Hans Olsson: “I feel secure with SenSura^® Flex”

Hans Olsson was operated on in the autumn of 2007 and is now living with an ileostomy. He now feels better than he has for 10 years. His ileostomy has meant that he can enjoy the food he eats and with SenSura Flex on his stomach, he feels safe and secure.

Hans is in his early fifties and lives in Sweden. The reason for his ileostomy was an inflamed and ruptured large intestine. His stomach troubles began more than 10 years ago and, through the years, he has attended hospital many times. Hans had pockets in his large intestine, which meant that a great deal of the food he ate got stuck in these pockets. This resulted in his large intestine often becoming inflamed and neither a change in diet nor medicine had any influence on this. Hans felt really ill on-and-off over the years. He was always constipated and when his intestine became inflamed, he would begin to sweat, get a fever and often get a really sore stomach.

Emergency operation
In 2007 Hans was admitted to hospital as once again he was not feeling well. Then his intestine suddenly ruptured and Hans underwent an emergency operation. “For once I was in the right place at the right time,” Hans says laughing. “I was lucky I was there when it happened. Otherwise things could have gone badly.” On weekdays, Hans works as a salesman and spends a lot of time travelling for work. He does not dare to think about what could have happened if he had been on a long journey.
In the months following the operation, Hans felt very tired and weak. He was sleeping a lot and could go to bed straight after breakfast, only to get up again for lunch. But, after a while, he got his strength back and is enjoying his food again.
“Since the operation, I have been really enjoying the food I’ve been tucking away. For a while, I was gaining too much weight so now I have to go a bit easy on the food,” he tells us.

Living with an ileostomy
As Han’s mother also had an ileostomy, he was, to some extent, aware of how things would be after the operation. Hans thinks that, unlike before, he feels so much better now and so it has been no problem for him accepting the ileostomy. Since the operation, he has only been using 2-piece ostomy appliances. However, the first appliance he was given after the operation was not a good one.
– “It leaked a lot and the skin around the ileostomy became irritated and red.” Since April 2008, Hans has been using SenSura Flex instead and is very satisfied.

Hans likes SenSura Flex as he finds that it provides him with the following:

• The adhesive plate sits incredibly well and always keeps things dry
• It doesn’t irritate
• It is easy to change bags
• It gives me security, so I don’t have to worry at night time and when I am out on my travels

“As well as the base plate sitting so well against my skin, it is also very kind to my skin,” says Hans. “I have only ever had a problem with it leaking once”. As Hans spends quite a few nights in hotels, it is important for him to feel secure and he really does when he uses SenSura Flex. He can sleep without any hindrances and move during the night without having to worry. He changes the plate about twice a week and it doesn’t leak.

Choosing the right appliance
At the same time as Hans was trying SenSura Flex, he also tried SenSura Click, which has a different coupling.
“I prefer SenSura Flex because it doesn’t stick out as much and it fits me better,” Hans thinks. The thing that has bothered him is that it is hard work taking a dip in public and also finding good clothes. Although his friends, colleagues and customers know he has an ileostomy, he likes to dress in a way that conceals it. Due to the emergency operation, the ileostomy ended up quite high up and this means the ileostomy appliance ends up above the waistband, so the bag has to hang down over his trousers. So, it becomes difficult to have his shirt tucked in, which he thinks is a shame.

Reversing the ileostomy
Soon, Hans will be meeting a doctor to investigate whether it will be possible to reverse the ileostomy.
 “I’m not sure what I’ll do. Since I am feeling so well now, I don’t want to risk getting problems again,” he continues. For Hans, there are both advantages and disadvantages involved in reversing the ileostomy and he needs to carefully weight these up against each other. It is a decision that he needs to take time over.

“Since the operation, I have been really enjoying the food I’ve been tucking away.”