Seven years ago I would have agreed with most of you about bowel care, but after suffering a twisted intestine and going through a lot of misery and finally getting it stabilized. I was under the care of a great Gastroenterologist. He had me keep track of everything I had to eat for 90 days, but also had me keep track of the length of each bowel program and the results. I almost didn’t believe him that he would be able to help if I did this, but thankfully I did.
He suggested that I do a bowel care every day, preferably first thing in the morning after a cup of coffee or tea and cetera. I thought he was crazy, that would really shorten my time to get anything else done while I had an attendant! But the last four or five years had been so difficult with bowel care I thought I would try. He also started me on Align, Benefiber, and Miralax plus a multi vitamin. It took a couple months to find the right combination, and I worked closely with him. Presently we use only digital stimulation, and my usual routine takes 15-20 minutes. Once in awhile I will have a day or two without anything, and I have an occasional bout of diarrhea, but that is sort of normal for anyone not necessarily just the quad. I do have an overhead lift so that I can sit on the commode chair, and I am sure that is a great plus for this program. Being a C4 quad I cannot sit upright very effectively so that my body is relatively straight in the commode chair, so the lift is a great blessing. We all know that every one is so different, but I thought I would share just in case it helps somebody else. But I credit my gastroenterologist for caring enough to work closely with me. I also have a colonoscopy every five years and he has been very happy with those results. Joan in very windy and very tired of the wind Reno J
