www.incontinentsupport.org

Hey Bill,

Welcome from another Vietnam War era vet. Graduating from high school in 1974, I went straight into Navy ROTC and missed the war, but served during the aftermath and with many veterans of the war. I've struggled with idiopathic OAB for years, but finally discovered the cause when I was diagnosed in 2006 with Tarlov Cysts on my s3 sacral nerve. This is a very challenging disability with which we struggle, and I wouldn't be as well-adjusted as I am without a very supportive wife. That said, I've learned a number of management and coping strategies over the years, so hopefully I'll have some helpful suggestions for you along the way. Valuable sites such as this and a wide range of incontinence suppliers online make management today a lot easier than it was back in the late eighties, when I my bladder control challenges worsened to the point they became near disabling. As difficult as it is, I do have a lot to be thankful for.

Welcome, again.

Schooner

mine was due to a birth defect so it is believed caused me no end of problems over the years.

Welcome to the club, sailor!

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When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.

Marcus Aurelius

I'm an active 62 year old who still runs a window cleaning business (I am up and down the ladders all day.) I will try to put a long story short, I had surgery on my urethra (up inside my body) in 2010 to correct a stricture from an old bike accident. Little did i know that the stricture already caused bladder damage, known as bladder diverticuli. I have had several UTI's since then, damaging the bladder further. My urologist said there are no promises in the special surgery only available by robotics in New York, that very likely my body will only grow more diverticuli in the bladder after the present ones are removed. So there is no point - just because a certain surgery or course of action CAN be done, doesn't mean it's a good idea to do it. I try to avoid further infections with 2x/daily self catheterization to fully empty the diverticuli, and wear protection 24/7. My wife of 37 years is very supportive (she has health issues of her own) and tries to buck me up when I start to feel sorry for myself. We still like to travel and engage in sports, but it is more complicated now.

My sister has been incontinent since birth and I got weakening muscles at 19 at university.

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Nappied, urinary incontinent only 24/7. Favourite napppy - Tena Slip Maxi but also wear Abena Abri-Form.