When wearing a stoma guard like the StomaShield everyday, you can be spontaneous. Spontaneous adventures are usually hard to do with an ostomy, otherwise. Earlier in the year (late April) my wife and I took a long road trip across the southwest. From Texas to New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and back home. An amazing journey that we have been dreaming about since we were married in 2012. We camped nearly every night along the way not just to save money, but get out and enjoy nature at it's finest. Car rides, or even road trips like this are so comfortable with the StomaShield stoma guard.
While we were in Zion National Park, Utah, my wife said, "I would love to go horseback riding". A quick search found they have horseback rides in Zion. We made a reservation for the next morning. Our campsite was just outside the park, to avoid the crowds. The next morning we were scrambling to get up the mountain to Zion. The parking situation and shuttle rides up the mountain took way longer than expected. We get off at our stop by the coral and our group were already riding off. Oh no! I ran as fast as I could, paid our fee, signed our life away on a waiver, threw my right leg over a horse and off we went to catch up with the group. Did I mention I have NEVER ridden a horse before? I have an ostomy bag, on a 3 hour horseback ride, and no idea what to expect. Fortunately, these horses are amazing, and they ride these trails everyday in a single file line. All you have to do is hold on. They know what to do. Super easy, thankfully.
Without the StomaShield stoma guard, I couldn't be this spontaneous. This adventurous. This free to go the things I dream of doing, or my wife dreams of in this case. I'm so glad we did this. We have memories that will last a lifetime.
Our nice little campsite outside of Zion, right next to a creek. Perfect.