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Staff member
I'm just about at eight weeks with my Interstim, and I realized this week that I hadn't even noticed that my near-dauly bouts of urgency have stopped. It's funny that it took me so long to notice, but I realized late this week that is has been at least a week since I've had the kind of painful bladder spasm that was leaving me feeling like I was about to have an accident. I had switched from diapers to regular underwear at the end of December, but I was still nervous about the possibility of an accidental; not only have I not had any accidents, but I haven't when had anything approaching a close call.
I still feel nervous when I'm not going to be close to a restroom. Someone I need to stop at the hardware store on my way into work, and that can still be a little stressful since it's at the end of my hourlong commute, but even then I haven't had any sort of problem. Even when I feel the need to pee, it hasn't turned into the kind of bladder spasm that used to make me feel like my bladder was trying to turn itself inside out.
I had an MRI this week for my liver (I've got a biliary obstruction going on, and I should find out next week if they can dilate it or if this is going to be my new normal), and I even managed to work up the courage to wear regular underwear for that despite knowing that it would involve an hour inside the machine with no opportunity to get out and pee. Again, no problems at all with my bladder.
This was my first MRI since the Interstim was put in, and that part made me a little nervous. The radiology practice called me three different times to ask questions about my unit, and at one point they told me that they might not be able to do the MRI at all even though my Interstim is supposed to be safe for MRIs. They apparently got the answers they wanted, though, so they went ahead and scheduled it. The tech and the nurse who kept calling me asked a bunch of questions about the unit, scanned a copy of my Interstim card that has my patient number and the implant serial number, wanted to see the full-body MRI symbol on my controller, and told me that I was like to 30 minutes inside the magnet. An MRCP takes an hour, though, and they did the whole thing despite the supposed time limit.
One strange thing that happened is that I couldn't get the implant to switch into MRI mode in the dressing room, which was well away from the magnet. I had to go out in the hallway before the controller would talk to the implant, which I'm guessing is due to stray magnetic fields. Next time I'll switch it to mri mode before I get called back, or maybe even in the car.
So, overall, life is good, I'm loving my implant, and I have my continence back. The Interstim has far exceeded my expectations, probably because I was afraid to hope for too much.
I still feel nervous when I'm not going to be close to a restroom. Someone I need to stop at the hardware store on my way into work, and that can still be a little stressful since it's at the end of my hourlong commute, but even then I haven't had any sort of problem. Even when I feel the need to pee, it hasn't turned into the kind of bladder spasm that used to make me feel like my bladder was trying to turn itself inside out.
I had an MRI this week for my liver (I've got a biliary obstruction going on, and I should find out next week if they can dilate it or if this is going to be my new normal), and I even managed to work up the courage to wear regular underwear for that despite knowing that it would involve an hour inside the machine with no opportunity to get out and pee. Again, no problems at all with my bladder.
This was my first MRI since the Interstim was put in, and that part made me a little nervous. The radiology practice called me three different times to ask questions about my unit, and at one point they told me that they might not be able to do the MRI at all even though my Interstim is supposed to be safe for MRIs. They apparently got the answers they wanted, though, so they went ahead and scheduled it. The tech and the nurse who kept calling me asked a bunch of questions about the unit, scanned a copy of my Interstim card that has my patient number and the implant serial number, wanted to see the full-body MRI symbol on my controller, and told me that I was like to 30 minutes inside the magnet. An MRCP takes an hour, though, and they did the whole thing despite the supposed time limit.
One strange thing that happened is that I couldn't get the implant to switch into MRI mode in the dressing room, which was well away from the magnet. I had to go out in the hallway before the controller would talk to the implant, which I'm guessing is due to stray magnetic fields. Next time I'll switch it to mri mode before I get called back, or maybe even in the car.
So, overall, life is good, I'm loving my implant, and I have my continence back. The Interstim has far exceeded my expectations, probably because I was afraid to hope for too much.
