school help

[Franklin]

I'm a school nurse and have a student that has spinal bifida. She is 7 yrs. old. What should my expectations be with her elimination. Her parents are not addressing the situation. She wears a diaper which I change every 2 hrs. She usually has at least 2 b.m. a day. I have read info that encourage parent to have a bowel regimen & self catheterization.
I would appreciate any info of this elimination problem. Thanks,

[Barb]

Hi. Wow! I wish we had had a school nurse as interested as you are!

Unfortunately everyone's experience is so different. MOST kids cath on the their own by the middle of elementary school but that is certainly not always the case. There are many reasons why she may not be cathing. Bowels are such a hard thing to get a handle on. Most people have some sort of program that they are working on but it changes daily. If the person eats something different or does more or less exercise than normal....the whole program can be ineffective for the day. My son has a cecostomy to help with bowel continence and still if he eats something that doesn't agree with him or walks more than normal we can have problems.

I would sit down with the family and see what they have already tried. There are soooo many programs out there that they may just need to keep trying different things until something works.

Also, keep in mind that this is one of the most sensitive subjects about sb and the parents are probably embarrassed to talk about it with you.