ran out of sleeves..

[darick]

Hopefully some of this will amuse you...

I've been irrigating for ~2 years. Made my life and output more stable than going with the flow for sure. I usually go 2-3 days between gatoring, trying to keep a Monday,Wednesday,Friday morning schedule, lasting over the weekend.

I usually re-use a sleeve for a few months, until it gets nasty looking. Last Monday morning I tossed that days used sleeve, time for a fresh one next time. But on Wednesday morning, I realized I didn't have any extra supply of them, doh! I tried to order more on my usual website. But their payment processing system was down, so I couldn't even do next day orders. And the only ostomy supply store within 30 miles does not carry my sleeves.

By Thursday, I have to irrigate, or stuff will just start flowing on its own, could feel the fullness/cramping building up. So I ended up jerry rigging a sleeve from random stuff, was quite amusing for me. First was the so far empty bag I had been wearing for a few days, I sliced open the bottom of it. This was not long enough to be safely into the toilet for the purge. So I took a water bottle and chopped the top and bottom off, to act as an extension/funnel. Since the bag didn't fit securely into the bottle, I added a ziplock bag around both to catch any spray. Was able to infuse myself with water, then quickly get the two piece bag sealed up before the aftermath. Besides holding the bottle between my legs, the whole process worked as expected and pretty much cleanly. Tossed the cut bag and ziplock into a sealed bag after, and got rid of the bottle. Then took shower as usual to clean up.

Later Thursday, I was finally able to order more sleeves (and other supplies) with next-day shipping. So by Friday afternoon I had my re-supply. Since the weekend was going to be busy, did a Friday evening gator to catch up again.

I have learned my lesson now, will always check for spare sleeves before tossing another one.

[ot dave]

Mission accomplished....I was chuckling all the way through the description. Reminded me of the 2 weeks I spent hunting in Colorado while living in a tent at 9000 feet.....Yes, I irrigated in that tent...it was quite the set up!
Glad you got your sleeves in....things should get easier.

David

[darick]

I haven't experienced a tent gator yet luckily. The most rogue I've had was hotel rooms, still in USA so far. I can only imagine my next international trip, I'm sure I'll use a lot of bottled water, not trusting tap water.