24 August 2012
A personal problem many elderly people have to deal with is incontinence. If one is a prisoner in a wheelchair with little or no use of his hands then there are entirely reliant on others to assist. them. I’m glad to say that I have a excellent control over my bladder since my radical prostatectomy in 2000. Although immediately after this operation I had no control at all and was fitted with a catheter and leg bags etc. The regular reader will recall that I was subsequently fitted with an artificial urinary sphincter. This in conjunction with the pelvic floor exercises which I started following the operation in 2000, proved adequate enough for me to control my bladder to apoint when I could stop urinating in full flow.
As the artificial urinary sphincter has jammed, half opened half shut, (see entry) this happy accident in conjunction with my pelvic floor exercises has enabled me to the pee quite normally. I had noticed however that when I was working on my laptop, and had to lean forwards and sideways, I would occasionally feel a greater urgency for a pee than before bending. This, presumably, is because the action of bending forwards and sideways actually squashes the bladder giving you the sensation of urgency.
One of my greatest fears is that now I have not control over my limbs, I would also lose control over my bladder and they become 100% incontinent with all that entails (although when I broached the subject with Dr Chris Allen, who headed up by Assessment Team at Addenbrookes, he assured me that MND did not normally affect bladder or bowels..
When the artificial urinary sphincter device was first fitted at London Bridge Hospital in 2002, the Surgeon thought that the life of the device was around 10 years, although there were too few people who had had operation carried out to give a reliable prediction. I am now at that ten-year point which adds me another factor of anxiety.
As my early-morning carers were fitting the sling to the hoist this morning, pushing me this way and thither, I suddenly realised that I was peeing, I had momentarily lost control of my bladder. The good news was that I was able to stop peeing in full flow. I make this confession in order to help other patients who might have a propensity to incontinence to encourage them to do the pelvic floor exercises every day – they only take a few minutes and can be done lying down bed – so as to avoid the inconvenience and discomfort which can come from incontinence at a later age.
As a matter of record I cannot honestly say that the additional lorazepam made any noticeable difference to my feeling of agitation during the evening although it may have been the cause of sleeping far more soundly and perhaps why I felt more weary during the daytime.
Now, to quite the opposite of weary. Do you remember those big dippers which would be found in most amusement parks?. You were terrified to ride it, but egged on by your friends you succumbed and admitting to being terrified at the time but found the whole process exciting. I invite you to click here for the ultimate ride of your life . I can honestly say that there is no way you would get me anywhere near this. It seems that some people also had a problem with their bladders. Apparently hanging as a same effect on the victim!.