My husband has just had surgery for bladder cancer and is struggling finding the right stoma bag I would just like to find out from you lovely people how you coped with this kind of cancer and the stoma bags
I just wanted to welcome you to our forum and I hope that you will meet others here who have had the same type of surgery as your husband and who also had to deal with the issue of finding the right stoma bag. You can find information on this page on bladder cancer which I hope will be useful to you.
I hope you won't mind but I have slightly edited your title to include the words 'finding the right stoma bag' - this will increase the chances of others - who have been in a similar position before - seeing your post and responding to you with their experiences.
Our nurses are also available on this free number 0808 800 4040 - their line is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm so don't hesitate to give them a call and to talk things through with them.
It would also be a good idea to talk to your husband's specialist about this and to ask them whether they would have any advice to give you on stoma bags. I am sure they will be able to point you in the right direction.
Your husband should have a stoma nurse he can contact for advice(either in the community or at the hospital where he had his surgery)and to try different types of bags. It really is a lot of trial and error in finding something that works, and we are all so different that unfortunately one size doesn’t fit all.
I had my urostomy, and a colostomy, in March and in the early days it was very hard to find suitable bags. After surgery, the stomas change in size and shape as things settle in the body so he may need to try different things until he finds something suitable. I didn’t have bladder cancer but I had cancer which had spread to my bladder, hence my operation. I found my stoma nurse in the community to be a fantastic source of support and advice, and companies will also send out free samples for your husband to try.
The eraly days after surgery can be very difficult, but 4 months on I am managing well so things definitely do get easier! I hope they do for your husband too.
Thank you for your reply the stoma nurse that my husband had is very nice and has given him a few different types of bags to try, his operation was only five weeks ago so we still getting our heads around everything I am sure everything will be fine once he has found a bag he is happy with it's just nice to know how that we not going mad or doing anything wrong with applying the bag as he had a few leaks in the first couple of weeks using them.
I am glad to hear you are doing well and hopefully in a few months my husband will be on the right path too recovery.
I still get leaks sometimes but it’s much better than it was and your husband is not long out from major surgery. It is dispiriting to have leaks, but I’m sure he’ll be able to find something that suits-I tried quite a few before I settled on one I preferred. All the best for his recovery, and for you too as I know it’s not easy from the partner’s point of view going through all this too.
