Hi Meredith, Here is an article I wrote for New Mobility magazine about the Peristeen system. http://www.newmobility.com/2014/04/peristeen-for-bowel-management/
As a "survey of one", I've been using Peristeen since November 2013. As far as the A.D. issue, I'm a T10 para so I'm just below the cutoff for A.D., but it is a very good question and one I would discuss with your doctor. The way you go about getting it is to either ask your doctor and/or nurse practicioner about it or write an email to the folks at Peristeen, made by Coloplast: us-perist...@coloplast.com Or call Rita Ward at Coloplast at: (612) 337-7856 The entire system is small and fits into a bag the size of shaving kit and/or small woman's purse. I travel with my Peristeen system, it fits easily into my suitcase and/or carry on bag on a plane. It is designed to be used while sitting upright--on the toilet. I use the system while sitting on a standard commode. I have full use of my hands and arms--I find it very easy to use. Setting up the system from the box takes about a minute. It takes about another minute and a half to fill up the water bag with tap water, attach the rectal catheter. The next step is inserting the catheter, filling up the catheter balloon and adding water to the colon via squeezing a a rubber hand pump. On average the entire process--filling the water bag with water through pumping water into the colon (bowel)--takes me about 4-5 minutes. Once water is in the colon, the catheter is removed and it is a matter of sitting and waiting--I find it a good time to catch up on reading or listening to my favorite podcasts. Time to empty the colon (bowel) varies from about 20 minutes to 40 minutes. For me it takes 30 minutes, like clockwork. Everybody is different, for some reason I find I empty in three "waves" about 10-minutes apart. It still amazes me how much comes out--at least 3-4 times more than I've ever managed to empty with "digital stim", suppositories, or using standard enemas. Again in my "survey of one" I give the system a 10. Since starting using Peristeen in November I have had zero accidents and (despite risking Murphy's law) for the first time since I was injured 29 1/2 years ago, I don't think or worry about bowel accidents. I also feel much better. As I wrote earlier today, I recently had my yearly KUB (kidney, ureter, bowel) X-ray to check for kidney stones. Over the past decade or so these X-rays always included a statement by the radiologist that said something like "difficult to see because of stool", meaning I was full of s#%t. My urology nurse practicioner showed me my current X-ray and compared it to a previous X-ray and said "you can see that you have much less stool in this X-ray". In my old X-rays it was easy to see that my entire colon (bowel) was full, even though I had done a bowel program the morning of the X-ray. In the current X-ray it is easy to see that the 2nd half of my bowel (1/2 of my transverse colon and my entire descending colon=2 1/2 feet of colon) is empty. Probably way more than you wanted to know but really important to me. Bob V On Jul 27, 2014, at 12:02 PM, jume9...@comcast.net wrote: > How do you go about getting the Peristeen? Do you have to sit on a toilet to > use it? How difficult is it? I had another evacuation machine (P.I.E.) a > while back that was just huge and difficult. It also caused me to have A.D. I > have seen the video but I would love some personal reviews. > > Meredith > > > > From: "Bob Vogel" <rhvsh...@mac.com> > To: "Bill Lang" <blan...@verizon.net> > Cc: "quad-list" <quad-list@eskimo.com> > Sent: Saturday, July 26, 2014 12:43:54 PM > Subject: Re: [QUAD-L] Peristeen > > Hi Bill, > > Thanks for the kudos. I've been using the Peristeen system since November > 2013. It has changed > my life! No more accidents, plus I feel much better. I had an KUB (checking > for stones in kidney, > ureters, & bladder) X-ray and my Dr. compared it to my previous ones--in > every previous X-ray there > was a notation "much of area is occluded by stool". In this X-ray the entire > 2nd half of my large investing > (bowel) was empty. Before Peristeen I was literally "full of s#%t". > > Bob V > > On Jul 26, 2014, at 12:10 PM, Bill Lang wrote: > > > Thank you Bob. > > Great article. > > > > I am waiting on CPC codes for Medicare. Should be coming soon. I am > > expecting to do training within 3 weeks. > > > > Sent from my iPad > > > >> On Jul 25, 2014, at 13:32, Bob Vogel <rhvsh...@mac.com> wrote: > >> > >> Hi Billy, > >> > >> Here is an column I wrote about it in New Mobility in April. > >> > >> http://www.newmobility.com/2014/04/peristeen-for-bowel-management/ > >> > >> Bob V > >> > >>> On Jul 25, 2014, at 9:19 AM, Bill Lang wrote: > >>> > >>> Guys, > >>> > >>> Has anyone used this Bowel Irrigation system? > >>> I am awaiting trial kickoff to begin and could use input. > >>> > >>> http://www.coloplast.co.uk/Peristeen-Anal-Irrigation-System-en-gb.aspx#section=videos-and-animations_100 > >>> > >>> Billy Lang > >>> > >>> Sent from my iPad > >> > >
