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toilet paper alternative

mbh97766
mbh97766 CSN Member Posts: 39
in Anal Cancer #1
I haven't been on for a while, slowly getting back into the swing of things. I'm 3 weeks post treatment now, and marveling at how quickly my body has recovered from the radiation. I wish I could say the same for the chemo, I'm still short of breath and easily exhausted, but I am trying to be patient. Follow ups scheduled for late March. Will keep you posted.
I wanted to share something I discovered halway through my treatment. Wiping myself and feeling clean was a real challenge. I didn't have time to take a sitz bath after every bowel movement, and the running water from the hand-held shower was too painful as well. I stumbled upon a product in the hospital pharmacy called "Aloe Vesta Cleansing Foam" by a company called Convatec. This is a high foaming, non-aerosol, ph balanced cleanser which is designed to dissolve fecal soils. You just spray it on, then gently dab it off. I found this challenging, as I was attempting to spray upside down. So I sprayed the foam on a couple of folded up toilet paper sheets, then dabbed the foam on my body. I then took a clean piece of toilet paper and dabbed off the foam.
It was a life saver, soothing and left me feeling clean, also helped with the itching. I still use it today, and probably always will have it on hand, as toilet paper and I are no longer friends. If you cannot find this product, the company (convatec) is located in NJ and the phone number is 1-800-422-8811. Feeling clean and odor free is important to our general well being and I love this stuff.
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  • mp327
    mp327 CSN Member Posts: 4,440 Member
    #2
    Convatec
    Thank you for bringing this to everyone's attention. Hopefully, this information will be helpful to those who are still in treatment or those in post-treatment who have lingering skin issues. Convatec is a company that has ostomy supplies, so it would make sense that they would have a product such as this. Thanks for the information.
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