When my kids were growing up I decided that they needed a grandmother figure in their lives. We “adopted” an older woman from our church to take in as a surrogate grandmother. My vision was that this sweet, older lady would bake cookies with my kids and speak dreamily to them about her child hood as they hung, spellbound on every word.
Our reality was that this” old coot” was one of the meanest people I had ever known! Not only did she freak our kids out with her Billy Goat Gruff chin hairs, BUT, her final endearing gesture was urinating on the leather seats of my husbands new Jaguar. How could anyone pee in a new Jag? My now ”X” refused to “embrace” her after that. I was not sad.
Several years later, we were stranded with some wonderful friends of ours on a boat—long story—anyway, I was doing some kind of bizarre cheer about an obscure football team in the Big Ten and a discussion about uncontrollable urination became the focus, (instead of my bouncy little cheer). Why were these wonderfully chic women saying things like, “yea, wait until you’re our age and you won’t be bouncing up and down like that anymore. You’ll be wetting your pants if you do”. REALLY? I was totally perplexed.
Last Saturday night Jean, her husband Mike, and I were having dinner with some of their VERY long time friends, (college type), and my friends of a mere 28 years. At some point during the evening Jean announced, “I am wetting my pants every time I cough or laugh”. REALLY, I thought.
After dinner we moved to a more comfortable seating area and the true dilemma of her honesty became a sit-com clip. Jean suggested that she sit on a pillow that was near by, so as not to wet on the furniture. The host, a long time friend since college, announced: “I don’t want you peeing on our pillow”! Our hostess suggested she sit on the leather couch. Jean was just trying to be a responsible guest and said that she was uncomfortable wetting on their leather sofa! Finally, a towel appeared and the mini crisis had been resolved in a manner that suited all involved parties.
In the U.S., 13 million adults suffer from urinary incontinence, (UI). According to “What Your Female Patients Want To Know About Bladder Control”, 1 in 4 women ages 30 to 59 deal with UI. According to AHCPR, $11.2 billion is spent yearly on pads and adult diapers to manage UI. Visit http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/uiwomen/ to get the information you will need to move forward in addressing this all too common issue.
Thank you , wonderful friend and business partner, for bringing to the forefront a subject that, although not terribly appealing, is a topic that I am afraid is going to be with us for many years to come. In the framework of that admiration, I hope you are not offended by the towel, monogrammed with your initials and permanently secured to the shotgun seat of my car. Think of it as a tribute to ……………your integrity—yea—that’s it.
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i use a combo of shea butter and aloe vera moisturizer. Works great. I use shea butter on my lips, around my eyes and nose (dry areas), My father swears by vasoline.
p.s. I dropped your name on Gina's post, Barb. ;)
A delicate subject wrapped in humour – I like! I am keen on rebounding to clear my lymph glands and even when I go pee before I jump, I still leak. Must start doing the Kegel exercises before I start peeing on friend’s sofa’s and car seats – hilarious!
No, no, no – not Kegels! I learned from a recent VN post “Kegels and Incontinence” that lunges and squats cure urinary “stress” leaks, but Kegels will make them worse.
Kegels do not improve the part of the “pelvic floor” musculature that control these leaks. VN editors – can you run the Kegels and Incontinence piece again sometime soon?
Hi Lisa. Is this the earlier conversation you mean?
Kegels and incontinence
Yes, Cara – thanks!
Ladies, I know how true it is….TRACK….I wear pads when I go out cause I’m always laughing ;-))))
TMI. TRACK!!!! LOL
Hey Track — me too — I wouldn’t be able to leave the house for more than 2 hours without a pad on and a pad in my purse!! Do love the freedom of spending more time with friends or meetings or movies without worrying about leaving dampening evidence.
LOL!
Sadly, it can be true!
For me, it started happening after I tore the ACL in my right knee. The combo of limping, stress on the “good leg”, walking like a weeble, and packing on several extra pounds during the newly-sedentary lifestyle I was experiencing was a recipe for embarrassment.
I’ve learned some foods trigger problems more than others. I avoid those if I am going to have to leave the house.
However, I am also learned that what I thought was growing incontinence was actually connected to a bigger problem – constant fluid retention. Since the knee injury, my legs swell up way too easily. I am also hypothyroid, but that isn’t the heart of the problem. My dr gave me Lasix fluid pills to help with the edema in my legs and feet (which can get so bad, I cannot hardly bend my feet. As you can imagine, it makes for an interesting “walk” to the potty!). It isn’t incontinence for me, because when taking the Lasix, I have to pee A LOT, normally about every 20 minutes or so for the first couple hrs after taking it. However, I don’t lose control during those! I can easily make it to the potty.
Not so if I don’t take the lasix when swelling. If I drink too much tea, or have too much swelling in my legs, I can barely make it. I used to wear pads (the Poise pads are nice), but after Hubby’s job layoff last year, we are cutting every possible expense. I now keep a stack of white washcloths to “wear”. It helps to control the dribbles on the way without having to completely change my clothing. I’d much rather change the washcloth than everything!
So, if you are having trouble with leakage, check to see if you are retaining fluid. It seems to put pressure on places that I would not have imagined there to be pressure! (Of course, always rule out a bladder infection!)