Ostomy Samples

You would have thought that Christmas was wrapped in my birthday yesterday afternoon when a  my new samples arrived from Coloplast on our doorstep a whole day early.  As a 10 year veteran in the ostomy world, I have tried it all.  Been there and done that. But the day a new box/envelope of samples arrive and I am still absolutely giddy.

I do the same thing every time I receive ostomy samples--one is sacrificed for the good of the team, one is tried out, and usually I am so unhappy with the product that the third is stored away with the other disappointing samples.  I could be a consultant for Consumer Reports with the testing and nit-picking I will do with that first sample.  What will happen if I yank it this way?  What will happen if I bend the wafer this far?  How many different ways can I roll and bend the closure before it fails?

We are trusting our lives to this little product.  That may be a little dramatic, but really we are.  Have you ever been out in public and had a leak?  My worst leak happened in the middle of church when I was sitting smack dab in the middle of the row.  These companies are asking me to rest my dignity in their product.  It has to hold up to my scrutiny and active life-style to earn my respect.

When a woman with Crohn's disease, an ostomy, and a couple of hernias gets pregnant, an entire medical team swarms in to action.  I cannot remember for certain, but I think my third call with the news I was pregnant was to my ostomy nurse.  She told me the biggest problem I would have ostomy-wise is that my stoma would most likely expand some requiring a change in ostomy products.  Four months later and here I am, with a box full of ostomy supplies that won't fit my stoma.  And what did my ostomy nurse send me home with?  One piece Hollister samples with a transparent bag!!!  In what universe does a person want to see their poo at all times?  This led me to a two day search through the top three ostomy supply companies' websites,  trying to figure out what on earth to settle on for samples.

In my opinion Coloplast (http://www.us.coloplast.com) is the the be all and end all of ostomy products.  Hollister (www.hollister.com) has tried to keep up with their "lock and roll" but it doesn't hold a candle to the Coloplast products with the velcro closure. After trying the three major brands out there--Hollister, Convatec, and Coloplast, I can say that I am happiest with Coloplast.  So happy that I have used their products for over six years.  I received three samples of the all-new Sensura Xpro wafer and cannot wait to see how they work.