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One thing that always has not been something I have enjoyed is shopping. This simply didn't end when I found out that I was going to get a stoma. I am not a fan of the whole social aspect of shopping. With COVID-19 lingering around shopping is even worse because people are all on edge or judging. Rather you have a mask on or not is a huge sticking point and people who even don't like the regulations judge those who don't follow them. It is a vicious cycle and it has caused me to really not want to go out and shop for food or my own ostomy supplies. But there are benefits of shopping around and learning all you can from different locations. So I want to go through a little of my journey to learning what ostomy gear worked best and how I ended up finding it.
I would say the most important thing about finding the best ostomy gear is to stay curious. Don't simply find something and settle for it. There may be something that works 40% better for your body and if you are not constantly looking you will never find it. I don't mean that you should become obsessed with shopping, but try and take some time a few times a year to see if something new exists. To be honest I think there are some easy ways to do this but that takes a little bit of social work on the phone. But I will get to that later.
The first step to finding good ostomy gear is to find something local. Local pharmacies are usually the first step I tell people to go out and find. This is because if they need some emergency gear fast, at least they know what is available at their local pharmacies. This is also a good place to go and ask questions to the main pharmacist of the store. No, don't talk to a cash register employee unless you are in a small enough town and store that the pharmacist runs it all. I usually think that pharmacists are great for your own health and mean the most because they actually have to stock items that people like. So there is a reason behind what they do. Talk to them about different situations and see what may work best for being active versus sitting at a desk all day. That connection is important, so I suggest you make it and learn all you can.
I think the next best place to learn and to shop is online. The different stores online are pretty amazing. There are several large brands that provide incredible information on all the products they sell or that are in production. This is when I suggest you go social and pick up the phone a few times a year to call these huge companies and see what is new. The relationships you can build on the phone are also important for customer service and for advice on new things you may be doing. When I went to the mountains I wanted to know about products and elevation and I got an amazing talk with an engineer at one of the big companies that really helped me out. So shop around a few times a year and find what works best for you.
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