Hi Meredith, Great question and one I *meant* to address, but I was trying to finish up and get my dog to the lake to swim.
Before Peristeen I did a bowel program every day and if I had a social event in the evening I would do it twice a day--I wasn't getting a good amount when I did my program. Now that I use Peristeen I do a bowel program every other day. I empty so completely that I feel totally empty. For the first few months I was doing a *digital stim* check every day and there was nothing. AND every other day when I do my program I start my program with a *digital stim* check and there is nothing there, noting comes out. When I first started using Peristeen I did the program every day. Every person is different--for me every day seems to be overkill. I discussed this with my doctor and she said "If doing a bowel program every other day is what works for you, and you aren't having accidents and are feeling better (I was having stomach pains, I *think* because my bowels were full) then keep doing this". My doctor--who is also trains people to use Peristeen-- says the *average* person uses the system every other day, If my memory is correct, my doctor a BM from the average non-disabled empties about 7" of bowel. And it is about the same for the *average* SCI doing a bowel program. The colon (bowel) is five-feet long, it has been shown on X-rays and ultrasound that a bowel program with Peristeen empties about 2 1/2 feet of colon (bowel). Once again, probably more than you wanted to know, however since I wrote my column for New Mobility I have all of these facts bouncing around in my head. All the best! Bob Vogel On Jul 28, 2014, at 7:34 AM, [email protected] wrote: > Bob, How often do you use Peristeen? > > In a message dated 7/27/2014 10:04:11 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, > [email protected] writes: > 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: [email protected] 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, [email protected] 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" <[email protected]> >> To: "Bill Lang" <[email protected]> >> Cc: "quad-list" <[email protected]> >> 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 <[email protected]> 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 >> >> >> >> > > =
