I do have a stoma, the nurses etc. will call it an Indiana nipple. I asked one time why a 'nipple' and they could not really answer that. Mine is about 2-3 inches to the right of my belly button. My scar runs from my --well--groin area, up and around my belly button and stops about 4 inches above my belly button. I hardly know its there (only because it has been there so long) but it comes in handy when someone is dressing me--they line the middle seam of the slacks/jeans up with the scar! My SP was on the other side very low down sort of where my leg and belly meet. I have no idea if there is a scar.
As for scars, get used to them! Over the years they will come. My back and right back thigh looks like a road map. But that is because of flap surgeries. I used to be very picky about how my hands, elbows and places that people see every day, looked. I would see guys with very nobby elbows that were calloused over and the middle knuckle much taller and calloused than the rest of their hand. I have been lucky and have aides that put lotion on every day. My fingers have stayed straight, but my right hand fingers are curling 'up' a bit. Not so that it looks wierd or even close to it, but it is harder for me to 'make' them curl.
Your not vain, its normal for people, especially women, to want their skin to look nice! Once the SP is out, the place it was will close quickly. Once the incision is healed to minimize the look of it, keep it lotioned or moist with something. I have been seeing a advertizement about a cream that is supposed to keep scaring to a minimum.
I get my catheters from my pharmacy now. I pay for them, but they last a long time. I buy a box of 30 and they deliver them with my meds. They are:
Brand: Mentor
description: Self-cath coude' olive tip with guide stripe (useless! the stripe)
size: 16 french
reference number: 816
They are clear/white color with an orange end. The first ones I used were closer in color to the red caths, but were a bit browner, shorter and a bit stiffer than the red ones. Go to the pharmasist and see what kinds they have or can get. The clearer colored ones are better as you can tell if the end is harboring gook or growing things! :) Can also watch the mucous come out! In the beging it is usual for so much mucous be produced that it will clog the SP or even the cath. Run water thru the cath and try again if this happens. If your SP clogs, irrigate. Do this on top of your daily irrigations. Sometimes nurses may not want to irrigate an extra time--get the doc to write irrigate daily "and" prn!! Be sure to tell them the way 'you' want it done! Usually what they are vtaught is different, such as 'not pulling out' they will let it drain out. That does not get the mucous out. Once they have done it a couple of times and see the amount of mucous come out, they will give in. If you get a hard head,. call the agency and ask for a different nurse! They will provide the irrigation kits too! Tip: whatever they do not use--KEEP! It will come in handy sometime! I have a bottom drawer of a dresser I use just for such things. Urine sample bottles, iodine swabs, tweezers, lubricant packs, pads of any shape or form, tape--can 'never' have enough tape. Extra drainage bed bags, legs bags-for a while-60 cc syringes, just anything!
This is getting long. Ask if you have any questions! take care,
Dana and ?
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
----- Original Message ----- From: "~LittleQuad~" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Dana Miller" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Quad-list post" <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, January 10, 2005 9:03 AM
Subject: Re: [QUAD-L] Help....
wow i did it for the 1st tie at home! i have been dreading this enormously! it just looks so awful, as i hate any scratch! thanks so much for the note, i must had read it 10Xs! i will try and be on a strict 3 hour regiment, unless needed before...as i can still tell when i need to go...the nurse at hospital said i'd most likely lose it, thank goodness i haven't!!
so you have a stoma also? where is yours? mine is like 2 inches to right of belly button, and the SP is 2 inches below...temporarily! i don't think i'll have mine a year...i go back in 2 weeks and he mentioned removing it...hope so, it hurts my feelings to see how it rubs my skin and stretches it, my eyes water every time i see it...i must be a vain person....haha
thanks a lot dana!!
Dana Miller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
It will be fine! It will produce a lot of mucous at first because part of
your intestine was used and that produced mucous! It "will" bleed, the edge
of the hole is tender right now. I kept a SP in for nearly a "year" before
'trusting' that weird thing in my belly. Make sure you irrigate it!! At
least daily. Do not be gentle about it! Put 60cc's of sterile water inn
the syringe and shove it in! Then pull 30cc's out! When you pull out, do
not pull if you get resistance--the end of the catheter may be against the
wall of your new bladder. Irrigate again. I irrigated at least twice or
until it pulled back clear. It is amazing how much mucous can build up in
24 hours.
Between cathing, cover it with 2 x2's or a 4x4. It will keep the irritation
of clothes down. When you do cath, make sure you get far enough in--the
first few weeks of cathing, if my doc did it, I would be flabbergasted as
far in she would put it. The type of cath I use, only about 5-6 inches
sticks out in order to get it all the way in. I really should measure that.
I will let you know what kind of cath I use as those red rubber hospital
kind might as well be a piece of spaghetti! Plus they drain slowly.
Do you still have a SP in? Using that at night gives the hole a chance to
rest and the sides to heal a bit. If the cath will not go in easy, if there
is resistance, take a deep breath and let it out--relax! And keep your
water drinking up! It will help expand the new bladder--altho if you are
cathing only every 4 hours, I would cut back on the water, or just sip it
now and then. If you drink a whole glass it will hit in about an hour and
you will need to cath every 20-30 minutes, if that much, as your bladder
will not be able to hold that much liquid at a time. If your are leaking,
up the caths to 3 hrs.
It will take quite a while to get used to it and to the new feelings you will get. They re-arranged your insides! They will be sore. A picture will help. Sometimes, no matter what you do, the durn thing will 'not' go in. Relax for a bit and have someone else try. The angle of the cath will help. When it goes in the hole have it pointed down a bit towards the new bladder.
The main thing is to be patient! It "will" work--stay on ditropan or
whatever you use for bladder relaxation. What kind of cath are you using?
The red rubbers are the softest, but because of that it does not have enough
stiffness to get thru the tight times, but will eventually if you lubricate.
I forgot about lubricating--its been so long since I have used it, I forget
about it.
Basically its one of those things that the more you 'fight', the worse it is. Then suddenly it will go in, and you have no idea what you did! I will be signing off for the day, but be optimistic, it will work and see ya tomorrow! take care,
Dana and ?
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
----- Original Message ----- From: "~LittleQuad~"
To: "Quad-list post" Sent: Sunday, January 09, 2005 5:52 PM Subject: [QUAD-L] Help....
Hey gang! I've had my surgery and my doctor says it was a success. I'm not
so convinced! The hole gets clogged up and fluid build-up. It's very sore
and bleeds when messed with. I can hardly stand to look at it, much less
cath thru it! My mom tried and she couldn't figure it out. So I'm going to
try it in a little while. Doc says do it every 4 hours. Ugh, help! Is it
supposed to do that??? I'm going to get a pic taken of it and send,
hopefully this week.
Thanks guys!!
Amye
