Join now

Already a member? Sign in

Welcome to Inspire!

What - Inspire is a place where you can connect with people who share your health concerns and find information and advice in groups sponsored by organizations you know and trust.

Why - As a member you can use Inspire to let friends and family know how you're doing, contact others who share your health concerns, receive personalized updates and information about participating in surveys and clinical trials, and more.

How - Joining Inspire is completely free and usually takes less than a minute. Join now!

corner corner corner

You Want to Put Your Finger Where?

quadfatherc4
1 Recommendation

if you are quadriplegic then I'm sure you deal with a bowel program. Probably a suppository by way of a finger in your butt. For me this is a pride issue and has always bothered me very much. A couple weeks ago I had a procedure done where the surgeon created a small hole on my stomach where I can flush warm water through via catheter and induce a bowel movement. It takes 10 or 15 minutes to complete which means I can now go without worrying about having to be bogged down by the program which usually takes two hours. I also had a procedure done where another whole on my belly allows me to slip a catheter and relieve my bladder by myself. I would be happy to provide anybody with information who is interested. These procedures are miraculous and will change your life

Explore topics in this discussion:

Surgery Constipation Pain Paraplegia

10 replies

DianaJ

Hello.

That does sound good and what a relief for you from the time consuming routine of bowel maintenance, but what are the possible complications from the surgery. No surgery is risk free, and could having those procedures cause you any trouble down the road? Can you have infection at the site of the entrance to your bowel or bladder and how is that site protected and maintained?
I am happy that you have found a solution that works for you. I still do the old routine and regularly get ill because of impaction and chronic constipation. I have recently been using injections to make the bowel work and use them only periodically, since each shot costs $80.00, but they work well enough to keep me alive and functioning better than I had been for a long time.
My injury is to the Cauda Equina, just below the true spinal cord, and severely affects the nerves to the bowels, bladder, sexual organs, legs and feet. I have a severe balance problem, since my brain no longer gets the proper feedback from my lower body. I feel as if my head is floating free and when I do "walk" it is like I am quite drunk. I fall often.
I have been living like this for more than fifteen years. Daily pain is up to an eight on a one to ten scale with ten being unbearable. Life is difficult, but I am rewarded with being here to watch my three Daughters and three Grandkids grow.
Anything that could make life better would be worth consideration, but I do not make decisions like these without much information and forethought. My injury was caused by an inept surgeon who hammered directly and repeatedly on my spinal nerves during "routine surgery" causing my paraplegia..... Every operation carries risks. I am so happy yours was successful and that your life is better because of it. I wish you continued improvements in life and health!

Diana

mary508

Would love to hear more info on the bowel surgery. I have not heard of such a thing. My son's program takes anywhere from 20-40 minutes every night but that is with no suppository and almost constant dig stim. What comes out usually does in the first 10-20 min. The time spent after that is just to ease his mind. It does keep him accident free. This procedure you mentioned might allow him to be independent with his program??

Twisted

Please, name the two surgical procedures.

quadfatherc4

the procedure I had done so that I can catheterize myself was a spinoff of the Indiana pouch surgery. With the Indiana pouch surgery they completely remove your bladder and create a new one using your bowel tissue. Instead of completely removing my bladder they simply augmented it meaning they made it larger with bowel tissue. They then created a tunnel leading to the surface of my stomach which I could slip a catheter into myself. I will have to drain my bladder this way every three to four hours in time but for now it's every two to three hours while the bladder stretches. The second procedure is known as an appendicitic colostomy at least that's how I believe it's spelled. I will call in the morning and verify all this for you. As for risks well you're right there are always risks in surgery. Because they are cutting into your intestinal tract there is always the risk of infection and your intestines go to sleep for about a week which means undescribable misery but the light at the end of the tunnel is bright and it is so worth it. As for your question about infections coming as a result of the stoma being so close to the colon nothing to worry about their. The colon is full of very nasty bacteria and any outside bacteria would not stand a chance against it. As for the stoma that you catheterize through to relieve your bladder yes that has a risk of getting infections so you would carry a kit with you that would have hand sanitizing soap, betadine etc.. Tomorrow morning when the hospital is open I will acquire all the technical information you want but I assure you these procedures will improve your life. No tubes attached to you and no fingers going where they don't belong. I can travel now without having to pay a ridiculous fee for a nurse to come do a specialized bowel program. Now I can teach an attendant to do it for half the cost or when I bring my own attendant we have more time to do things because I don't spend two hours tied down. I hope this helps you people and I would be happy to provide you with my doctor's contact information if you would like to speak to them directly.also with the bow management procedure basically this is what you do. You insert a small catheter into a hole in the stomach not very far and you inflate the bubble so that it stays in. You connect to the catheter to a tube that leads to a bag of warm water. Approximately 1000 CC. You then lift the bag and let gravity do the work. It is very effective and cleans you not completely. If warm water does not work you're free to put enemas in there as well but I don't think you'll have any problems with the water. Next time I get in a relationship my girlfriend won't have any special responsibilities like in the past. Emptying my leg bag and whatnot. I did these surgeries because I was constantly reminded of how different I am than everybody else and now I have two less reminders. That can only be good. And I hope it could be good for you too.

lifeback

Please tell me more about your bowel procedure. I would like my life back from my bowel program. How does it work? Any complications?

ekpenyong

Hi quad,
could you please give me the names of the surgeons that did these wonderful job on you, i may have a shot as well. my email address is johnpraisel@yahoo.com

Blondeyvonne

What you are describing I believe has been one of the biggest problems for my now 22 year old son Bradley. Not to mention accidents. This does sound encouraging and I am so happy for you.
Have a good day!
Monica

goldy24k

Wow that sounds involved!

Ward51296

To me, eliminating my bowel program/accidents is more important than walking.

lifeback

Can you please provide more info? How and where does the poo come out? What kind of a doctor did your procedure? What is the name of it? I would like to ask my physiatrist to refer me to the surgeon who could do it. Thanks.

Add to the discussion

Don't have an Inspire account? Join now!

Forgot password?

Group leaders

You