Well, here I am again. After more than a little hassle I have an appointment with urology next month. 3.33pm on Thursday 13th October. 3.33pm - really, can it be so precise, are we now down to minute by minute appointments?
I have to attend with a full bladder and fresh urine sample.
Given that I have urge incontinence I’m not sure the former is actually achievable, but I shall try. I self catheterise because my bladder doesn’t empty fully,but doing that and meds have failed to resolve the urgency issues.
Apparently all diagnostic tests will be carried out at that appointment.
I’ve wanted this, and waited for so long to see a urologist, now I’m apprehensive about the whole thing, but I’m at the end of my tether dealing with soggy pads and damp knickers.
Fingers crossed. Legs would be too if I could cross 'em!
Don’t worry about going there with a full bladder. Once there - and do ask the nurses what the waiting time is - and then drink plenty. They are use to this. When l had a uro-dynamics test - l told them that l just pee’d all the time - and still they made me drink plenty which l kindly let them have back as soon as l got onto the examination table!!
At bloody last. Just as spacejacket said, go to the appointment with whatever you have in your bladder and don’t worry about it. If they are doing a urodynamics test, they insert a catheter and a probe into your urethra and fill your bladder themselves. The probe then records the volume your bladder holds as well as spasms etc. They then empty the entire bladder.
Or of course, they might ‘just’ be doing an ultrasound to see what your bladder holds. And that’s the part where you probably will manage to wee all over them, regardless of how full your bladder is when you arrive.
I’m so glad you finally have the urology appointment. I so hope they do all the tests necessary to get you Botox therapy as I’m sure that’s what you need.
Btw, I now have my next appointment, for Cystostat treatment, it apparently puts a lining onto the bladder wall. The assumption is that since Botox clearly wasn’t what I needed (and my symptoms and the urodynamic test both support this!) that urine in my bladder is irritating the wall so this treatment should help. I hope so. So my appointment is for 7th October (and every Friday for 6 weeks thereafter).
Isn’t it flipping annoying that in the time it’s taken for you to even get an appointment with urology, I’ve had an appointment, a urodynamic test, Botox therapy, a further urology appointment with a different Dr, and the start of Cystostat treatment. What a fabulous NHS we have! In general I mean that in a non-sarcastic sense, but the ‘postcode lottery’ world that we live in annoys the hell out of me.
Hopefully this appointment will herald only a short delay to you finally getting some more effective treatment and an end to soggy pads and pants.
Btw, have you heard about Oxybutinin being available in a ‘patch’ form? Apparently it does the same job as oxybutynin but without the dry mouth etc side effects. One of our friends on this forum has recently been prescribed it. I’m sure she’ll comment on this.
I had to fill in a form about frequency, amount that sort of thing. I laughed out loud when I saw it. I had to make my own very large form with about four times more boxes to tick just to cover a 24 hour period. It was like a book by the time I went to the appointment.
My bladder symptoms were exactly the same as yours.
I would have worried if they needed me to have a full bladder for my appointment but they didn’t need that for my appt. We just had a long chat and decided on the Supra Pubic Catheter which I had done by local anaesthetic. It is brill. It makes life so much easier.
You know where I am if you need a chat.
Poll has been a lifesaver for me. She and Sue have helped enorrmously.
Hope the appt goes well for you and let us know how it goes.
Thanks Shazzie. I’m rather hoping not to have to go down the SPC route, but I suppose that’s got to be better than what I’m enduring just now.
We’re going on holiday for a week next Thursday, and I’m trying to calculate how many pads I’m going to need to pack. It’s looking like it’ll be more than I’ve ever had to take before.
i just want this sorting, and soon, my appointment can’t come soon enough.
I was a prisoner to my toilet for about 18 months. Missed a wedding and a funeral so really upsetting for both me and my lovely hubby.
My bladder does sometimes squeeze a small amount of wee wee the “normal way” from time to time but nowhere near how badly it was behaving before SPC.
I really feel for you Eve as before I ahd the SPC I remember sitting in the car on the way to one holiday which is a few hours away and my bladder just emptying in the car. So so horrible.
I have done really well this year I think, also been a slave to my bladder but taken some local trips with lots of stops. I absolutely no shame anymore, if I get stuck on the road, I’m the first to pee in a field. Might write a book! I try to laugh about it and have a name for my bladder, Slack Alice. I talk to it sometimes and say ‘Oh no, no you don’t, not yet, wait five minutes’. Sorry if there are any Alice’s on here, it’s a term from my youth and I can’t remember where it came from, comedy on television probably. I have had to be strict with my grown up children who are planning a family meal out in December (Oh God), I have had to explain to them that they better get me home pretty quick after or be prepared to stop if I need to. I might be putting food in my handbag on the quiet too for after. Can’t eat out anymore, unless I can go directly and immediately home after. Oh the trials and tribulations!
If only! I’m not mobile enough to get into a field, and as for getting into position to take a pee other than on a raised height loo with grab handles…well suffice to say it wouldn’t end well.
This is when a SPC comes into its own. So easy to empty discreetly. For years l used to envy the lads who can just pop behind a tree to pee. With a SPC - you have the ‘technology’. At home, l even leave the seat up!! Gosh! Horror! l have become one of the ‘lads’.
Slack Alice was Larry Grayson’s friend. Sunday Night at the London Palladium. He also you to say ‘Shut that door’.