After twenty minutes in the bath, he stood up. He didn't put a new bag on yet. He took a warm, damp washcloth and held it over Buddy himself. The heat made the stoma relax and swell slightly—that was good. It meant blood flow was active.
He then tried the trick his ostomy nurse, Brenda, had taught him: The Splosh . He took a 60ml syringe (without the needle) filled with warm tap water. Gently, he inserted the tip into the opening of his stoma. Not deep—just the tip. He slowly, slowly depressed the plunger. A few drops of water went in. He waited. A gurgle. He did it again. This wasn't a flush; it was a "lube job." stoma blockage what to do
The clock on the nightstand read 2:47 AM. Leo lay perfectly still, one hand pressed against his lower abdomen, the other gripping the edge of the mattress. A cramping, colicky pain was building—a wave of pressure that would crest, hold for a terrifying second, and then ebb, only to return a minute later. After twenty minutes in the bath, he stood up
He smiled in the dark. Crisis averted.
Suddenly, a small, hard pellet of undigested nut flew out into the washcloth. Followed by a spurt of liquid. Then a loud, glorious, bubbling fart. The heat made the stoma relax and swell
Six months ago, the word "stoma" had sounded like a medical curse. Now, "Buddy," as he called the rosy nub of his small intestine protruding from his right side, was just part of the team. But tonight, after a celebratory dinner where he’d foolishly nibbled on a few nuts and forgot to chew his mushrooms properly, Buddy had gone silent. The ostomy pouch, usually gurgling with activity by now, was flat. Empty. And Leo’s belly was starting to look like a kicked soccer ball.
Leo felt the pressure in his abdomen release like a popped balloon. The colicky pain vanished, replaced by the dull ache of relief. He cleaned up, applied a new pouch, and drank another small cup of tea.