going
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GOING INTO HOSPITAL
What to expect
Going into hospital can be unsettling for most people and for some it can be quite terrifying. We hope this short guide will settle at least some of your anxieties and equip you (albeit only slightly) for the experience.
Going for tests
When going to the hospital for tests you may be required to attend as a day patient or even as an out patient depending on the level of tests to be undertaken.
You can find out more about the tests that may be done by jumping to TESTS
DIAGNOSIS
This will largely depend on the tests that have been undertaken and the interpretation of the results by the relevant specialists.
Either your GP or the hospital will contact you as soon as the results are known. Your GP may want to see you to discuss the implications. A date to attend the hospital will be given to you and you will then be put in touch with the STOMA CARE NURSE.
THE STOMA CARE NURSE
Changes within the NHS structure have lead to the introduction of "hospital groups". This means that instead of all the hospitals within a region being responsible for all conditions, each hospital within the group will specialise in certain aspects of care e.g. heart, paediatric or cancer etc.
By centralising skills it creates "centres of excellence", which it is believed will be able to provide a better service to the customer. In reality it often means that the customer will be required to travel or become an in patient at a hospital which is far from being the most convenient to themselves or their family.
There are approximately 400 centres in the UK offering specialisation in bowel surgery. Each of these centres has at least one clinical nurse on staff specialising in stoma care who will provide practical advice and sometimes home visits after the surgery is complete.
These nurses rarely have other
responsibilities and are able to devote their entire day to caring for and
advising patients, within their region, who have been through the
experience of stoma surgery.
I am sure you will have many questions needing answers as to how the
surgery will affect various aspects of your life. Diet, travel, sport and
sex are some of the most common place. It worth making a list of your
concerns and talking them over with your stoma care nurse at your
pre-operative visit.
Remember, never be embarrassed to ask no matter what the subject matter. If it is important to you, then it must be discussed, and your nurse has been specially trained to help work through any worries you might have.
In many cases the nurse is able to find someone who has already had the same surgery as you and can get them to come and talk to you about their own experiences. YOU MAY HAVE TO REQUEST THIS!
The fact is, that no matter how well informed your nurse may be, knowing about it isn't the same as living with an "altered body image" and contact with existing ostomists through the self help groups can be invaluable. For more information on such groups, check our SUPPORT GROUPS list.
WHAT IS A STOMA?
The term stoma is derived from Latin meaning mouth or opening.
This is the point where your bowel contents will be discharged into a bag that you will be wearing once you return from the operating theatre.
The stoma is intestine that is brought to the skin surface and then turned back on itself (like the top of a farmers Wellington boot). Like all body parts, every stoma shape and size is different. It might be large or small, flat or proud, oval, round or apparently misshapen so do not worry if it doesn't look quite like the pictures you see here.
As intestine has no sensory nerve endings you will feel no pain within the stoma itself, though the opening to the abdomen may well give some pain initially (hardly a surprise considering the skin has been cut open during the operation).
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going into hospital