www.incontinentsupport.org

Just curious as to how many who have intractable serious nonstop fecal incontinence opt for a colostomy, or would consider a colostomy if it got that bad. If not, what would be your reasons for declining? I'm just curious, as ive often said if i were to wake up tomorrow with no control of my bowels, id give serious thought to getting a colostomy done. insights are most appreciated.

Peace out!

Rob

_________________
"We cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love" Mother Teresa

"THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!" - Captain Picard from Chain of Command, Part II

I would only consider a colostomy as a last resort,....NO, NO, NO.

Why not John?

_________________
"We cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love" Mother Teresa

"THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!" - Captain Picard from Chain of Command, Part II

A colostomy should be considered as a last resort. When I was working as an RN I did colostomy care on my patients. I can be a lot of work and you will have to do it yourself. If not done right the bag can come loose and you have to take care of it right away. While I am not fecal incontinent if I was I would much rather just change my diaper.

_________________
RetiredRN

I am bowel incontinent and would not consider a colostomy unless absolutely necessary. I do not believe just being incontinent is a good reason for a serious surgery such as that. With a colostomy/ileostomy/nephrostomy, you are opening up a hole in your body that can cause major issues. My grandmother has issues with her kidneys and stomach from cancer and has both a nephrostomy and ileostomy and she fights frequent infections. It makes her very ill at times. The bags can also leak causing much embarassment. Sometimes my diapers can leak but generally, its minor. My incontinence will not hurt me. I just had to learn to adapt. Being bowel incontinent is not the end of the world. I’m not even sure you could find a surgeon to perform such a serious surgery for something such as a colostomy just because you’re incontinent. I’ve suffered from complete incontinence for 10 years and that surgery has never come up as a potential treatment.

never would consider that surgery. a simple bowel program handles 90+ percent of my bowel issues.
any thing that gets by that is easily handled with the brief that is already in place.
Im an oddball who started with bowel incontinence about 12 years ago and a few years later started
having urinary issues to boot.

As I have noted previously, an empty bowel cannot have a fecal accident. Routine daily morning enemas (with gastroenterologist's approval) ensure a day without an accident. No need for surgery.

--John

I can definitely see y'alls point.. I never considered those reasons. Perhaps i wouldn't opt for one.. its just the thought of having no control of my bowels and the accompanying odor just would present a very difficult situation. JD, you raise a very important point

By the way, im just wondering why i didn't get any responses on my post regarding help with a shoe drive. Maybe I should have said that these drives can be conducted in your local town? Anyway, any help would be appreciated.

Peace out!

Rob

_________________
"We cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love" Mother Teresa

"THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!" - Captain Picard from Chain of Command, Part II

It is kind of a last resort thing. I've been dealing with really heavy bowel/bladder incontinence for most of my life but despite the challenges having a permanent hole on your body.... I mean there can be so many more things you would have to worry about. I understand the odor being a major fear. But for me as long as you can avoid the odor in public using plastic pants and if necessary using something like Nullo that should do it. But the odor during changing is a major trouble for me, something I have never gotten used to.
And for some of us using enema's daily can have bad side effects and I have been warded off them by my doctor. But that's not to say it doesn't work.

A close friend of mine has had a colostomy for the last seven years, due to surgery for a cancerous tumor in his rectum. His wife takes care of him beautifully, so he has been quite active in our community. However, the issues with his colostomy are taking their toll, and his health is declining. For me, a colostomy for fecal incontinence would be like killing a housefly with a stick of dynamite. The critter would indeed be dead, but the collateral damage would be disastrous.