Child born w/imperforate anus

[OhMama!]

I also have a daughter with imperforate anus. She is now 7 years old. She has constipation issues, and uses a daily senna laxative.

I was having some trouble getting her to potty train when she was little, so I started using a Fleet Baby Lax then immediately putting her on the potty. She would poop in the potty and eventually got the idea that it's where you go when you have to go.

My daughter too never has solid bowel movements. They are very loose due to the laxative. The only times that it has been solid have been when she's been badly consitpated. Solid is not a good thing for children with hypomotility. HTH

[OhMama!]

Have you checked out the Pull Thru Network? I'm pretty sure they have resources for families in Canada somewhere on their website. It costs $30 to join the network. In addition to keeping the organization running, the fee protects the privacy of its members.

[Mommyjewel]

My son was also born with an imperforate anus on 10/07. He had a colostomy, pull thru, and colostomy reversal all within the first 6 months of his life. Right now we are working on getting him in to see Dr. Pena. My son currently has a rectal prolapse.

I second the pull thru network they have been great for support and helping me find medical care for my son.

[rose76]

Hi, I am also in the UK and my daughter was born with imperforate anus, pull through completed just before her 1st birthday. I am also having problems with potty training. As others have mentioned she is struggling with the soft poo thing which means that she feels like she needs to go all of the time and and so we often have 8-10 poopy nappies a day. She takes movicol but it doesn't seem to be doing the trick. I really want to get her sorted before she starts to get stressed about it a nursery. Obviously we are putting no pressure on her and I am starting to wonder if maybe we should be a little more pro-ative.
Rose

[MiniMidgMom]

Try this parent to parent support forum:
Parent-2-Parent & Reflux in Children

You can look under children's health or under motility disorders. You can do a search and just lurk before you decide if you want to join and post questions.

Good luck!

- Anara
able2able... Your Special Needs Resource Directory
30 Days of 2010 Forum

[Mrdd]

I have a distant cousin with in an imperforate anus and she has really bad constipation issues.

[jsimssd72]

My son was born with this condition and went through all the stoma, pull through, closure, etc. Unfortently my son's anomoly was a high imperforated anus and his rectum muscles, etc are not developed enough or strong enough for him to control his own bowels correctly. He is currently 6 and has been in the hospital a few time to recieve a flush, enema's, go-lightly through nose tube, and contrast enema. These are not fun experiences. I do not tell you this to scare you but to inform you and to let you know it is very important to watch your childs diet and his movements. Fiber and water are king and make sure he/she is eating a healthy diet, we have found greasy foods have made things worse. We also use miralax but we are also on a daily enema schedule and he is clear for close to 24hours after each. In the new future we are looking at going forward with the MACE or ACE procedure which will allow the enema solution to be given through a tube that is hidden in the belly button. IF you are currently using daily anal enemas to clear youself out or child please read up on this procedure.

[keycece123]

Hi,

I have a 5 year old son that was born with imperforated anus and has had the take down and has had bladder problems occur also. I am a single mother looking for any information anyone can offer in suggetions on what he can wear during school besides a pull up becasue of his bathroom issues. He starts kindergarden this september and I am so worried that he is going to be teased for wearing pull ups and going to the bathroom on himself. I have already heard remarks from his frieind and cousins about his pull up usage and using the bathroom on himself. I know they are just kids but that hurts me very much and i know as he gets older it's going to hurt him as well. Does anyone know of anything he can wear at school? Has anyone went through this? I am going to meet with the school nurse but she herself has never even heard of imperforated anus and the accidents that he has but she sounded very nice. I just hope this is not a problem and he will be able to enjoy school like i very much want him to. Reading some of these stories really help me feel like im not alone.

Thank you Keycece123

[EverydayIsAGoodDay]

Hello Everyone, thanks for posting. Sometimes its good to know your not all alone out there, when u have issues that not to many people, if anyone around can understand. Im 32 and was born with an imperfect anus. I did have surgery 2 days after birth. 32 years later there has no been no cure. I do not have strong enough muscles to help me control my stools. I currently live by doing enemas. I know they say do them everyday, but I do not like the feeling of being bloated for rest of the day. I dont wanna be a debbie downer, but I do like to say this is how it is. I have never had control over my movements. I went through public school, and yes I did have accidents almost EVERYDAY! Yes it was horrible. Was I picked on, YES kids are gonna be kids. But I never let it hold me down. I continued to go to school everyday. As I got older, maybe High School, I started just going to the restroom at same time couple times a day, everyday. I found out that me sitting there, and relaxing my muscles will allow me to go, even though my brain receptors did not tell me to. This helped me get through H.S. I continued to have the problem during College. Though I was more educated, YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN ITS GONNA HAPPEN. NO CONTROL. I finally started to understand myself. I changed my diet, ate at certain times, and went to the restroom at the same time to program my body. I still do enemas. Prob twice a week, just to make sure I clean myself out. I can say I do not have accidents now, thank god. But there are times when it starts to want to come out, and I have to run to the restroom.
My advice to parents is not to get frustrated with the kid. Its not their fault, trust me they dont want to smell at school, they want to be normal. Its not laziness, they have no control. Educate them what is different about them, maybe through pictures. Explain to them that they are gonna have to be little different then their friends. Diet is very important. Also this is very big, usually the reason for this problem stems from problems with the spine. As much as doctors will tell you differently, Chiropractic care changed my life. It allowed my digestive system to work properly and even helped my bowl movements. I know I just went on a rant, if anyone gets anything out of this I want them to know that life is not over. Mentally prepare yourself or kids for things to come, but you can live a normal life. Went to public schools, played school sports, went to college, worked in Corporate America. I did what everyone sets out to do. Good Luck.

[miller351]

Hello everyone. I am new here. I too have a son that is 4 years old that was born with an imperforate anus. He takes miralax daily in the evenings which 'seem' to help him go. To me, he seems to know when he has to go to the bathroom its just he chooses to initially go in his pullup, or the underwear (if he is wearing those that day).

We do not do the enemas. I think that is mostly because we don't how to go about doing it as far as what to use, when to give it to him and if it will work like some of you are saying.

I am wondering once he starts school in kindergarden, if he will actually be able to attend if he is not potty trained. Anyone have this kind of experience?

How can I get him to understand that it is very important to let someone know he has to go potty and to not go in his pullup? I have tried explaning it but that seems to not work . He also takes speech therapy because he is a little behind on his speech for a number of reasons.