Let's Do Lunch Class at my church

[crickadoodle]

Oh, man, after that one that lasted 7 days, we can't get one to last more than a day!  That's better than 2 or more a day, but still!  The nurse at the hospital the other day put a new kind on that I thought would surely work.  The wafer part is very thin and wrinkles with the wrinkles.  She gave me one to try at home and hers came off after one day and then mine came off after a day and a few hours.  I really thought she was onto something with this type of ostomy appliance.  There has to be something that will work.  Well, I have 5 of another kind I got at the hospital when she was discharged, and I used one tonight.  I hadn't used that kind yet, so I'm hoping something about it will make this kind work best.  There are so many different kinds and I guess we just need to keep trying them until we find the one that works best.  I should be getting a box of the kind like the one that lasted 7 days this coming week.  One lasted 7 days and then the next two lasted one day each!  Frustrating!

[blessed]

I know your frustration.  I went through this with my mom.  We never did find any that stayed on very long.  We used a lot of tape around the edge.  That helped a little, but still...  I know it gets you mom down too.  I feel for you both. 

[niki]

  There has to be something that will work. 

crick....i don't know where to send you, but there has to be some reason why you're having so much trouble with the appliances you're using...i've been a nurse for 38 years and i have to say i never liked colostomy care, but i never had a patient that couldn't keep the appliance in place for at least a couple of days.....is there something about her skin that won't hold onto the appliance?

[crickadoodle]

Ostomy nurses are so nice and are trying to help. They have other kinds of appliances I think we'll be able to try, so maybe we'll find the perfect one for her.  Hope! Hope!

Niki -- Well, her skin is wrinkly, of course.  She has a dip on one side and the other side had a wound that is now healed, but it kinda dips too, now.  She no longer has any broken skin, so that is a good thing.  I have some two pieces I'm using right now.  The first one just lasted about 12 hrs.  I have another on, and try to take the bag off and clean it every so often.  Maybe I can get it to last this time.  I have some convex one piece bags coming in this week.  That is the kind that lasted one week -- well one of them, with the other two lasting one day each.  Just when I think we are on to something, again we are not!  The ostomy nurse said the stoma looks good and shouldn't need a convex, but they were already on order.  If they work, though, that's what we'll go with.  It is baffling, for sure.  She did tell me to just use soap and water to clean the area, instead of the wound cleanser I have.  Maybe something is in that, she thought, but I'm still not having success, so I guess it isn't that.  She also has a mucus fistula that produces a lot of liquid -- nasty stuff.  That sometimes leaks and gets on the wafer and it is powerful stuff.  I think it undermines the adhesion of the wafer.  You know?  It surely doesn't help any.  We use to pouch it too, but now we just put a gauze or some type of material to soak up the mucus.  It is unpredictable, though.  Sometimes it drains a lot.  I dislike dealing with it more than the ostomy, to be honest with you. 

Blessed, I do use tape too.  Anything to get it to last a bit longer.  Yet, if poop stays on the skin it'll irritate her skin, so I really need to change it. 

[LINDA RN]

Crick,
Just wondering......did they use Tincture of Benzoin on her skin before applying the one that lasted a week? I think they have other products like Benzoin to make the skin real tacky and adhere to the adhesive....just wondering. Sure praying you find something that works. A miraculous healing would be so wonderful also.

[crickadoodle]

No, I was the one who put that bag on -- the one lasting a week.  I think it lasted so long because the stoma was still swollen from the surgery and that actually helped.  I do use the barrier wipes, which leave the skin tacky.  The last one I did lasted about 32 hours.  That's the best since the week long one.  Now, that is with a belt too!  Still, this is better than before the surgery, because I was changing them twice a day at the least!  One day 6 times!  I'm believing we'll figure it out yet.  Thanks for the prayers.

[crickadoodle]

My sixth class starts tonight and then the next two months I'll be doing it as part of the continuing education classes of our local university.  We'll see where it goes from there.  As long as people want to hear, I will share this wonderful way of eating.  I'm planning to spend time today revamping it a little, so I can try it out this way before doing it at the university.


Oh, and about my mom's ostomy appliance -- we've found some relief.  I "accidently" cut the hole wrong one day which made me have to re-cut it in another direction.  This made the hole bigger.  Well, that made it last longer!  I decided to cut the hole bigger on purpose and try that out.  I get her bags to last about 3 days or almost 4 days!  This is like the best news to me.  I've also started giving my mom some herbs for her blood sugar and that has her numbers so excellent.  This morning -- 94!  Yesterday in the one teens -- both AM and PM!  Oh, and my husband had all the signs of a kidney stone on Sunday, when we were visiting my brother for his birthday in Alabama.  He drank a mixture of lemon juice/olive oil at the Olive Garden, where we stopped for lunch.  By Sunday night he was no longer in that horrible pain and hasn't had pain since! 

[Joyful Friend]

Crick, does that get rid of stones? JF

[crickadoodle]

That's what we read and he hasn't had any more pain since Sunday, so it has worked for him!  We are rejoicing about this.

[Kathie]

Crick was that equal amounts of lemon juice and olive oil for the stones?
Thank you!
Hugs.. Kathie in Fl.

[crickadoodle]

He drank about 1 tablespoon of each.  I also read that if you drink some warm water with lemon juice each morning you will prevent the stones.  And the standard, drink lots of water helps too, of course.

[Joyful Friend]

Thanks, Crick.  JF

[LINDA RN]

So what is with this epidemic of kidney stones? Our daughter passed a few more in July, her husband in Afganistan who has never had kidney stones, has now passed 2 and is waiting transport to Germany until he passes other(s). Now our son called this morning just out of ER trying to pass a 4mm stone in the ureter. He says he has been drinking alot of tea. I have always felt the sodas were the culprit but now wondering about the tea, or is it the sugar in the tea? Have had many patients passing them at work also. All three reduced their sodas but still admit to drinking them.

[crickadoodle]

One of the things they tell you not to drink is tea, actually.  I did a lot of reading about it recently, with this incident.  The hot weather is what is probably at the bottom of it, because they aren't drinking enough water.  They should drink distilled water, because there are no minerals in it.  They really should try the olive oil and lemon juice, as it really works.  In the past my husband went the regular route of doctors, lipotripsy (spelling?) and all -- but this really worked and surely beat time in the ER.  We did this within hours of the first pains, though.

Afghanistan is super hot, so that would make sense that he got them there, even if he never did before.  The statistics say that the most common people to get them are white males between the ages of 30 and 50 who live in the southeastern part of the US.  My husband fits all that.

[crickadoodle]

Oh, and it makes me wonder why doctors don't try something like this before all the other things.  I know they do suggest drinking lots of water and moving around.  I love finding more natural ways first.

[LINDA RN]

Son told me today he had also been drinking alot of Gatoraid. Said he is working in the heat and did not want to guzzle tons of plain water and wash out his electolytes, so he was drinking alot of Gatoraid. I know the Gatoraid is loaded with corn syrup. I think there are powdered minerals that can be added to water. Seems like that should be better. When you are sweating out the potassium and sodium you have to replace it or get in trouble. I told him to squeeze lemon in his water to keep from guzzling and I know the lemon is good for preventing/dissolving stones. The one thing the urologist said that has had some positive results is once a day, lay on your stomach on your bed hanging your upper torso over the edge. He said the stones form then drop down into the bottom of the kidneys. Hanging upside down floates them out before they can continue to enlarge.

Thanks for the remedy, Crick I will pass it on to son and son-in-law.

[crickadoodle]

I hope it helps him.  It is so painful, and it is such a relief when you are pain free after having been in so much pain.