The story of the author’s life as a 22-year survivor of colorectal cancer, resulting in a permanent colostomy.
Excerpt
CHAPTER 12: REGIMEN THAT MAKES THE WHEELS GO AROUND
I started the irrigation at 4:30 a.m. every third morning, 72 hours apart. I have learned that the body and the colon can be trained. The body to wake up at a certain time without a clock, and the colon only to function when water is inserted on a regular interval on the body’s request, (I actually wanted to be up by that time regardless), then the irrigation is a part of my life that makes the wheels go around and not something I have to get up and do on a different schedule.
Now I have a quality life. I enjoy going to bed early and rising early. I have a desire to do the irrigation every third morning starting at 4:30 a.m. During the first year of this regimen, I started downsizing for comfort and discovered that a one-inch napkin pad held on with a 2”X2” long strip of microspore paper tape fit the comfort zone perfectly. I have a system based on time and as long as I don’t deviate I can control my colon.
To prove a point, I have a method I use to be on a four day, 96 hour regimen. I use this method for vacation and holiday planning. I use this system a lot. I have a method I use to be on a five day, 120 hour regimen. I use this method for vacations only. This one takes a one-month training cycle and will work for two irrigation periods, and then I revert back to the three or four day cycle.
Over the years, I developed a plan for myself that enabled me to start with a one-day irrigation and to progress, through practice and determination, to a five-day irrigation plan.
MY APPROACH TO LIFE WITH A COLOSTOMY
For approximately four years I have not purchased any ostomy supplies for daily use, only for stand-by use. I purchase a 2-inch wide large roll of microspore paper tape once every four months and use paper towels to make the patch. By using this method I spend less than one dollar a month for supplies. I feel sure that there are many people who could take this approach and live as I do.
I am pouch free. I wear a small patch every day. Though the actual colostomy never leaves my mind, I hardly know the patch is on my side. I have no discomfort at all. I can eat anything I want but I am very selective at certain times in the irrigation cycle.
I would like to give you a breakdown for the months of June, July, August, September and eight days into October, 1998. What I am writing about now has happened in the last few months. I hope this short overview of my life with a colostomy will be meaningful to the public and maybe to the whole world.
Read more about THE COLOSTOMY: A LIFESAVER and Donald Biggers HERE.
Copyright 2008 Donald Biggers. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.
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