Fall Hike with a Stoma

Minneapolis MN

19 October, 2020

10:19 AM

Description

This time of year gets me incredibly happy. The leaves are all turning and the weather is starting to cool down at night. This means that Fall is literally in the air. It is truly the best time for me to enjoy the great outdoors. My heart longs to be outside and to enjoy the peace that comes with the great outdoors. Now sometimes people think that anyone with a stoma shouldn't be active or enjoy the great outdoors. To those people, I just have to smile and give a little chuckle because those of us who have had an ostomy surgery certainly belong outdoors. The reality is that those who now have a stoma generally live a very normal and active lifestyle as they did before their surgery. The psychological gap that some people get hung up on is usually the only thing stopping someone from going out and being active. That gets me to what I am about to do and that is preparing for a long day hike with my stoma. There are a few things to think about when you are planning a long day hike and that goes double for those who do have a medical condition. The first thing that really comes to mind and that is with anyone planning a full day hike and that is conditioning. Is your body actually able to go on the task you are planning? My plan is to set up a series of day hikes that are going to take place in a mountain range in the Western United States. This means that my body needs to be able to hike 10-25 miles a day and do up to 5,000 feet of elevation gain in a single day. Most people are actually capable of doing this, but if you have a stoma you are also now more prone to hernia and abdominal weakness. So you need to make sure your body is capable of actually safely doing what you are planning. My own workout regime has started very small and I have built up over the last 4 months the ability to hike 20 miles in a single day up and downhills. But this didn't happen overnight and it has taken me months to even get close to that goal. This is just one big area to work on and think about. The next area to me is the ability to carry all your ostomy and normal gear along the way. I am a gear junky and certainly like to be prepared for any situation. But the older I get the more I understand that less is usually more when hiking all day long. I try my hardest not to bring extra things that are not needed because I can usually go further and see more cool things if I go lighter. So for me, I like to have a backup of all my ostomy gear for the day and night. If I am stuck out in the wild for a night I need to know my body will be safe and I keep a spare of everything on me. Then I usually keep a waterproof jacket or poncho with me to make sure nothing gets wet if it starts to rain. Going through lots of different elevations can change the weather quickly. So these are just a few things to think about and I hope they help you on your day hike.