I've just found an RN through a health care agency who's pursuing a career in writing, but still takes private patients. She only lives about 3 miles from me. I had Guillain-Barre Syndrome many years ago and had some bowel issues, so I'm familiar with all a lot of the terms and treatments for bowel problems.
She agreed to do large volume enemas, so I showed up at her house with the standard 2 quart red drugstore enema/douche bag. We went into a spare bedroom where she had some lubricant and latex gloves laid out on the nightstand. She left the room while I undressed from the waist down and lay down on top of a towel she had on the bed, and under a small blanket.
She came back in and asked me to turn on my left side. She gave me the first enema, just a plain water enema of about 1 quart. She left and after a few minutes I expelled the enema in the nearby bathroom. She repeated the process with the second enema, although she put in about 1 1/2 quarts of water after I asked for a little more. It was a pleasant experience, low key and businesslike.
During the week we talked on the phone about trying something different the next time since she didn't recommend doing large volume enemas too frequently. She said she had good luck using two Fleets mineral oil enemas, giving them one after the other, and having the patient retain them for 15 to 20 minutes, followed by a regular Fleet saline enema. She also said she'd like to try digital stimulation and see how I responded.
The second time around started like the first, I went to the bedroom where she had gloves and lubricant ready. I undressed from the waist down and got on the towel on top of the bed and covered up with the blanket. She came in a couple of minutes later. She sat on the edge of the bed behind my buttocks and put on the gloves, and then put some lubricant on the index finger on her right hand. She told me she wanted to a quick rectal exam to feel for impaction or anything strange in the rectum. She inserted her finger most of the way in and felt around for about 20 seconds or so. She asked me if it made me feel like I needed to have a bowel movement. I told her maybe a little, but nothing major.
She pulled her finger out, put on some more lubricant and repeated the process. This time she inserted her finger as far as she could, pressing pretty hard against my anus with her knuckles. She hit my prostate a couple of times the second time around, and stayed in about 10 to 15 seconds this time. I really enjoyed the pressure against my anus, and combined with the pressure on my prostate, I was in heaven. She again asked me if I felt like I needed to have a bowel movement. Sorry, but not really. She pulled her finger out again.
She told me I had good sphinchter tone, so my problems probably lay further up in the colon with weak muscles. I wasn't impacted, although she could feel some stool present.
She lubricated her finger again and started the digital stimulation, which consisted of her circling her finger just inside my anus. She didn't insert her finger very far. She did this for a few seconds, pulled her finger out, then repeated it a couple of times. I enjoyed it, but it didn't feel as good as the exam. I didn't feel any urge to evacuate. She told me to wait a few minutes and see if I felt like I could have a bowel movement and then left the room. She came back in about 10 minutes and asked if I felt any urge to go, I didn't and told her so.
She put a new pair of gloves on and got out the two Fleets Mineral Oil enemas. She again sat on the edge of the bed behind me, lifted up the top buttock and slowly inserted the nozzle. She took her time squeezing the bottle, it probably took her a minute to get it all in. She repeated the process with the second bottle. Both times she pressed pretty hard against my anus with the top of the bottle, and moved the bottle around a little while she was squeezing.
After she had done both bottles, she left the room, then came back about 15 minutes later. She sat down on the edge of the bed and talked about her son, who was in law school, and her hope that she never had to do nursing at a hospital again, while she was talking she put her hand on my hip a couple of times, which got my attention. She then picked up the Fleet saline enema and pushed the nozzle into my rectum, then started squeezing it slowly. She didn't take as much time as with the mineral oil enemas, maybe 30 seconds. After she was through she told me to wait 5 minutes if I could, and then try to have a bowel movement, then she left the room. I waited a few minutes until I really felt the urge to go, and then went to the toilet. I had large bowel movement, and it really came out pretty quickly. I was through in about 5 minutes.
I got dressed, went out and paid her and told her I would call and set up something in a few days. She said she was open to trying different things to see which worked best for me and if I had the time she was willing try anything that was safe. I'm trying to figure out what to ask for next time. I'm not sure she'd go for a half hour rectal exam.