The great outdoors can be experienced simply by walking out your front door.  Some people live in the midst of nowhere and other live in a city.  All bring with it many similar experiences no matter what you actually think. The sun still shines, the wind still blows, and the wind still blows dandelions all over my law.  Yes, yard work always needs to be done and if you have a stoma, it still needs to be done.   I was worried about being active when I first found out I was going to get an ostomy.  Lots of scary situations ran through my mind and believe it or not the thought of a terrible lawn after years of careful grooming frightened me.  I needed to be able to still get outside and get my grass mowed and my trees mulched.  It does sound a little strange to be worried about the lawn, but it’s an area I take pride in.  One major thing newcomers to ostomy need to know is that they can still be active and still lead a normal life.  It simply takes a little effort and knowledge to be able to live a normal happy life.

We all know that knowledge you gain is important and it can actually determine how you will enjoy your life.   I would say is that you should take your yardwork seriously and the information of your surgeons and ostomy nurses more seriously.  They will tell you to take it slow and I wholeheartedly agree.  Don’t rush into doing more work than you are able to after ostomy surgery.  You have lots of new gear to try out and to get working correctly.  I found that testing out new ostomy gear was my favorite way to see what worked and testing for free is truly the best.  So I found out from a veteran in the stoma world that there are major companies online that have free samples.  This is really important when starting to work outside because you don’t know what will work for your activity level.  You don’t want leakage although I have made many a joke about personal fertilizer that has been very much shunned by my wife. But the truth is with amazing gear that is just a bad joke.

There are regular medical things you need to know.  It is most likely pretty obvious that now you are more prone to hernias than the average person.  This is due to having a stoma and the fact that your abdominal muscles are rather weakened due to the surgery.  So don’t go full-on landscaping mode right away. Take the time to work up to taking care of the lawn.  If you have a riding mower great, if you have a push mower, start by splitting up the task.  What you used to do in an hour break up into four days.  Yes, do a quarter of the yard at a time and see where your body is at.  I like to test out new gear in the yard.  I try guards, bags, seals, and anything that can improve my life. Take your time and enjoy your beautiful lawn while you are working and testing gear.  It is a pretty cool thing to be able to do.  

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