There is an amazing love of baseball in the United States. It could be for some that opening day for baseball is always the most exciting day of the year. This is something that not all of us are born into because some states prefer other sports in general. I didn’t feel this way until I started working at a really cool job. In fact I didn’t even like Basteball untill recently and it has nothing to do with me having an ostomy either. Baseball was not my favorite sport to follow, but it really is a fun one to play. A new yearly work tradition is to take an opening day off and drink whisky and smoke cigars all day and call it a workday. Now, do I love opening day of baseball now? It has got me and my family back into the spirit of baseball and we are more and more finding ourselves outside playing baseball. It is indeed a little more difficult due to the fact that I must take my ostomy supplies with me. Yes, indeed I have a stoma and it does take a little more work to stay safe and not get messy when being outside. It really takes good research and fantastic ostomy products that prevent any mistakes or leaks from happening. Luckily, it’s 2021 and amazing gear is in the works.
So having an ostomy does make things slightly different for me playing baseball than others. That is OK and with a little planning, it goes really well. So some differences I have to deal with playing baseball differ from my normal day is that I know I am going to get more sweaty. This means I need to dress appropriately and wear clothes that breathe and wick moisture away. For this, I suggest not getting ostomy supplies that are made with cotton. Cotton breathes but it does not wick moisture away very well. So I find myself getting really sweaty and staying that way. And if I am getting more sweaty in one area than my ostomy bag prints and everyone knows I have one. It looks a little strange and it gets super annoying because it sticks to my shirt. Or I should say my shirt sticks to it more.
Now it is important to be smart and to be happy. I tend to think that having the correct gear is important. So find yourself a moisture wicking ostomy bag and supplies. This means find polyester or nylon ostomy gear so you are ready to go outside and play. I cannot stress enough that its important to go outside and be in nature and for me do it with my family. Being on the sidelines is nothing that a stoma has kept me from doing. You don’t need to be sitting on the sidelines, instead go out and be active and find the gear and clothing that works for you.
I don’t wear compression shirts anymore because that would just get in the way and possibly cause some leakage issues. So I wear loose fitting clothes when I am outdoors and honestly I like just fine. So grab a mit and maybe a bat and play ball. But we are all different and it is also really awesome to go out and ask the social media people with stomas what they are doing too.
Ostomy Health Blog 