irrigation

[fromzstore]

my mother is 87 years old had colon cancer at 39 has had a colostomy ever since she has always irrigated and she thinks hers is different and says she would not be able to go unless she does this she has been diagnosed with demensia and i fear one day very soon she will not be able to do this and i don't think i can do it for her so will she be able to just use a bag or did they used to make them to where they had to be irrigated

[ot dave]

Your mother's colostomy should work just fine without irrigating. Unless she had some constipation issues that necessitated the need to irrigate, but even then, the colon will still do its job. No, you won't be able to do it for her as you wouldn't be able to "feel" some the nuances involved, such as the pressure that increases due to the water, the feeling of needing to let the water out, etc.
She should be able to use a pouch without difficulty.
Hope that helps.

David

[steiconi]

why don't you start helping her irrigate now, and learn how much water, and how she reacts when there's enough water.
I usually just use the same amount of water each time, I think it would be easy enough for someone else to do it if I couldn't.

But the bag will most likely work if you don't irrigate. A stoma is just the end of the intestines sticking out of a hole in the stomach. I suppose some might be really tight, but I don't believe that any stoma was actually designed just for irrigation.