{"id":5430,"date":"2025-09-25T10:18:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T10:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eakinostomy.com\/GB\/?p=5430"},"modified":"2025-09-25T10:19:28","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T10:19:28","slug":"how-long-does-it-take-for-it-to-get-into-a-regular-routine-after-chemotherapy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eakinostomy.com\/GB\/blog\/how-long-does-it-take-for-it-to-get-into-a-regular-routine-after-chemotherapy\/","title":{"rendered":"How long does it take for it to get into a regular routine after chemotherapy?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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How long does it take for it to get into a regular routine after chemotherapy?<\/h1>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n
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Because my chemo started just quite soon after I’d had the stoma at the start it was still quite round, and I think probably it’s quite swollen as well for a while until it settles down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, it eventually then became oval. So, I have an oval shaped stoma now and when my bags are precut they’re cut into that oval shape<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That changed whilst I was having chemo. The shape of my stoma changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think it most for most people that happens, and it happens within a few months of your stoma being created, but mine did change, so I had to get different bags.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, after chemo finished, I took chemo for three months and then after that I would say it took a good three to six months after that for my bowel to start to settle down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I always say to people when anyone asks me, how long does it take for it to get into a regular routine?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You’re told by the surgeons and the stoma nurses will normally tell you it takes about six months for your bowel to settle down. But I would say when chemo comes in between, it took me a good year until I got into a routine, and it does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I didn’t believe at the start. I didn’t believe it ever would get into any kind of routine. Just thinking this thing is never going to settle down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s a nightmare and I was changing it, when I came home from hospital, I was changing it five times a day, which at the very beginning that was really horrendous. I came home from hospital with a flat standard bag and it wasn’t, I think because of the velocity of output at the time and your body’s getting used to it that I would say that anybody else, this may not be right for everybody else, but certainly as soon as I discovered a convex bag, it made a big, big difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I came home from hospital, I think because I was just using the standard bag just immediately after getting the stoma, that gave me a lot more leaks. So, like I said, I was changing the bag five times a day and then I had really, really sore skin. That’s when I found out about the barrier wipe and use the barrier wipes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But my bowel, it did settle down and it did settle down so within a year of me having the operation. It very much settled down and I said, you know, I look back when people say to me is it ever going to settle down, this is a nightmare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes and no, because I was there, but trust me, it really does. It does settle down and it’s now into such a regular routine. Sometimes I even forget I have a stoma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Practical tips for coping with an irregular routine<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your stoma will change shape and size, tips for managing this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n