Colostomy: Does Anyone Out There Have Experience With Irrigation???!

Colostomy: Does Anyone Out There Have Experience With Irrigation???

My daughter recently underwent surgery for rectal cancer. Due to the invasiveness of this cancer, surgeons had no choice other than to give her a permanant colostomy. She is an RN, so she does have much knowledge with how one works, however having one personally is a whole new ballgame. She has talked about a method called "Irrigation". Does anyone have any personal experience of this method, to share? I've searched for info on the Internet, and gained knowledge, but I guess what I am looking for are personal experiences, so as to pass on to her and hopefully give her optimism and hope.

Much thanks to all of you.

Vickie

Vickie, if you have a look at http://st80.startlogic.com/~ostomate/irr... that describes what irrigation is all about.

Your daughter needs to a) have her surgeon state that irrigation is an option for her (it's not available to all colostomates) and if they give her the go-ahead then b) she needs to speak to her ostomy nurse and get her to show her how it's done.

Basically, it means that people give themselves a water enema via the stoma which should return all the stool at once (the whole process takes approx an hour) and leaves them stool free for 24 - 48 hours (depending on how your body reacts). Instead of wearing a bag, people can just wear a stoma cap or gauze bandage over the stoma as they are not likely to have any output.

I know many people who irrigate and love the freedom from having to wear a bag it gives them. Others have tried it and decided it's not for them. Whatever works best for the individual :)

Good luck.