Since the intent of this thread is to tell how I learned to give a good enema I will be explaining what I did under guidance of my Aunt Kathy.
When I was 15 and a sophomore in high school in mid-November I came home from school one afternoon to find that my Aunt Kathy had just finished giving my mother a large soapsuds enema for constipation. As I arrived my mother was lying on the bed and my Aunt was taking out an 18-inch long rectal tube. After the tube was extracted my aunt left the bedroom carrying the empty enema can and a partially filled pitcher of enema solution on her way to the bathroom. As my aunt was leaving
I watched my mother get up from the bed, she was wearing only her bra. As she headed for the bathroom I could see her holding her much distended abdomen with both hands, she was also panting heavily as she scurried to the toilet. When she got there my aunt ask me to go to the kitchen and put on the tea kettle so we could have some hot tea in a little while, then the bathroom door was closed. I did as ask and my aunt joined me a few minutes later.
A half hour later my mother joined us and also had some tea, she thanked my aunt for giving her such a good enema as usual and she thought that probably in an hour she would be ready for a rinse. We talked for a while and after nearly an hour my mother turned to my aunt and said, I think that I’ts time Marlene learned how to give an enema to someone other than herself. (With permission I had been giving enemas to myself since I gone into puberty at age 12.) Then she turned to me and said that someday I would have a family of my own and that I needed to know how to properly give an enema and coach someone to be able take one sufficiently adequate to do what was needed, and if I was willing to have my aunt guide me through the procedure she was more than willing to be my patient but that it was up to me to decide if I wanted to do it. I was totally taken by surprise; I had received many enemas from my mother and aunt but never expected that I would be giving an enema to my mother. After talking it over with both of them I agreed.
The three of us went to the bathroom and my aunt instructed me in the preparation of 4 quarts of warm saline enema with 4 teaspoons of sea salt. (Saline enemas were given/taken quite often after soapsuds enemas and a box of sea salt, the only type we used, was stored in a bathroom cabinet.) As instructed, I made up 2-quarts of 103-F enema in the can, then another 2-quarts of 108-F enema in the reserve pitcher. My aunt said that it would cool down several degrees by the time it was needed.
With the enema prepared I connected my mother’s personal 18-inch long F-36 rectal tube, drained the air from the tube and enema hose, the hose clamp had an adjustment wheel. With that done I closed the clamp and carried everything to my Mother’s bedroom. Using a long metal “S” hook I hung the can from the lower bracket of an Oak coat tree that was traditionally used when giving enemas. The bottom of the hung can was about two feet above the bed. As I did I thought of the many enemas I had received from a container hung from that tree over the past 12 or more years, and now I would be using it to hang the enema for my Mother.
My Mother removed her robe, she was still only wearing her bra like she did for the soapsuds enema, then she sat on the edge of the bed. With my aunt’s guidance I had her lie near the edge of the bed starting on her tummy, then I had her bring her right knee up close to her breasts which resulted with her lying on her left side but with her abdomen tilted partially downward toward the bed, then I instructed her to move her left knee slightly forward bending her knee slightly until she was lying in a comfortable position.
My aunt told me that she was in the “true Simms” position which other than the knee chest position was the best for pre enema Anal Sphincter preparation and nozzle insertion, and receiving a large effective enema with minimal discomfort.
Next my aunt had me put on a pair of surgical gloves as she did the same. She explained that before giving the enema I would need to see if the patient might have an impaction, which if found would require an hour of pre-treatment with 4-ounces of olive oil. She said to never use mineral oil which was unnatural, only olive oil which came from nature.
We had a jar of Vaseline and she had me put my right index finger all the way into it making sure it was well coated. Then she had my raise my Mother’s top hip and gently coat her Anal Sphincter with the lubricant. As I did I remembered the many times my Mother or aunt did the same thing to me and felt a shudder passed through me remembering the many times I had felt the lubricating finger and yes the pleasurable feeling that went along with it. When her Sphincter entry was well lubricated she instructed me to tell my Mother to take a deep breath as I gently inserted the full length of my finger through her Sphincter with a slight twisting motion. As I did my Mother made a slight “mmm” sound, I ask if I had hurt her and she said no, no you’re doing just fine. As it went in I thought, I can’t really be doing this, but I am. I was also surprised at the warmth and tightness by finger felt as it penetrated her. My aunt told me to move my finger all around in there to see if I could detect any mass, as I did Mother gave several more soft “mmm’s,” along with pulsating contractions of her Sphincter with each vocalization. Of course I didn’t find any obstruction since she had had a large soapsuds enema for more than an hour before.
After removing my finger my aunt had me remove the glove and put on a clean one, then she had me coat the first 4-inches of the rectal tube with Vaseline, raise her top hip and instruct Mom to take another deep breath as I slowly pushed the first 4-inches of tube into her, when it was in she had me open the clamp completely to flow the enema, then to adjust the wheel half way to slow it. With that done she had me lubricate another 4-inches of tube and push that in with a twisting motion, as it went in my mother made more soft sounds. When she did I looked at my aunt and was about to say something when she read my mind and told me that I also did the same thing during every enema she gave me. She told me to go slowly to allow the flowing enema to make a pathway for the tube and to be aware if I felt any resistance, if so to stop because the tube probably contacted her colon wall and could possibly penetrate it resulting in a serious surgical necessity. She said if I felt resistance to pull the tube back a few inches than rotate it completely to help straighten it out, then resume the insertion, she warned that if I met resistance again to stop insertion, pull the tube back an inch or two and give the remainder of the enema without further insertion. Fortunately I felt no resistance. When I started the flow my aunt instructed me to tell Mother to take slow deep breaths which would help her body accept the enema, I continued coating 4-inch segments of the tube with Vaseline until all 18-inches was in her. When the last 2-inches went in I looked in the can to discover she had taken about a half a quart. As each segment went in and as I practiced a few imaginary obstruction corrections, Mother would make those soft “mmm’s” as well as what I would call soft throaty “cooing” sounds and an occasional sigh. My aunt told me that an 18-inch tube does not stay in well by itself and that I would need to continue to hold it in her.
It took about another 25-minutes for the can to empty. Mother experienced only one cramp and I stopped the flow and instructed her to puppy-pant her way through it just as she and my aunt helped me pant my way through them during my enemas. When the can emptied my aunt handed me the 2-quart reserve pitcher and had me refill it, I ask: All of it? She said yes you mother can take most if not all of it. I was amazed to hear that because I who was 5’10” and struggled to sometimes take 2-quarts, and my mother at 5’8” with a slighter build than me could take almost if not twice that amount.
As the enema progressed Mother’s frequency of “mmm’s”, coos and sighs increased. She experienced three more cramps that I coached her through, stopping the enema during each one and as guided by my aunt, massaged her abdomen to help the enema move through her colon and relieve the pressure building up, when the cramps passed I restarting it again as instructed. When the enema was down to less than a half quart, she had taken slightly over 3 and a half quarts, her breaths became soft gasps and finally she said, “Marlene, Kathy, please stop it, I can’t take anymore. My aunt said, “Linda, you usually take more enema than this, I’ll tell Marlene when to stop.” As the enema continued there were no more “mmm’s” coos and sighs, just gasping panting and whimpers, my aunt kept telling her that she was doing well and that there was only a little more to go.
Finally my aunt said stop the flow, she’s taken all she can, look at her toes, their curled up tight and her legs are trembling. That’s the signs she’s reached her limit. I closed the clamp and slowly extracted the tube, it took a half hour from start to finish. Looking into the can I saw that there was only a small amount left. I later drained the tube, hose and can into a graduated jar to find that there was only three and a half ounces left.
My aunt told me to help her out of bed and to the bathroom which I did, seeing that she was in quite some distress, she was gasping continuously and could barely stand and walk, I wanted to stay with her while she was on the toilet, but with a wink, my aunt said no, she needed her privacy the same as I did on the toilet expelling an enema. The wink told me a lot because my aunt knew that I had an additional need to complete what I now call the “additional benefits” enemas provide.
My aunt and I returned to the kitchen, made more tea and were rejoined by my mother a little over a half hour later. My mother kissed and hugged me as she told me that I had given her a wonderful enema. Then she said the next time your aunt needs enemas we’ll have you give them to her. Five weeks later I did, a soapsuds and a saline rinse. She was able to take over three and a half quarts of soapsuds and all four quarts of saline.
Marlene