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Staff member
Hey everyone, I just had to share this “Wonderful Experience” especially for the new folks that have joined us. Just an FYI, many of you know I’ve been dealing with this incontinence for over 25 years. After the wreck it was both bowel & bladder, but I managed to regain about 95% of bowel control as long as I’m careful, bladder is still just dancing to its own beat.
Anyhow I’ve not been feeling very well over the last 10 days or so, so I’ve remained self quarantined for the last week. Monday I was scheduled for another biopsy and meeting with my surgeon to try to determine the best procedure to get this tumor out of my eyelid / tear duct. I called the emergency line at about 4am to explain my condition and was told I needed a Covid test immediately, and this GREAT NURSE! Spent almost 5 hours cutting through red tape to get me tested Monday at 10am. She is aware of my incontinence and told me I should be in and out in under an hour, so my normal Northshore Supreme should be just fine.
I got to the test center at 9:30, then you wait in your car and they call you in. I got through the front line of questions OK, but the level 2 questions started raising eyebrows and after the actual test they told me they really wanted a better look at me, and despite my “I’ll be fine’s” they talked me into a “quick examination”. This turned into a full set of chest X-Rays to confirm my pneumonia, Who Knew? Then onto a full take all your clothes off check up.
The young Doc was great, as we all know how private those exam gowns are! She immediately noted my diaper and asked if this was just a precaution due to the bad stomach upset (trying to keep this clean!), and went on to comment on how she wished more patients would be so considerate as to save them a potentially monumental clean up! I told her about my bladder condition and she went on to say, what is the big deal with a diaper? Why can’t people be responsible and take care of themselves, she wouldn’t hesitate if she was in my condition!
Anyhow she moved right onto palpating my stomach area, which to my surprise her fingers felt like I was being stabbed in gut with a dull knife! She moved down a bit and the moment she pushed above my bladder it completely emptied (Technically this is the Coude’ maneuver)I was taught to empty my bladder if I felt distention years ago. Admittedly, even after all these years I did feel a bit embarrassed, yet her immediate response was “a bit ticklish are ya? gotcha”! She totally diffused situation with humor!
Sadly she told me I needed to get to the ER immediately, she didn’t like whatever she was feeling & hearing. I suffer from chronic pain, as well as the “Walk it off Syndrome” after growing up with 4 brothers, all of us involved in Martial Arts since about 8-9 years old. So until she poked me I had no idea, but afterwards it continued to feel like I had been stabbed! Now knowing my condition she offered to call ahead to a friend in Radiology to get me in and out as it was now approaching 4pm, afterwitch the ER’s tend to stack up.
What a horrible sight is all I can say. I’ve been to the ER too many times but have never witnessed anything like this! PLEASE TAKE CARE OF YOURSELVES!!!
LSS, I ended up having to have an EKG and full fluids work up blood, urine etc. By the time I was done with the ER evaluation, the radiology tech I was set to meet had gone home. Since I was lying in a bed I was doing far better than many others so in my 103 degree fever fugue I decided to just lay back and wait it out.
I must have dozed off, because I woke up in a fog because I was freezing. I started to get up to see if I could grab another blanket. Only when the cold air hit my wet back did I realize my situation. It was almost 9pm, I was only able to hold down fluids for the last few days and I had been wearing the same Supreme for almost 12 hours while drinking a non-stop flow of Gatorade & water. I was literally soaked from my shoulder blades to my knees. I woke up real fast!
I frantically waved in the first nurse I saw and tried to explain what had happened, this was TOTALLY my fault. I know better! My backpack was hanging on the back of the front door at home. I have put it there in every house so I don’t leave home without it. I must have been that out of it, I just walked right out without it. The poor nurse is apologizing profusely, and I’m like WHAT? This is my fault not yours, please just tell me how I can get out of here? Instead she tried to get me admitted so they could get me somewhere dry & private and my wife could bring my bag. She came back & told me they were so busy it might take a few hours is there anything else she could do, as they had no adult diapers in the ER. Instead we hatched a plan to wrap me in a dry blanket and walk me out the ambulance entrance so I didn’t have to go through the packed waiting room. Imagine how we looked, a grown man being walked out into a 90 degree 100% humidity North Carolina night wrapped in a blanket and it looked like the nurse was holding me upright! She walked me all the way to my Jeep to make sure I was safe to drive.
I continuously tell everyone to just take this thing head on, and be prepared. STUFF Happens!Even though I’ve been dealing with this a long time and do my best to be prepared, I blew it, no excuses! I could have been more embarrassed, but all I could think of is how do I fix this, how do I get out of here with some ego intact?
By the time I got in my Jeep after removing my shirt and folding the blanket over the seat, I climbed up in and just sat there. My response? Once I started laughing I almost couldn’t stop! All the stuff that runs through your head when dealing with needing to wear diapers. All of the embarrassing things we conjure up and store away. Monday could have been a nightmare come true. Instead it was storm of things gone wrong, yet although I’m still sick, I lived through Monday! Not a scratch on me! What GREAT people!
When I went back in for my CT Scans yesterday I braced myself for the looks, the whispers “Is that the guy?” etc. you all know how our minds get. Instead the young lady who rechecked me in asked if I was feeling any better today and went on to tell me to please not worry about it, they see much worse all the time! When I was brought in the back and handed “The Gown” the nurse said she’d wait outside the changing room for me. When I walked out she told me to hold still and put another one on me backwards while laughing and cursing the gown makers, just to give me a bit of privacy!
The funny thing is everyone I dealt with, despite being exhausted and in the midst of a Global Pandemic went out of their way to make sure I was OK, and a few even passed on apologies from there CO-workers I was with the night before.They said I shouldn’t have been just left there without anyone checking on me. The entire time I never saw one of them sit down, and they’re apologizing to me?
Our shared problems have come a long way since I was marched around the Orthopedic floor to get my legs going, in an open backed gown and huge cloth diapers and industrial waterproof pants on display for everyone to see after the accident that caused this. They treated me as if it was my fault, or that it was my brain that was damaged not my spine.
Who knows, I know I was probably still in shock trying to even acknowledge that “This is my new life”. One thing I do know is Awareness has come a looong way, we are far from alone, this “IS” far more common than many can imagine.
Sorry for rambling on, but if anyone feels just a bit more secure, or can laugh at me or themselves then I’ll feel better!
“My incontinence is simply a side effect of still being ALIVE”
Happy 4th of July Everybody!
Tom
Anyhow I’ve not been feeling very well over the last 10 days or so, so I’ve remained self quarantined for the last week. Monday I was scheduled for another biopsy and meeting with my surgeon to try to determine the best procedure to get this tumor out of my eyelid / tear duct. I called the emergency line at about 4am to explain my condition and was told I needed a Covid test immediately, and this GREAT NURSE! Spent almost 5 hours cutting through red tape to get me tested Monday at 10am. She is aware of my incontinence and told me I should be in and out in under an hour, so my normal Northshore Supreme should be just fine.
I got to the test center at 9:30, then you wait in your car and they call you in. I got through the front line of questions OK, but the level 2 questions started raising eyebrows and after the actual test they told me they really wanted a better look at me, and despite my “I’ll be fine’s” they talked me into a “quick examination”. This turned into a full set of chest X-Rays to confirm my pneumonia, Who Knew? Then onto a full take all your clothes off check up.
The young Doc was great, as we all know how private those exam gowns are! She immediately noted my diaper and asked if this was just a precaution due to the bad stomach upset (trying to keep this clean!), and went on to comment on how she wished more patients would be so considerate as to save them a potentially monumental clean up! I told her about my bladder condition and she went on to say, what is the big deal with a diaper? Why can’t people be responsible and take care of themselves, she wouldn’t hesitate if she was in my condition!
Anyhow she moved right onto palpating my stomach area, which to my surprise her fingers felt like I was being stabbed in gut with a dull knife! She moved down a bit and the moment she pushed above my bladder it completely emptied (Technically this is the Coude’ maneuver)I was taught to empty my bladder if I felt distention years ago. Admittedly, even after all these years I did feel a bit embarrassed, yet her immediate response was “a bit ticklish are ya? gotcha”! She totally diffused situation with humor!
Sadly she told me I needed to get to the ER immediately, she didn’t like whatever she was feeling & hearing. I suffer from chronic pain, as well as the “Walk it off Syndrome” after growing up with 4 brothers, all of us involved in Martial Arts since about 8-9 years old. So until she poked me I had no idea, but afterwards it continued to feel like I had been stabbed! Now knowing my condition she offered to call ahead to a friend in Radiology to get me in and out as it was now approaching 4pm, afterwitch the ER’s tend to stack up.
What a horrible sight is all I can say. I’ve been to the ER too many times but have never witnessed anything like this! PLEASE TAKE CARE OF YOURSELVES!!!
LSS, I ended up having to have an EKG and full fluids work up blood, urine etc. By the time I was done with the ER evaluation, the radiology tech I was set to meet had gone home. Since I was lying in a bed I was doing far better than many others so in my 103 degree fever fugue I decided to just lay back and wait it out.
I must have dozed off, because I woke up in a fog because I was freezing. I started to get up to see if I could grab another blanket. Only when the cold air hit my wet back did I realize my situation. It was almost 9pm, I was only able to hold down fluids for the last few days and I had been wearing the same Supreme for almost 12 hours while drinking a non-stop flow of Gatorade & water. I was literally soaked from my shoulder blades to my knees. I woke up real fast!
I frantically waved in the first nurse I saw and tried to explain what had happened, this was TOTALLY my fault. I know better! My backpack was hanging on the back of the front door at home. I have put it there in every house so I don’t leave home without it. I must have been that out of it, I just walked right out without it. The poor nurse is apologizing profusely, and I’m like WHAT? This is my fault not yours, please just tell me how I can get out of here? Instead she tried to get me admitted so they could get me somewhere dry & private and my wife could bring my bag. She came back & told me they were so busy it might take a few hours is there anything else she could do, as they had no adult diapers in the ER. Instead we hatched a plan to wrap me in a dry blanket and walk me out the ambulance entrance so I didn’t have to go through the packed waiting room. Imagine how we looked, a grown man being walked out into a 90 degree 100% humidity North Carolina night wrapped in a blanket and it looked like the nurse was holding me upright! She walked me all the way to my Jeep to make sure I was safe to drive.
I continuously tell everyone to just take this thing head on, and be prepared. STUFF Happens!Even though I’ve been dealing with this a long time and do my best to be prepared, I blew it, no excuses! I could have been more embarrassed, but all I could think of is how do I fix this, how do I get out of here with some ego intact?
By the time I got in my Jeep after removing my shirt and folding the blanket over the seat, I climbed up in and just sat there. My response? Once I started laughing I almost couldn’t stop! All the stuff that runs through your head when dealing with needing to wear diapers. All of the embarrassing things we conjure up and store away. Monday could have been a nightmare come true. Instead it was storm of things gone wrong, yet although I’m still sick, I lived through Monday! Not a scratch on me! What GREAT people!
When I went back in for my CT Scans yesterday I braced myself for the looks, the whispers “Is that the guy?” etc. you all know how our minds get. Instead the young lady who rechecked me in asked if I was feeling any better today and went on to tell me to please not worry about it, they see much worse all the time! When I was brought in the back and handed “The Gown” the nurse said she’d wait outside the changing room for me. When I walked out she told me to hold still and put another one on me backwards while laughing and cursing the gown makers, just to give me a bit of privacy!
The funny thing is everyone I dealt with, despite being exhausted and in the midst of a Global Pandemic went out of their way to make sure I was OK, and a few even passed on apologies from there CO-workers I was with the night before.They said I shouldn’t have been just left there without anyone checking on me. The entire time I never saw one of them sit down, and they’re apologizing to me?
Our shared problems have come a long way since I was marched around the Orthopedic floor to get my legs going, in an open backed gown and huge cloth diapers and industrial waterproof pants on display for everyone to see after the accident that caused this. They treated me as if it was my fault, or that it was my brain that was damaged not my spine.
Who knows, I know I was probably still in shock trying to even acknowledge that “This is my new life”. One thing I do know is Awareness has come a looong way, we are far from alone, this “IS” far more common than many can imagine.
Sorry for rambling on, but if anyone feels just a bit more secure, or can laugh at me or themselves then I’ll feel better!
“My incontinence is simply a side effect of still being ALIVE”
Happy 4th of July Everybody!
Tom
