I posted the original. Anyway, sorry if anyone was offended. The pic’s down now.