A TRAVELER’S HANDS.
‘Atraveler’ has a stoma and
he also has malfunctioning hands,
which means that many things ‘we’ do,
for him, are somewhat more askew.
Most things are painful to his touch
so, there are few things he can clutch
including paper, cloth, and bag,
which makes a stoma quite a drag.
Water can be painful too
so when he comes to clean up pooh
he knows that this will involve pain
time, and time, and time again.
A Traveler’s worked out a routine
to keep his stoma nice and clean,
but pain is unrelenting, so
there is no painless way to go.
A doggie bag is used to store
the old pouch and any more
soiled materials that come
when the changing task is done.
A larger trash bag is deployed
but even so, he can’t avoid
opening and closing these,
which doesn’t help the pain to ease.
These bags need to be tied up tight,
which makes each bag a painful fight
yet still, he does his very best
as these tasks put him to the test.
He can’t use cloth and water, so
gauze and spray’s the way to go.
The gauze is not so painful and
the spray fits neatly in his hand.
. (continued->)
A TRAVELER’S HANDS. (continued->)
He needs to use an Eakin ring
except, the moulding of this thing
needs a dexterity which he
sadly lacks so cannot be.
With that, and stickiness for sure
makes the ring so insecure
that often he resorts to two
because just one, simply won’t do.
Aligning the wafer and the ring
over the stoma is a thing
that needs to be done with great care
otherwise it won’t stay there.
Changing wafers is the same,
with no safe way to avoid pain,
cleaning and prepping of the skin
does nothing for the pain he’s in.
Dexterity for him is poor
so things can end up on the floor
which can add to the frustration
especially with no pain cessation.
‘A Traveler’ seems to concede
that the way he must proceed
is methodical and slow
so his discomfort does not show.
Using flange-extenders will
test his dexterity until
the tasks are finally complete
then, he will feel it’s safe to eat.
As eating can be risky too
when it comes to wayward pooh,
so it is best to give it a rest
until you’re done and fully dressed.
B.Withers 2024
