There is so much to having an ostomy it can get overwhelming. The information from your ostomy nurse and doctors simply feels like it never stops coming. Well, it is ok to feel a bit overwhelmed by it. But learn all you can because the learning curve goes down and then only the fun stuff is left. For me, I am always on a journey to learn new things and I have to admit that with my active lifestyle sometimes it is forced upon me. I find myself getting into more trouble trying to do something that I may not be ready for, but I do learn a whole lot of things really fast. One area I had to make sure still worked for my life after my surgery was that I could still trail jog.
Being outside is part of my life. I have built-in time to run every week outside because it brings joy to my life and I feel incomplete without being outside. The feeling of being trapped hits hard and believe me a bad winter that keeps me inside hurts more than just my body. My soul aches to be free and enjoy the peace and order that is in the great outdoors. So finding the right ostomy gear to keep me up and able to do this was my first major hurdle to overcome.
I first started with just learning what bags and belts I would need and what seels may work best for my stoma. I called everyone from pharmacists to major companies that make ostomy gear. Instead of getting the door slammed on me, I learned a whole lot and many people went beyond what they needed to help me out. I appreciate them all and believe me, they are on my christmas card list now. Yes, that is still a thing, and its important too.
The next part that surprised me the most was the impact I now felt from my stoma. Every jog, every run, and literally every step I felt more now. My body felt my stoma and knew the impacts were not the best thing for it. Now it was not an emergency or medical issue, but for my body, I knew that I needed to somehow lessen the impacts that my body was feeling. Researching I ran into the idea of barefoot running.
I am not talking about straight out barefoot, but companies make shoes that simulate barefoot feet and provide protection from the ground. Rocks and sticks are the worst, so be protected by thick yet flexible rubber was the key. I am talking about those 5 finger Vibram shoes. I think they look super weird, but wow they are cool to use.
I was told that these would change my gate. Gate is the actual way you run and I was heel striking with normal shoes and it was causing more impacts on my body. So by forcing a change in my gate I used barefoot shoes. This was a really hard transition because your gate changes. This meant that my calves and quads were now taking almost all the impact of jogging instead of my body. It really was a painful month to change over and get my muscles to grow. But my stoma felt so much better. It was like a massive change took place. Running on the balls of my feet was the change I needed. Give it a try!
