Objective: to understanding the perception of ostomized patients affected by colorectal neoplasms regarding their quality of life. Methods: qualitative research, with 15 patients in outpatient treatment. Data collected through semi-structured interviews. To organize and present data, the content analysis technique was used. Data were interpreted according to the social phenomenology of Alfred Schutz. Results: three thematic categories emerged: Quality of life: social, psychic, and spiritual influences; Personal and environmental adaptations considering the new reality; and Complications of living with an ostomy. Conclusion: patients with ostomies resulting from colorectal cancer, in general, have variations in the way they perceive their quality of life. In the physical domain, they consider the device to be vital in the treatment, but it generated, a priori, social isolation, due to embarrassment, requiring them to adapt to the new reality as to diminish its emotional impact, which frequently presents in the form of sadness and non-acceptance.