Sewing Ostomy Pouch Covers

My children mean the world to me. When my youngest daughter Katharine was diagnosed with Crohn's disease at age 19 and in college, my heart was broken. After all, my oldest son needed to have his colon removed at age 13. Katharine made the decision to have her colon removed at age 23 after 3 years of suffering from the disease. She also opted for an ostomy and stoma, which again broke my heart. However, I had raised a brave and optimistic (plus beautiful and intelligent) girl. I was there through her surgery recovery (along with her boyfriend of several years, who will become her husband in 3 months).

So onto my story about my passion and creativity. We found out that there are ostomy pouch covers (who knew?) and ordered one. The covers keep the warmth of the contents away from the body and also keep the contents hidden so the wearer doesn't need to view. The cover was very stiff and we had a hard time getting the opening to fit correctly. So I researched online and found a very nice lady to share her pattern with me. I made several modifications, made several trial covers and finally produced a cover that Katharine was very happy with. Since I also love to recycle, we would go to the thrift stores and buy any clothing that was suitable for a cover. Her doctors always comment on her pouch covers. When we lived closer to each other, she would raid my inventory and I loved it.

By the way, I am a former Home Economics teacher, so sewing is a passion of mine and I find it very relaxing. I decided to offer my pouch covers for sale on ebay and Etsy and the response has been tremendous. I do offer them for less than $6; this is at least half of the price of other creators. I just simply enjoy the work and selfishly enjoy the wonderful comments I receive from customers. I usually include extras in the purchase mailings. Many customers are new to the world of having an ostomy and very nervous about how things are going to go. I tell them the story of my daughter; she went on to grad school and is now a Genetic Counselor. She swims, runs, rides horses and hopes to have a large family.

I do cut and sew just one size. Custom work is too time consuming for me, as this is more of a hobby than a money-maker. I have found that knits are very popular with many ostomates. I was very pleased when I saw a picture of a girl on the Crohns website wearing one of my covers.

Of course I use Fiskars scissors and have several pairs. My son who lost his colon at age 13 is now 39 years old and doing well. He does not have an ostomy, as they performed what is called a pull-through of the small intestine.

When I asked my daughter how she could have such a good attitude about her ostomy she said "Mom, you always taught me that no matter what we go through there's someone else who has a worse issue."