HELP! My 13yo is getting Ileal Conduit in April

Hi
You asked about bathing and swimming with an ic, I am not 13 but I do have an Ileal Conduit and on the days that I change I take the old bag off and get in the shower with nothing on it, believe me it feels so good to have the water on it, in between changes I shower with the bag on. I also go swimming, I don't know about diving as I am a 71 year old lady and am past that stage of my life. Also when your son has his procedure done and you get his supplies include in them some Eakin Seals, they will prevent leaks, they work great. Best of luck to your son, he sounds like a great kid.
Barbara

Yep. I'm an engineer. At least that was my career path. Don't really do engineering anymore.

I just thought "What about an alarm watch" and did some internet searching. Never knew there was a "bed wetting store dot com" until it came back from a Google search.

Here is another thing they have there in case the watch isn't enough. Clips on the clothes and does significant vibration in addition to tones. They have a lot of gadgets related to bed wetting for kids that I see no reason couldn't be used by adults.

www.bedwettingstore.com/Bedwetting_Alarms/malem_ultimate_bedwetting_alarm.htm

Mike

Mike
This is a great watch!!!
Im getting one for myself. Are you an engineer?? If not you should be or an inventor. So many great ideas come from you.
Julie

EMR,

Just wondering if you may have tried this already.
You mentioned that he forgets to cath during the day and doesn't always get up during the night to cath.

www.bedwettingstore.com/Watches/item_vibralite3.htm?color=navyblue

Having an alarm on his watch go off at a set interval as a reminder during the day and I don't know how much vibration it does and if it would wake him at night. I saw this though and thought it might help.

Mike

EMR
Fear of the unknown can be devastating for an adult as well as a 13 year old. While the medical system deals with the technical aspects of a rather involved surgery the system does little to educate patients and caregivers with advance background or follow-up information (my opinion, of course). The ileal conduit surgery is a very old reliable procedure. It is painless because you sleep through it. There may be a bit of pain as drugs are reduced in recovery. I would drill your surgeon about recovery. Expect to have the incision to be stapled closed and oxygen in nose tubes. The docs now have some really amazing stuff, which heals incisions very very quickly. The follow-up hospital time is to get the internal organs back to functioning in a normal manner. The digestive track must slowly get back in service so a liquid diet will last until things start working. Farts become a good thing and a sign of improvement.
Ask your surgeon for an ostomy bag and a DVD video about the bag. Several manufactures have them. There is no doubt in my mind that the important support after discharge from the hospital is your Stoma nurse (and, of course your friends here). Is he/she online for simple questions? If your son has sensitive skin (I do) take extra sanitation steps. I powder my shoes for athletes foot, trim my nails and clean them just to avoid infections.

You know they can grow a bladder for him from his own bladder tissue. It doesn't work for us bladder cancer patients but it may be an option for him.

singularityhub.com/2009/06/08/growing-organs-in-the-lab/