Negative aspects of irrigation?

A forum devoted to "Irrigation" - a procedure that may be helpful for some people with left-sided colostomies.
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Kmartin3
Posts: 17
Joined: 2021-05-27 00:37:07

Negative aspects of irrigation?

Post by Kmartin3 »

Hi everyone, thanks for your advice and advance. I had an odd experienced when I changed providers. My first provider was very progressive, hooked me up with someone to teach me about irrigation, and always well. Unfortunately, the second provider is not as progressive. First my internist told me that I had a huge stomach, after I went in with A twisted stoma preventing outfit. After my surgery, all of a sudden I have it extremely protruding ostomy. The ostomy nurse I seem to discourage irrigation, saying that it distended me and caused problems. That is completely contrary to everything I’ve heard at this group. Has anyone else experienced that? One thing the nurse did help me with is that I didn’t need to put so much water in. Outside of that, I’m thinking of asking for a referral outside of my usual providers back to UCSD where they were expert and did not shame me for irrigating.

I’m wondering if anyone else has experienced this? Does irrigation cause more and more folds of the intestine to develop? How many times can you have the long piece of the ostomy cut out and still have enough intestine? I worry about this because it appears that I will soon need a second revision. Thanks 🙏
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ot dave
Posts: 2119
Joined: 2010-03-04 19:26:19

Re: Negative aspects of irrigation?

Post by ot dave »

Hi Kmartin,
Welcome to the boards.
In my experience, I have not had any of the issues you are mentioning. I have irrigated successfully for over 10 years now. I've never been bloated from it. It has never caused any issues with my colon. I even had a hernia repair without any issues with/from irrigating.
Your ostomy is simply the hole that the stoma protrudes through in your abdomen. The stoma is the part of your colon that was attached to the wall of your abdomen to allow for output. In general, you have about 5 feet of colon before any surgical interventions. So, in my case, I have almost all of my colon left as I had a cancerous tumor in my rectum (almost at the end of the large intestine). There was no need to remove any more of my colon at that time. If you had an injury or ruptured your colon, or had Chrohn's disease, then your colon might have been impacted further up the intestine. It is possible to have the entire colon removed and have what is known as an ileostomy. Instead of your colon going through the ostomy, the end of your small intestine would come through the ostomy. I think as long as you don't have any other issues, you should be able to hang on to most of what is left of your colon with a revision. In fact, with the revision, it's possible to not lose much, if any of the colon as they would simply push your colon further back behind the abdominal wall and attempt to reattach it at that point.
Don't allow anyone to "shame" you for irrigating. If it works for you, GREAT! Each one of us is unique, and how we manage our ostomies is just as unique.
Hope that helped some.

David
stage III rectal CA 12/08 - colostomy 3/09
"Gatoring since 2010"
Psalms 91:2
Kmartin3
Posts: 17
Joined: 2021-05-27 00:37:07

Re: Negative aspects of irrigation?

Post by Kmartin3 »

David thank you so much for your encouraging words, and educating me about the length of the colon. I really don’t like having this big thing sticking out of my stomach! I got really lucky with my first surgeon – she ends up being the head of surgery for UCSD San Diego, it is a bright capable woman. I’m hoping to be able to go back to her for help with this problem :-)
kitmcc
Posts: 214
Joined: 2005-10-02 06:40:41

Re: Negative aspects of irrigation?

Post by kitmcc »

Hi K, I've been an irrigator for 18 years, wow - just did the math. Like you, my first team was pro irrigation and taught me well. As the WO nursing staff changed, they went from pro to a bit con then back to pro again. Not sure what was going on in the background regarding their training, who's in charge or something else. I have never been 'distended' from irrigation, or had any bowel or gastro issues traceable to irrigation. My stoma-ignorant GI, who I otherwise love, tried to dissuade me at first, and I listened. But he agreed under interrogation he had no evidence against it. I've heard things like the colon will get lazy with irrigation, but whenever I've stopped for a day or so, it is certainly not lazy. But everyone has different risks and those need to be balanced with the rewards. Regardless, I agree that no one should be allowed to shame you for irrigating, or any other option you choose. Good luck to you, and I hope you can get back to the more supportive MD.

Kit
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