My sister had a colostomy very high in the intestine. The result is permanent diarrhea because the food is not yet solid. It also prevents her body to be hydrated. She is very thin and dehydrated. Is there anything for this condition?
Can You Help?
Can You Help will post patient and clinician questions regarding wound, ostomy, and continence care for comments and advice. Please send your queries to the Editor: bzeiger@hmpcommunications.com.
I have a patient who had a failed mesh placement and a panniculectomy and who has developed at least three separate fistulas with a very large amount of output (3-4 L/24 hrs). Any suggestions? I am using an Eakin wound management pouch hooked up to wall suction.
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I am a physical therapist but have recently been added to some wound care. I have a patient, 50 years old, who had an unclosed abdominal surgical wound that first developed a fistula and has now, due to food intake, become a pseudostoma located in the wound bed. I read the article "Colocutaneous Fistula Management in a Dehisced Wound: A Case Study," but if anyone else has advice I would appreciate it greatly. We are going to begin the technique suggested in the above article.
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I am unable to find anything definitive about the scope of care for an aide in home care changing the wafer of a patient daily. The patient insists on it being changed daily. My hospital is saying that a home health aide should be able to do this task. Opinions?
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One of our new home health care patients has a 2- to 3-year-old ostomy. The patient is in her late 70s and has been independent with her ostomy care. She was referred to home health care because she developed a bright red blood blister on the stoma located at 1:00. It bleeds when she cleans the stoma or touches it. Our RN case manager is using zinc powder on the area. The peristomal skin is fine. Can anyone provide direction as to how to treat this?
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My stepmother is young (about 52) and has multiple sclerosis that seems fairly advanced. She can only move one arm, as all of the other limbs are pretty much useless. She has a history of VRE UTIs.
My father died unexpectedly and he was my stepmother's principle caregiver. About 2 months after his death, her new caregivers noticed something on the base of her spine/tailbone area and she was advised to have it checked out. She ignored them until it really began to bother her; she had it examined a few weeks later. By then, it was a Stage IV pressure ulcer invading the muscle and has since gotten into the bone. She was diagnosed with osteomyelitis and her treatment included antibiotics. After a couple months in the hospital, she was released into continuing care. For personal reasons, she took an overnight airplane trip and came back with a temperature of 101˚ and was sent to the emergency room where it was determined her Stage IV pressure lesion had worsened. She underwent at least two surgical debridements (at least one involved scraping the bone) until her bandages became saturated with blood. The surgeon initially scheduled a surgery but cancelled at last minute, thinking perhaps she had stabilized. The next day, an artery burst within the wound, and my stepmother told me she felt her life draining out with the blood. They rushed her into surgery to control the bleeding; the surgery also included more bone scraping. After about 3 hours, she was stabilized and put into the ICU, where she remained for a few days.
Can anyone provide a rough idea of my stepmother's true prognosis? The surgeon is optimistic. Oxygen therapy has been suggested to help heal the wound. Please respond to the Editor at bzeiger@hmpcommunications.com.
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My 80-year-old husband had an ileostomy on April 5, 2011. It was fine until home health care was discharged. He was wearing an ostomy belt and after a couple of days, it pulled the plastic flange away from the adhesive on the wafer. He uses a two-piece pouch and wafer. Then it leaked and caused a small sore that bled. The surgeon had him fitted for a 9" belt and he was in heaven for 2 days and it did the same thing.
We left the belts off and the surgeon said to try and keep the wafer on for at least a week to help the healing. However, after 2 days there is bleeding and it then leaks. Now there are 2 sores and they are getting larger and deeper.
I have changed eight wafers since May 24th. I've tried the stoma powder, milk of magnesia, and air drying. He is hurting and I'm frustrated and hurting for him. Any advice you can give me would really be appreciated. He is talking about having it undone and I don't want that because his colon doesn't work and we didn't have a life for 8 years. We live in Bakersfield, CA and have been told there is no one (WOCN) in the vicinity who can help.
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I have developed what looks like a heat rash under my urostomy wafer. I use Nu-Hope one-piece pouches. This has only happened two other times in the 40 years I’ve had an ileal conduit. Once the rash cleared with the help of a doctor and nursing care and over-the-counter Maalox and the other time one Diflucon pill cleared the rash. This time nothing is working. I'm going through a box of 10 bags in no time. I'm upset and miserable because I'm not able to heal and it is affecting my life. Please direct me to a good source for help!
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