You Can Do Anything After Stoma Surgery – Including Riding Rollercoasters

Don’t let stoma surgery stop you making memories with your kids

School holidays, especially the summer break, are difficult enough to fill with non-stop activities without having to curb your ideas because of your stoma. It’s always a worry that you’re going to miss out on some memory-making with your children because of stoma issues putting a stop to the fun.

You can do pretty much anything once you recover from stoma surgery

One of the very first things that I was told (and I am sure the majority of you guys were too) is that you can still swim with an ostomy: it seems to be the go-to-phrase for surgeons, to reassure you that you will still lead a normal life after stoma surgery. What nobody actually tells you, however, is that you can do pretty much anything once you’ve recovered from your surgery… and that includes going to theme parks and riding on all the biggest and best rides!

Tips for surviving theme parks and rollercoaster rides with a stoma

You just need to keep your stoma bag pretty flat by regularly emptying as you make your way around the theme park, in order to make it as comfortable as possible when the security bar for each ride is pulled across your tummy.

Don’t worry, though, if you do end up realising that your bag has ballooned, just as they’re pulling the safety bar down (as I did, this summer, on the Oblivion ride at Alton Towers). I am happy to report that there was no surprise bag explosion.

Our stoma bags are tougher than we think

In fact, from my personal experience, these stoma bags of ours can take a lot more pressure than we think. A couple of years ago, I was involved in car accident on the motorway. It was severe enough to deploy the airbags but thankfully no one was seriously injured. Once I was over my initial shock, my hand instinctively went to my stoma bag because we’d been stuck in lots of traffic and I knew it was full. Despite my seatbelt doing exactly what it was supposed to do, my bag was still intact ……though maybe a bit fuller!

Happy holidays everybody!

So whether it’s making the most of the last few days of these school holidays, or in the many holidays to come – hold on tight and enjoy those rides with your children, without worrying too much about your stoma bag. (Unless, of course, the real reason you don’t want to ride a roller coaster, is because you’re scared of them…then perhaps your stoma bag can double up as a handy alibi)!