Weirdest Places People Have Changed/Emptied Their Bags

We all experience urgency regardless if it is bladder and bowel; yet when we have surgery and an ostomy formed the urgency changes – it becomes “Oh no we need to empty” or “Oh I need to change my appliance!” Both can be upsetting if we are nowhere near a bathroom or somewhere private. I took to Twitter and asked people where the weirdest place they emptied or changed their appliance was and I thought it might be interesting for others to read.

For me I was in Whitby and on a pleasure boat ride on the North Sea and all of a sudden I realised I needed to empty and quickly! I was also heavily pregnant with Button at the time so my bump was pushing against my pretty full bag and was causing me discomfort. I was lucky that there was a toilet on board but the swaying from the waves didn’t make it a fun experience!

Here are the other replies I got:

• “In a back corner of the magic kingdom in Disney world when there wasn’t a toilet close enough to wait before I leaked, luckily no one noticed”.
• “Behind a huge bush in a local park”.
• “In a forest in the middle of the Scottish glens on the way back from Birmingham because it was stupid o’clock with no services nearby” – I replied to that saying I had to empty on the hard shoulder of the A66 on may way to Edinburgh 6 weeks after having my surgery!
• “The hard shoulder of the M3”.
• “Emptied it many times behind a bush and park bins, used the leaves to clean the bag too!” – I have had to do this when I have been walking the 3 miles home from work.
• “Back row of a U2 concert following a bag leak”.
• “In a nightclub – not the best experience”.
• “In the men’s toilet. Ladies toilet was out of order”.
• “When I had my temporary ileostomy, we’d been for a walk in the woods and when we got back to the car I knew it wouldn’t last the journey home (20 mins) So, I emptied in the grass the side of the road car park. Was on a deserted country lane and the smell of cows was rife”.

Hopefully this let’s new ostomates know that sometimes you just do what you gotta do to make sure you are comfortable! Where is the oddest place you have had to change or empty your appliance?