2016 WOCN® Society & CAET Joint Conference

Andreanne Gousse
Student - DESS - CPA



As I am going to participate to the panel discussions «What We Wished our WOC/ET Nurse Had Told Us», the only expertise I got about that topic comes from the past four years living with an ileostomy. I had my surgery on September 25, 2011 after being diagnosed with a IBD a year earlier. My ET nurse gave me a lot of relevant informations while I was at hospital. Nevertheless, through the years, there are some other informations I would have wished she told me. For example, I would have liked she gave me some clues on how to react and what to say, while travelling, if a customs officer asks me what I have on my abdomen. I would have liked to know why customs officers can be doubtful in these situations because some people use false ostomy bags to hide illicit substances. Also, my ET nurse has explained me in words where my stoma would be, but I would have liked to be marked before the surgery in order to visualize its location. Moreover, I would have liked that my ET nurse gave me brochures and flyers about associations of ostomate people. There are a lot of activities and conferences for ostomate people, but I just begin to know them. The thing I remember the most about my ET nurse was her desire to make me see the reality about my boyfriend. She has explained me that this type of surgery can lead to a separation for some couples. Alone in the hospital, I admit I was really afraid of losing my boyfriend. After the surgery, we live plenty of emptions and we can easily dramatize some situations. Maybe I would have liked her to tell me a lot of couples were happily going through a stoma. Maybe these discussions could be made in couples with the ET nurse. Finally, in the past four years, I spoke to a lot of ostomate people and, unfortunately, some of them did not even have the chance to meet an ET nurse. It is important, for ostomate people, to prepare themselves and to learn how to manage their stoma, so it should have more ET nurse in hospitals.

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