Everyone has their own system for storing their ostomy supplies, the same way that everyone has their own system for organizing their pantry. Having worked as an organization guru, I’ve seen a lot of pantries in my day.  Some people have a spotless pantry, where all the food types are together and neatly placed with the labels facing out, while other people have a less methodical pantry where new additions are placed wherever there is room. I think they call it organized chaos.  For some, the time upfront to keep their pantry neat and tidy saves them stress when they’re cooking dinner a few weeks later and need to find that jar of tomato sauce they bought. For others, the time up front is not worth it because they know there’s a jar of sauce somewhere and they’ll find it when they need it.

Ostomy supply storage habits are the same.  I haven’t seen as many ostomy supply storage systems as I have pantries, but I have seen a few and have noticed a lot of similarities to pantry organizing.  I’ve seen closets and cabinets with ostomy boxes crammed in at the back, split between multiple shelves and mixed in with everything else they’ve got stored. I’ve seen supplies meticulously organized and combined down to a “grab it and go” change pack like you’d expect to be in someone’s emergency kit.

I’m curious if a person’s pantry style predicts their supply storage style…  I think mine kind of does.  I tend to fall into the organized group of people, but with both my pantry and my ostomy supplies I slack when I’m busy.  It takes work to maintain a well-oiled routine and sometimes that work is harder to prioritize even though you know you might pay for it later.  The reason I try to keep my supplies organized is because I want my bag changes to be as quick and seamless as possible, and that starts with making sure I have everything I need easily accessible. When I’ve got a window to change my bag, I know I’ll be stressed if I can’t quickly find everything I need.

Read on for three ostomy supply storage techniques to help you keep track of how many supplies you have on hand and to make grabbing your supplies easy when it’s time to do a pouch change.

Together but Separate

What you need:

⇒ Ostomy supplies
⇒ A shelf or empty space in a cabinet or closet, or a medium sized box
⇒ A small box or basket

The process:

Clear out a shelf in your hall closet or part of the bathroom cabinet so you have some dedicated space.  Line your boxes up by type so you can easily grab one of each supply on change day (or in the event of an unexpected change). If you use sprays, scissors, a pen, a mirror, special soap or anything else that doesn’t come in a one-use package, put them into the basket so you can grab those quickly as well.

Another adaptation

Get a large box to store all of your supply boxes in.  If you have a bunch of little boxes and need to organize them better, shoe boxes are a great way to separate the different types of supplies while still having easy access to everything in one place.  This is useful if you choose one of the methods below as your primary organization strategy, but have ordered your supplies in bulk and still have a bunch that you haven’t used or separated out.

The perks:
This method might take up the most space but you’ll sleep peacefully knowing everything is in one place.  It’s also a great visual way to tell when you’re getting low on something.  You could even put an “order more” sign on the last box or two as a reminder.  For efficiency during your pouch changes, this method works best when combined with either of the two other methods mentioned below.

Grab & Go

What you need:

⇒ A Mini-Cooler, shoe-box, travel bag, or something else compact that you can fit everything into
⇒ 3-6 Changes-worth of each of the ostomy supplies you use for a change
⇒ Any other accessories you use during a change (like scissors, powder, trash bags, etc)
⇒ Ziplock bags (optional)

The process:

Choose a small mini-cooler, lunch box, shoe box, travel bag or anything else you have on hand that you like and set it aside as your storage container.  Use zip-lock bags to separate out different categories of supplies.  If you’re using a travel bag (Coloplast and Convatec both have nice ones), you probably won’t need ziplock bags because the travel bags already have multiple compartments for you to utilize.

Decide how many changes you want to keep in your box.
-Count out the number of each of the supplies you use during a change (adhesive removers, skin barrier wipes, rings or seals, and whatever other one-time-use supplies). Put them into their own zip lock bags or just group them all in one zip lock bag so that you can just pull out one of each when you’re ready to do a change.
-Separate out the number of base plates and pouches to match the number of changes you’re planning for.
-Put the tools you use each time in a separate ziplock bag (like scissors, a pen, a mini-mirror, or whatever other reusable items you use).  Another bag would be good to hold whatever kind of napkins/paper towels/tissues you use to clean your skin.

Fill your box with all your supplies in a way that makes sense for you.  It helps to add the bottles and tubes first and then to fill the rest of the zip-locks, pouches, base plates and any other items around them.

Another adaptation

Buy a craft or sewing box like this one.  They often have different ways you can add customized compartments so that you can keep all your supplies in one box.  This might be an option to explore if you want a one-stop-shop for more than six changes.

The Perks:
Easy to grab, everything you need is contained in one place. Easy to transport between where it’s stored and where you do your pouch changes. Easy to find in the dark, if there’s a faulty supply you’ve got backup handy, and in theory, the mini cooler keeps your items semi temperature controlled since it’s insulated.  I started out with the mini cooler method and have gradually shifted more into using a travel bag, because I travel pretty frequently that it saves me a step. I found this method of having an easy-to-grab group of supplies to be especially useful when I was living in multiple places, as well as for traveling, by reproducing one for each location or to fit in my luggage.

Individually Wrapped

What you need:

⇒ Zip locks or disposal bags that come with your supply purchase
⇒ Ostomy Supplies
⇒ Bin or Box
⇒ Small Basket

The Process:

The easiest way to do this would be to set up an assembly line of your products and then just make packs like you would goodie bags.  I’ve seen people do this with zip lock bags, but you could probably just use the disposal bags that come with your supplies (less waste). To maximize your time, you’d want to do a lot at once since it’s a process, but then you’d be set for a while.  Storing the packs is pretty easy, they should easily fit lined up or piled in a shoe-box-sized plastic bin. If you use sprays, scissors, a pen, a mirror, special soap or anything else that doesn’t come in a one-use package, put them into the bin or a separate basket so you can grab those quickly as well.

The perks:
This is probably the quickest grab and go method you can come across. It takes a lot more time up-front, but makes packing for travel pretty easy and certainly makes prepping for a bag change pretty mindless.  You can prep as many individual changes as you like in one sitting so it’s great if you like to do a bunch of work in bulk and reap the benefits for a long time.

How do you store YOUR ostomy supplies?

I LOVE organization!  What are your tips and tricks for keeping track of your ostomy supplies? How do you store your ostomy supplies?