Hello
chess124,
I guess everyone is different and it may well depend on what is wrong. For my part I made it clear from the start that I intended to irrigate. This was only allowed after 6 weeks from surgery. ( My daughter tells me that in New Zealand the stoma nurse recommended that irrigation only started after 6 months.- so who is right ?) My stoma nurse came round at six weeks to the day to see that I had all the gear and was able to complete the process in an appropriate fashion. It surprised me a little that she put her finger right in the stoma (with a glove on) and twisted it around to find out which way it went so that I could get the cone in the appropriate position to let the water flow freely.
My logic would say that if she could stick her finger in that far and explore the stoma, then some sort of a plug wouldn't come amiss. What about an irrigation cone? it should be easy enough to block off the end and they are at least made for the job. However, I would concur with what other people have said and discuss something like this with your stoma nurse first.
As far as I can tell, many of the things that are now manufactured were invented and tested by ordinary people trying to manage their condition more satisfactorily. Personally I like to experiment and I simply accept the consequences if things don't go entirely according to plan. My general guiding principle with experimentation and inventions is 'common-sense'.
If it looks as if it will work 'on-paper' then I'll design something for myself that 'might' work. One guy on this site posted that he found cold water shrunk his stoma and that stopped output until it started to warm up again. This was enough time to change a bag. I tried this and it did work for me in those first six weeks before irrigation.
Anyway I did like reading your post and I hope you find a solution to all you problems as they arise.
Best wishes
Bill