Living with ileostomy for over 50 years.

Posted by katieliz @katieliz, 1 day ago

I don’t know all the details, but my 92 y/o mother-in-law had surgery for ulcerative colitis, this was in ‘71 or 2, at The Cleveland Clinic, and so has lived with an ostomy bag for over 50 years. And she has done well, she is physically well (walks up/down a flight of stairs twice or more times daily in her ALF), no looming physical health issues, but has dementia, she has gotten very forgetful in the last couple of years.
She still does the changing of her bag, but daughter has to remind her what morning it needs to be done, and goes to check that morning that she has her supplies out, etc.
The problem we’re facing is finding an ostomy care nurse anywhere, as she will not be able to do the changing/cleaning independently much longer. If we could find one to hire, or a facility that provided ostomy care, we would consider moving her. She needs a higher level of care anyway, than she gets in her ALF, we’ve hired personal CGs to be with her daily.
If anyone knows of support or a nurse trained for ostomy care in the Chicago area, we’d appreciate any information, thank you.

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