Hello, my name is Carol, and I'm an enterostomal therapist, or an ET nurse, with Alberta Health Services.

You're about to have bowel or bladder surgery, and I'm sure you have many questions.

We hope the information that you hear today will help to address some of your questions or concerns.

Any time bowel surgery is done, there's a potential to have an ostomy, or an opening, created into the bowel.

This is called a colostomy, or an ileostomy.

If you require the bladder to be removed during your surgery, you will have a urostomy.

An ET nurse, such as myself, will be teaching you how to care for the ostomy.

In order for you to understand how an ostomy works, or what this means for your recovery after surgery, it is important for you to know how the gastrointestinal or urinary systems work.

When you eat, the food goes down the esophagus and into the stomach.

Enzymes and acids in the stomach help to break down the food into smaller pieces, until it becomes a liquid mixture.

This mixture goes into the small intestine, where the nutrients are absorbed and most of the digestion occurs.

The food that is not absorbed in the small intestine passes into the large intestine.

The large intestine absorbs water from the stool and stores the stool until you have a bowel movement.

The kidneys are bean-shaped organs that make urine.

They are located in the upper part of the abdomen towards the back.

The urine flows down from the kidneys through tubes called ureters, then collects into the bladder.

The urine will flow out through the body from a tube called the urethra.

These slides show the different locations and names of each ostomy.

If you have an ostomy made from the small intestine, it is called an ileostomy.

The drainage from the ileostomy will be liquid to pasty in consistency.

If you have an ostomy made along any part of the large intestine, it is called a colostomy.

The drainage from the colostomy should be liquid to formed, depending on the location in the large intestine.

A urostomy allows urine to drain out of the body after the bladder has been removed.

A urostomy stoma is made from a short piece of small intestine called the ileum.

The ureters are attached to this, so this becomes the passageway for the urine to drain from the body.

An ileostomy or colostomy can be temporary or permanent, depending upon the specifics of your case and the disease process.

This is something you will discuss with your surgeon.

However, a urostomy is permanent.

[A Stoma]

When an ostomy is made, the bowel that is brought out to the skin surface is called the stoma.

If you have an ileostomy, the opening for the stoma is usually located on the right side of your abdomen.

If you have a colostomy, the opening for the stoma is usually located on the left side of your abdomen.

If you have a urostomy, the opening for this stoma is usually located on the right side of your abdomen.

A stoma will drain stool and gas or urine from the body.

It will be red, moist, and is much like the inner lining of the mouth.

There are no nerve endings in the stoma, so you will not feel pain when it is touched.

The stoma will drain spontaneously.

The stoma is normally swollen after surgery, and it will reduce in size over a period of 4 to 6 weeks.

Stomas can be different sizes and shapes.

There will be stitches around the stoma that secure it into place.

These stitches will dissolve over several weeks.

On or before the day of your surgery, an ET nurse will identify a stoma site on your abdomen depending on the type of ostomy your surgeon will be creating.

This site will be marked with a felt marker.

The purpose of this marking is to select the best possible site on the abdomen in an area where the pouching system will stick on a level surface.

Right after surgery, a nurse will look after the stoma and pouch.

But as soon as possible, you will be encouraged to participate in learning how to care for the stoma and the pouching system.

An ET nurse will be by to see you during the days after your surgery.

You and your family members or other caregivers will be given opportunities to do hands-on learning.

There will be lots of chances to ask questions and get answers, or to talk about concerns related to looking after your stoma and resuming your normal activities.

Our role as ET nurses is to assist you in becoming comfortable and confident in managing the ostomy and the pouching system.

There are many people who live normal, active lives after having ostomy surgery.

Your nurse will be able to link you with resources you require to face any challenges you may have while you are in the hospital or after you are discharged.

Before you go home, your ET nurse will talk to you about where to get your ostomy supplies.

Your ET nurse or caregiver will provide you with instructions for who you are to contact after you are discharged from the hospital.

This will include any follow-up care, questions, or concerns you may have about caring for your stoma.

Thank you for taking the time to view this video.

We hope this information has provided you and your family with some facts about your upcoming surgery that will help you to understand some of the basics of ostomy surgery.​

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