Dr JO Menakaya MA MRCP, Consultant Paediatrician Clinical Lead, The PURA Project, Hillingdon Hospital Middlesex, UK
Dr Menakaya, Consultant Paediatrician at the Hillingdon Hospital in Middlesex, discusses his newest project which focuses on the management of bowel conditions in children, and how important it is to ‘keep it fun’.
Included in this write up is some fabulous feedback from the mother of a little boy who uses the Qufora IrriSedo MiniGo Flex to irrigate his bowels on a daily basis.
We love hearing about how the Qufora IrriSedo MiniGo Flex is helping people of all ages to live a more fulfilled life and we are glad that we can share the story of this fabulous little boy with you.
Dr Menakaya says:
‘He is brilliant with it’. His mother said. ‘He helps me run the water until it is the right temperature and then reminds me to click the pouch shut properly. He makes sure that I attach the flexible tube with cone to the pouch securely and flush it so there is no air in the circuit. The only thing that I do is support him with the cone. When he is ready, he squeezes the MiniGo pouch and once the water runs through, he sorts himself out. No fuss. No mess’.
This is the experience of an eight-year-old child and his mother whose life has been transformed a few days after highly skilled training and continuing support managing constipation and encopresis. In the last six months we have been running a pioneering Quality Improvement Project focusing on the management of this condition in children. We offer these children more than thirty different interventions (including trans-anal irrigation) within a multi-disciplinary care framework to resolve this symptom.
As the project continues, we are learning the key ingredients for a successful outcome in the management of this distressing condition in children. These are proactive, committed and engaged carers – parents, teachers, and other key adults around the child, consistent toileting routine, partnership with the child no matter how young, and……… Keep It Fun!
‘Can you show him bum twinkle? His mum asks him. His physiotherapist has recommended a series of daily pelvic floor exercises. He begins a sequence of complex abdominal wall muscle movements that have me rolling on the floor in fits of laughter. His face beams with a wide smile.
I know he can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Learn more about the PURA service with Michelle Henderson and Dr Menakaya here.
