64-year old Barry is a wheelchair user – but it wasn’t always like that.
Barry injured himself falling from a ladder in 2005 and got a spinal cord injury. This damaged the part of his nerves which would normally tell him when he needed to open his bowels and left him a new situation:
“I had bowel cancer in my thirties and have also suffered from IBS in the past, so for me, bowel management has been at the forefront of everything I’ve done”. To try to manage his faecal incontinence on his own and avoid having accidents, Barry found he was visiting the toilet five or six times a day.
All that changed when Barry discovered transanal irrigation. He’d seen it advertised and instinctively knew it was the right thing for him. His specialist nurse agreed: “She said it would be the greatest thing since sliced bread for me”, says Barry. “And she was right. It just clicked. Using Peristeen is not any hardship at all, it’s not a problem. I was human again. I just became another human being”.
Barry soon got the hang of using the system and it has completely transformed his life. He went from not knowing when he needed the toilet to managing a regular and effective bowel routine and taking control of his life again. Peristeen has given him his independence and dignity back:
“Peristeen gave me more independence. You can be private, you can be personal and most of all you get your respect back which is the best thing of all. It’s transformed everything, just like turning darkness to light”.
Barry is a Peristeen with balloon catheter user (who received compensation from Coloplast to provide this information). Barry has not used the new Peristeen® Plus Transanal Irrigation system.
Barry has even been able to enjoy holidays again with Jenny, his wife of 40 years. Before, his trips revolved around where the disabled toilet were. Now he makes sure he has plenty of supplies when he travels and works it into his daily schedule.
