Chait vs ACE

[KatWrangler]

So the new Uro we saw today brought up the Chait instead of doing ACE. Anyone with experience with this?

[Dodger67]

Chait is a simple procedure and also easy to undo if it doesn't work for you. Just pull out the tube and let the hole heal. (M)ACE is major surgery.
Chait involves the permanent presence of a foreign object penetrating from the skin to the colon. (M)ACE is a stoma without a permanent foreign object, a catheter is inserted to do the flushing. It resembles the Mitrofanoff stoma that is done for the bladder which also requires using a catheter.

This is only based on what I've read about it here, I have no personal experience of either.

[KatWrangler]

Til today I never knew about this option. But would we be better off doing ACE? Sigh....

[Summer25]

Til today I never knew about this option. But would we be better off doing ACE? Sigh....

It really depends on you. I have had both. I love my ACE. The chait is kind of annoying because you have to make sure the tube doesn't get pulled on. I always had to wear a bandage over it during a shower. I was also told that every 6 months to a year the tube has to be changed. The ACE is just a little hole without anything sticking out. So, it just depends on what you like and what you feel is best.

[KatWrangler]

My daughter is 3 1/2 (she will be 4 in February). I was also concerned about her playing with it. I know they said it will lay flat on the skin, but you know kids and picking at things.l

[dahliafaolan]

Mine is really pretty flat, about the thickness of a quarter and a little wider than a quarter too. Mine is also position in sort of an awkward place. It's right where my thigh and lower abdomen meet when I'm sitting down (I'm a bit overweight so my fat tends to hide it). For the most part, I forget it's there until I have to use it. I can't even feel it through my clothes. I've never heard my doctor mention anything about having to replace it every so many years. I have had to have it replaced because I accidentally pulled out my first one. But that was before we started putting the gauze underneath the button part of it. The button part of it was irritating the skin around the tube and making the hole larger than it should be. That's what allowed my underwear to catch on it and pull it out. But now I keep a little 2.5cm gauze under the button and I haven't had a problem since. Personally I prefer the chait but that's because I had a friend that had the ACE and she had problems with leaking around the stoma. With the chait, there's no possibility of leaking because the button keeps it closed. Also, I'm not crazy about the idea of a hole in my body without some sort of barrier to the air around me.

But if you're worried about her pulling it out, I wouldn't worry about it too much. If she does pull it out, it's no big deal. You just stick a foley catheter in there and bring her to the doctor. It really is just a one day surgery. Depending on where her paralysis is, she won't even feel it being put in, but they'll still give her a light anesthesia anyway.

[Dodger67]

For the benefit of those of us not familiar with the US$0.25 coin could we have the dimensions in either inches or millimetres please.

[dahliafaolan]

This is the measurement I got from wikipedia.
"The current clad version is nickel plated copper[1] (8.33% Ni with the remainder Cu), weighs 5.670 grams (0.2000 avoirdupois oz, 0.1823 troy oz), diameter 0.955 inches (24.26 mm), width 1.75 millimeters (0.069 in) with a reeded edge."

I hope that helps.

[Dodger67]

Thanks!
So all those descriptions that say "about the size of a quarter" could just as well say "about an inch" as the difference is very small.

[dahliafaolan]

lol I'll try to remember that from now on. It's just that I'm a very tactile personality so I tend to think of things in terms of how they feel and the physical size of things in relation to everything else. It's hard for me to remember "ok, this thing is about an inch wide/long/deep/tall," but I can remember, "Oh, this feels about the same in my hand as a (insert random object here)."

[porterbailey]

Hi! :signs116:
I'm also getting a chait tube soon. Does anyone have any advice?

[darthvater]

So I'm guessing you've figured out a lot of stuff to do with the trapdoor by now but here's a few pieces of advice:
1. Don't let the time it takes sneak up on you. 45 min is completely long enough. I let it sneak up to 2 hours and it's super hard to get it back down.
2. If wearing a bandaid over it makes you feel more comfortable, do it, but make sure to dry the site completely before bandaging it or it'll get smelly and gross.
3. Drink lots of water! Being healthy in general is what I find the best help for all this is. I've had the trapdoor for twelve years and in the past year I've become a lot healthier in general and it's made a HUGE difference.

[dahliafaolan]

So I'm guessing you've figured out a lot of stuff to do with the trapdoor by now but here's a few pieces of advice:
1. Don't let the time it takes sneak up on you. 45 min is completely long enough. I let it sneak up to 2 hours and it's super hard to get it back down.
2. If wearing a bandaid over it makes you feel more comfortable, do it, but make sure to dry the site completely before bandaging it or it'll get smelly and gross.
3. Drink lots of water! Being healthy in general is what I find the best help for all this is. I've had the trapdoor for twelve years and in the past year I've become a lot healthier in general and it's made a HUGE difference.

I would also suggest putting a little gauze pad under it to keep the flat part of the trapdoor from irritating the skin underneath. I basically get the 25 count box of 2 in by 2 in gauze pads from CVS, cut a slit up the middle about three quarters of the way up and then slide the gauze under the trapdoor. If I don't, the skin underneath it gets raw and irritated.