Hello Changed life. It's comforting to think that there are other people who still read old posts, as I love to wander through past messages when I have time.
There is lots of informative informationand instructive videos on irrigation which would probably describe it far better than I can. However, Here is a brief run-down on what happens in my case. Bearing in mind that everyone tends to ewb slightly different.)
Firstly, it should be pointed out that irrigation is only suitable for people with colostomies because they still have enough lower bowel for the process to work properly. Even the, some folks have other complications which may make them unsuitable, so it would be best to seek medical advice as to whether you are a candidate for this, rather than just ploughing ahead on your own.
Having said that, My procedure begins with all the necessary equipment: A mechanism for passing the water into the stoma, which consists of a receptical attached to a tube and a cone-shaped piece of rubber. This comes as a kit, but I've adapted it so that I can push the water in under pressure, for reasons that I won't go into here. (see My blog/ review on the Braun irrigation system). I use Dansac irrigation sleeves, which are almost a metre long and have a wafer that sticks around the stoma just lie a bag would. These sleeves are long enough to go from the stoma into the loo. I have made an alternative seat for the loo which is basically a foam padded plank, which means that I can sit comfortably facing forwards and the sleeve goes down between my legs. This method means that I do not have to undress other than opening up my shirt to expose the stoma. The luke warm water gets fed into the stoma via the cone and the operation takes place inside the sleeve as it has a wide opening at the top. I temporarily seal the top of the sleeve as I'm putting the water in so that it doesn't splash. The amount of water varies with each person so we'll skip that for now. Once the right amount of water is in, the cone is removed and the top of the sleeve is wound over and sealed to stop splashes. There is a period that follows input where the water pushes out the faeces under the pressure exerted by the peristalsis(muscles). A warning should be given that this can seem quite violent at times until you get used to it. For me the process of expulsion takes between 30 minutes and an hour. Often, there is an afterburst of water and faeces some time after the whole thing seems to be finished. I manage this by irrigating in the evening and folding the sleeve up and sealing it in such a way that it becomes a bag for the night. By the morning, I can be confident that there will be no more output for the rest of the day so I use a stoma plug. This plug has nothing to do with stopping output but it helps to gontrol my peristomal hernia by keeping the hole open all day. If I did not have a hernia I would probably do without the plug altogether.
Many people do not have to irrigate every day but I feel safer having this routine. The benefits of irrigation cannot be overstated in that my days are completely worry-free as far as finding toilets or worrying about leakages, smells, etc,etc.
I hipe this gives you some idea of what irrigation is about and I also hope that you can have a go for yourself.
Best wishes
Bill