I'm a 41 year old male who was born with Spina Bifida. I've been in a wheelchair all my life and for the first 32 years of my life my mother was my primary helper and caregiver. She passed away in 2009 and my father took over. He just passed away today and I find myself in need of some help. My spine was damaged in the L4/L5 region. I have full motor control over all my limbs except my feet (can't wiggle my toes or feet at all, I can move my legs just fine though). I'm also incontinent when it comes to urine, but I have always worn adult briefs and they've always helped with that. The one problem I do not have a solution for yet is fecal incontinence. My digestive and excretory (intestinal) systems all work perfectly fine, except for that one final stop. I have zero control over my rectum and when my parents were alive they used digital extraction (rectal thermometer in my mom's case, gloved finger in my dad's case) to help extract stool. I've tried to do the same thing myself, but I find that due to reach and angle limitations I'm having a lot of trouble. Considering that my stool has not been solid since last September in part due to a doctor prescribing Clindamycin for a toe injury that it turns out didn't actually need that, my insides have been utterly rotten. I took the Clindamycin for a couple weeks then stopped when I was hit with the worst diarrhea in my life. The diarrhea eventually stopped but I have not seen solid stool since.
I've tried looking online for health care that could come to my home in my region (I live in Snellville, Georgia) but most websites seem to cater to people a lot older than myself and their list of services are rather vague as each one I looked at listed "Toileting" on them but didn't elaborate further than that. I'm at a loss as to what to do at this point. I'm still reeling from my father's death and am kinda overwhelmed by everything that has happened. I've been trying to do digital extractions myself but feel like I'm not having the success I should be. I would prefer to be able to handle things myself (and would love to avoid things like colostomy bags) but having someone help me and maybe instruct me on my methods would be a great help right now. I just can't seem to find anyone or any service in this area. (I've been to Shepherds Center a lot down here but they seem to have been hemorrhaging staff lately like crazy, the last gastroenterologist I made an appointment with there quit a couple days before I was to actually see him).
Advice?
I also apologize in advance if this post should have been put in one of the other forums. This one seemed like the right one given the topic.
I've tried looking online for health care that could come to my home in my region (I live in Snellville, Georgia) but most websites seem to cater to people a lot older than myself and their list of services are rather vague as each one I looked at listed "Toileting" on them but didn't elaborate further than that. I'm at a loss as to what to do at this point. I'm still reeling from my father's death and am kinda overwhelmed by everything that has happened. I've been trying to do digital extractions myself but feel like I'm not having the success I should be. I would prefer to be able to handle things myself (and would love to avoid things like colostomy bags) but having someone help me and maybe instruct me on my methods would be a great help right now. I just can't seem to find anyone or any service in this area. (I've been to Shepherds Center a lot down here but they seem to have been hemorrhaging staff lately like crazy, the last gastroenterologist I made an appointment with there quit a couple days before I was to actually see him).
Advice?
I also apologize in advance if this post should have been put in one of the other forums. This one seemed like the right one given the topic.
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