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Ostomy Community
This patient support community is for discussions relating to ostomy, colostomy, diet and nutrition, gastrostomy ileostomy, jejunostomy, ostomy reversal, sex and relationships, stoma, urostomy, and wound care.
Ostomy nurse
by worried878, Feb 23, 2008 09:52PM
Just browsing ...I am a nurse in this area and if anyone needed help with their ostomy appliance or questions, i would be glad to help...I am an enterstomal therapist
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I am worried and need help. My husband is a parpalegic and has a colostomy. We have made the trip in between the US and South Africa 3 or 4 times. The last time we did it we had some problems. Once my husband is on the plane he is stuck in his seat until we reach our destination. In the past we had given him a couple of immodium to try to "clog" him up for the airline part of the trip. Last time it didn't work and we had to change his bag 3 or 4 times in his seat. No one said anything about it, but we were on a full airplane and people couldn't help but smell what was going on. Do you have any suggestions? We have been thinking that may be he should limit his intake of solids for several days before we fly. We will try the immodium again. We have an irrigation kit but don't know how to use it. (He was in the hospital in Nov. for a bowel obstruction. We asked to see an ostomy nurse and she said she didn't want to come talk to us because he had had his colostomy for 12 years. Guess she thought he had everything under control. If we had everything under control he wouldn't have been in the hospital in the first place!!!! Crappy small town hospital.) Anyway, we are leaving on March 9 and we are both in sort of a panic about this. Please we need some advice. We have a 15. 5 hour leg and a 18hour leg coming back where he will be stuck in one place.
Thanks, Jenny
I guess your husband has been home for a while now - do hope that things are going OK for both of you.
Irrigation is really an enema through the colostomy, to clean out most of the material so there won't be any discharge into the bag for several hours, even a full day or more. There is special equipment made by the companies that make ostomy bags, and you need some special instruction aboiut using it - which you can get from a WOC nurse. There is a group of people who are irrigting, and helping each other with tips and experience, on the discussion board managed by the United Ostomy Associations of America (UOAA). You can see that at this link: http://www.uoaa.org/forum/index.php (and look for the "Irrigation" title). You can read as much as you want without registering, but need to register in order to post your own question.
Some people irrigate so they don't have to wear a pouch. Others because they can't wear a pouch well due to irritation of the skin. It is a good option for many people who have an END or SIGMOID colostomy where the discharge is usually well-formed. If the person has loose bowel movements, it might not be as good an option.