Tell me all you know about colostomy

[parashooter]

Hi all. I'm 60 yrs. young, 25 yrs. post and growing weary of spending 4 hrs. everyday in the crapper. Also, I suspect I have diverticulitis and experience involuntaries far more often than I used to. Seriously considering getting colostomy. Advice please.

[arndog]

I 'love' my colostomy, platonically speaking. I spend 1 hour every other day in the bathroom irrigating it (basically an enema). Then I have nothing coming out of it for 2 days. I can wear a big bandaid on it. With this method, you don't have to deal with a bag of s**t at all.
So I would encourage you to do it.

[Chris Chappell]

Advice: I highly recommend it. Consult with a doctor / surgeon about your options and decisions.
Read the many threads posted about it by searching for colostomy ^^ above.

[SCI-Nurse]

You can find tons of previous posts about elective colostomy on this forum by using the search functions. Here are just a few:

http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/showthread.php?t=110881&highlight=colostomy

http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/showthread.php?t=56732&highlight=colostomy

http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/showthread.php?t=105972&highlight=colostomy

http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/showthread.php?t=105081&highlight=colostomy

(KLD)

[arndog]

Also, you can check out the UOAA, the United Ostomy Association .... very informative website and there is discussion forum that is as valuable as this wonderful site.
Jon

[JULYBABY]

Hey parashooter.

I had a colostomy for four and half months due to ruptured diverticulitis.. and it was just reversed the tenth of november. some like it on the other hand i didnt but then again i felt at the time like it was a blow to me and had to get out of my funk so to speak and move on. i was able to work the whole time i had it on and they have many different products to where that if you do decide to get a colostomy that people will never really know that its there. People didnt know i had one unless i told them.. so good luck in your choice

[ND_Wheeler]

I have made up my mind to get a colostomy, I am so tired of living my life around my BM, and need some advice. I went and had a consult with a surgeon and he wants to do a Barium Enema before going ahead with the procedure and I was wondering if that is normal and/or necessary. My butt is so fricken sore after a BM that the thought of two days of laxatives and then having Barium stuffed up your "anus" and then to poop out the Barium afterwards doesn't sound very appealing. Another thing is how concerned should I be that the surgeon has never performed the procedure on anyone with a SCI, should that be a problem? One more thing is there new procedures and new technology concerning colostomies that I should be aware of and be asking the Dr. About?

Thanks for all your help.

PS. I am 26 years post C6 - C7 complete.

[sjean423]

ND ..... check out those threads KLD posted about in the thread. LOTS to read here about it!

[jessie.gray]

I have made up my mind to get a colostomy, I am so tired of living my life around my BM, and need some advice. I went and had a consult with a surgeon and he wants to do a Barium Enema before going ahead with the procedure and I was wondering if that is normal and/or necessary. My butt is so fricken sore after a BM that the thought of two days of laxatives and then having Barium stuffed up your "anus" and then to poop out the Barium afterwards doesn't sound very appealing. Another thing is how concerned should I be that the surgeon has never performed the procedure on anyone with a SCI, should that be a problem? One more thing is there new procedures and new technology concerning colostomies that I should be aware of and be asking the Dr. About?

Thanks for all your help.

PS. I am 26 years post C6 - C7 complete.

If the doctor has had experience doing colostomies on other patients, he should be able to do it on someone with a SCI (they'd have to monitor your vitals more frequently, at least that's what they did with me). The procedure can be done either with a large abdominal incision or laprascopically, so you might want to ask him about those options. I had an ileostomy (same thing as a colostomy, but is created using small intestine rather than large intestine) done with a large abdominal incision, and though it took longer to recover from, it was worth it. I don't have to deal with accidents anymore, constipations, bowel programs that don't work, ect. Plus, the ostomy appliances are very easy to change and stuff (all the companies that make ostomy appliances will send you samples to try out).
One thing you might want to stock up on before you have your tests done is some Tucks pads and Calmoseptine ointment. When I had to do a bowel prep and was crapping constantly, these came in very handy for when my butt was sore due to irritation from the medicines and stuff.

You should also ask the people on the UOAA discussion board about getting a colostomy. There are a couple people with SCI's on that board that could help you out too (www.uoaa.org).

Jessie