Don't go backpacking with your stoma with this

If you are anything like me being outside is simply a part of life.  I live to be outdoors and to enjoy the beauty and wildness of nature.  The fact that I have a stoma has nothing to do with the joy of being outside and has nothing to do with stopping me from enjoying it either.  Don't be held back by your stoma and think that you are now not capable of exploring the great outdoors.  Instead, use your fantastic search abilities and willpower to overcome things that get in your way and learn to work with them.  I have found that having an ostomy surgery has not harmed my life at all but has opened it up.  I am one alive and safe, and two able to still live a happy and productive life without fear.  So let's start getting into the fun part of life and one of those things is backpacking.

 

I first want to let you know that even though most people are fully capable of backpacking with a stoma you should check with your doctor first to make sure you are capable of the physical task without injury.  Sometimes you need to train for months to get into shape in normal conditions. If you just got out of surgery, you may need to slow that process down and train a little longer and a little slower for safety.  So just check and make sure you are able before injuring yourself.

 

Now the biggest part of backpacking is first being in shape enough to do it.  That means training for the trip you are going on.  First, if you are planning on walking 15 miles in a day.  Make sure you can walk that amount first.  Then think about all the extra stress a backpack will add.  That means you need to train to be able to do it.  For me, I like to start by walking incline on the treadmill for the amount of time I will be hiking.  But I don't start full out.  I start by doing 20 minutes.   Then adding another 10 to 20 when my body is able to do so happily.  So make sure you are preparing correctly.  After that, I decided to add weight onto my hiking and even hike my local park with the extra weight.

 

But that didn't happen before I got a good backpack that fit my body.  Now I prefer a backpack that fits your body and allows you to use a hip belt.  This allows you to transfer the weights pack onto your hips and makes the whole experience better.  But some of us are not able to do that due to our body type, and the location of our stoma.  So search around and try on bags before you buy them to see if you can even get a bag with a hip belt.  If not. That is ok too. you just need to start backpacking in an ultra-light way. 

 

This means you can still backpack but use half the weight of the normal person.  One it is usually a little less comfortable and a little more costly, but still completely doable. I like to use a mix of lightweight backpacking because it makes my whole trip more fun.  So be careful find a bag that works for you and go out and have some fun.