Continent Diversion - Indiana pouch - questions and concerns

Hey, Exciting news :o just wanted to share some great news about my beloved, dear "Rosebud"(my stoma)...for some reason during the night she doesn't seem to have issues with mucus like she does during the day....my RC was done on 7/25...I have only been cath'ing since mid August and am now able to get 5 hours of sleep and sometimes 6 at night before my pouch must be emptied....YAHOO !!! So I am in heaven during the nights....I sleep 5 or 6 hours, empty and then sleep for another 4 or 5...and I love it! Now, if I could only get more cooperation during the day light hours but guess with time, that pouch will be more predictable. (Pat, thanks for your continued coaching efforts on how to learn to love a pouch!) Melodie

Living in a small town, we have few choices for pharmacies, so we were really lucky that my husband's pharmacist just sold us the solution over the counter. If we had to wait for an Rx, it would have been difficult. How difficult, I found out, when we were out of town and tried to buy some. The pharmacist in the larger town brought out the bottle and showed us the label that said "prescription only."

Sheesh...must be one of those insurance deals. Anyway, we can get it at home. I tried ordering it on the web, but couldn't find any. Moot point, cause he's not using much now.

Stephany in Iowa

Melodie ..mine are made by Baxter and are 250 ml. bottles..very small.
0.9% sodium chloride irrigation. The expiration at the bottom will give the month and the year..as in Jun 09 for expiration.
It also says isotonic solution for irrigation only. Room temperature storage.
When it says not for injection...they mean into a vien.
Baxter Healthcare Corporation..Deerfield, Illinois 60015
Actually it was my stoma nurse who told me to throw it out after 24 hrs...its not on the labeling.
When i was first out of the hospital i used the bottles that were 3 times that size as i was irrigating everytime for the first 3 weeks and then graduated to the smaller bottles...and had to specify them to the pharmacist. Pat

Pat,
Interesting on how we can only keep the water for 48 hours...my medical folks said nothing about that nor do my written instructions...so altho. in the beginning I was going through a bottle in less than 48 hours, I think now I am using that same bottle into day 3.

And here is a question...My bottles have a date on them of JUN 10, JUL 10, AUG 12 etc...and it indicates that is the LOT EXP date...what exactly does that mean to me? I'm hoping that doesn't mean the pharmacy is giving me water that has an expired date on it. I know the pharmacy won't give me a straight answer because I had to ask them to order these for me and it seems I am the only one who has ever had them order saline water. I can't believe I am the only BC patient around. Crimeny! I just more closely examined the water I have been using for the last two months...says Sodium Chlor .9 IRRSOL...normal saline for bladder irrigation...that is the seal from the pharmacy...yet on the other side of the bottle the water is sold by a company called Baxter and it says "not for injection"....further down the bottle it reads...Isotonic solution for irrigation only. Now I am really confused. Oh well, I'm still kickin around. ??? Melodie

Gamedoll....i forgot to mention one other item...my senility catching up with me..or maybe the fact that i'm so far from surgery i just kinda forgot...either way...with the syringe there is also a little plastic bottle which has the measurements on it...you just fill it to the 30cc mark and draw it out with the syringe. After i finished the cathing i dump out whats left in that bottle and fill it to the top with hot water and take they syringe and fill it and squirt out and then also rinse the bottle in hot water and just let air dry. A small step i forgot...sorry!!
Pat

As usual, you are very helpful. I will ask for a prescription for disposal caths, saline solution and a syringe that holds 30ccs. I thonk I need this badly brcause the last few days have been a lot of leaking. I wear a band aid and a saniary napkin every time I leave the house. I even took a cruise to Canada like that.
I only soaked myself once. More later.