sarahjane

Well, I'm not lying, I've been working longer than you have, and that's what it has always been for me. I know some small employers are exempt from providing insurance (at least in my state, you have to be pretty small to get away with it). But I would never work for a company that did not provide insurance. I would not even consider it. I would be amazed if it is legal anywhere for a company with that many employees, unless you're less than full time. If it is, I suggest you move on to a new job. Please don't tell me I am lying.

If you have full-time employment in the US your employer is obligated to provide some sort of coverage at a flat fee--the employer pays the majority. It typically ranges from $0-$40 month for a single person, more for families. My previous employer paid 100%, which was nice. I only had to come up with $10 copay for doctor's visits. My present employer offers a range of plans from free to $40 a month. I signed up to the most expensive one, but I also signed up for an additional employee health program that gives me a $30 credit per month. So my coverage is presently $120 per year, though I have to come up with 10% of all expenses with a $1500 annual cap. But I hit that annual limit in the first or second month, so from there everything is paid for the year You generally only have to self-pay for insurance if you are self-employed. A lot of self-employed groups (farmers, etc) band together and do a group insurance purchase to offset the fees.

As another poster mentioned, keep drinking lots of water, both because of the UTI and the antibiotics. Ciprofloxacin is a really nasty drug. Not as bad as the one I am on (which causes cancer among other things), but it's way up there. Don't just stop taking it, that's even worse. But keep a close eye on things and be prepared to call your doctor.

Because you stressed (in italics) "whatever the reason", which suggests the reason may be other than a valid one. Also, you followed that with an emoticon in sunglasses with a wry smile, as if you were suggesting you were hiding something. I've dealt with fake patients. A woman came in through the ER, complaining of pelvic pain. Over and over about her pelvic pain, wanted an exam. The did an x-ray first, saw the soft-tissue shadow a penis clear as day on the film. She just wanted to be examined and "found out" as a transvestite or transsexual or whatever he/she/it was. No medical problems found. Just wanted to see what would happen when some unsuspecting nurse pulled up the gown and freaked out. Same with other posters here who have bragged about going to the MD's office in their diapers to be "caught", or in an attempt to get a nurse to "change them", as if a nurse is some sort of sex industry worker. So that's what your wry-smile and italic post said to me. I have little patience for "patients" who clog the system. Actually, there is a bill. It is your taxes. Nothing is free. In the US, the employer pays the majority of the health insurance costs with the employee paying a smaller charge (mine is now down to $10/month, not bad considering my medication costs nearly $200 per day). In Canada, the full burden is shifted to the employee in their taxes. That does help when you have evil employers who cheat the system, like Wal-Mart, who in the US structures it's employment so carefully to force citizens onto welfare and public assistance for their health care, so I get to pay for the health care they refuse to provide to their employees. I know all about medical systems all over the world. Every one has its problems. The medication I am on is highly restricted in Canada, Australia and the UK because they don't want to have to pay for it. In the US, I can get it because the FDA does not pay the bills, so they authorized it and now the insurance companies have to deal with it. I know a person in New Zealand who cannot get her birth control drugs, which she needs to control massive problems with bleeding. The birth control she needs (for various reasons due to her other health conditions, others do not work) is not available there. The government has to provide all approved medications, so if something is too expensive, they simply don't approve it--even if you offer to pay for it yourself, you can't have it. She has to fly to Australia and pay with her own money to get the implants done. The system in the US is fine if you've got a good job or have no job at all. If you're an unemployed illegal immigrant, you're golden! The raw deal is if you are one of the working poor with a low-end job. I was in that spot through school, I know all about it. The problems with socialized medicine are also long. I recall (now this has been 15 years), in my city we had a dozen MRI scanners, but there was only one in all of Toronto, a much larger city! An emergency MRI was a 45 day wait, and worried Canadian patients were traveling to Michigan to get scans done because they would rather pay for an MRI than die for free. The Canadian government later started paying the fees for patients to be seen in the US, which is kind-of funny since US patients want to buy drugs in Canada. I had a very interesting conversation with a German medical student who was studying the US system in order to improve their system, something that had me slack-jawed. But it turned out, they had a whole series of their own problems. Yes, Michael Moore does a good job of presenting his main viewpoint of "everything sucks in the US and always will". Very popular in Canada and among the self-flagellating University crowd here. Of course, Michael Moore's very own company owns stock in US-based drug and medical equipment giants like Eli Lilly, Boston Scientific, Pfizer, Genzyme and Becton Dickenson, plus defense contractors Loral, Boeing and Honeywell. Plus the massive energy/defense contractors Halliburton and Williams...McDonalds, oil drillng company Schlumberger, Conoco, Pepsi, etc. All the things he complains about. See pages 17-19. 2000 tax return, 2001 tax return, 2002 tax return. I guess it is just fine to make money off those industries as long as you complain about them. I did read what you wrote in the cited message, and I hope you see my viewpoint. I have become very jaded here lately, as the fetish crowd has basically destroyed every single online incontinence site. I'm just sick of it all. That's why I rarely post anymore. I am so embittered towards them all that I am starting to lash out like them. You become what you hate. Most of the users here are nice, but the bad ones are really bad. But I rarely feel good anymore--I'm up in the middle of the night because I am in massive pain, but narcotics steal my ability to function, and the other drugs don't work anymore. I have two choices: live in pain or live in a fog. For now, I have chosen the pain. But it limits my patience with people who deliberately abuse others for their own pleasure. I though that as they have 95% of this site for their needs, they might leave this corner alone, but they don't. They gain their pleasure from making other people uncomfortable.

Note that at least half of the ones you listed sell the just Gabby's product. The text "outer layer of Oxford Nylon which helps prevent the seepage of stool into the water. The inner layer is 100% cotton flannelette for comfort and durability" is straight from Gabby's boilerplate posting. I ordered mine from acd.com and they were Gabby's. Work fine, though I don't swim when I am having leakage problems so they are just an "emergency backup".

I should add that I don't mean to minimize that symptom, but given the symptoms as you have presented them, incontinence sounds like the end result of a more serious problem that can probably be easily treated. If left untreated, it could lead to far more significant damage.

They may have to give them another position, but I can see not having a person with fecal incontinence work as a lifeguard. You could have them render first aid, etc. But if someone has chronic fecal incontinence--unless it can be contained--a job which requires you to be ready to leap into a swimming pool with zero notice is not a good fit. Just as you can be denied a job working in a laboratory or clean room if you suffer from inadequate respiration. Remember, if that lifeguard jumps in and his diaper slips off--contaminating the pool--they not only have to drain, clean, and refill the entire pool (closure of 72 hours as I recall), but they are also liable to give everyone tests for fecal-borne diseases. Plus lawsuits for hiring an employee at a high risk of a fecal accident. There is a lot of liability issues. And what if the lifeguard, knowing he has just soiled himself and will leak, hesitates to jump in until he sees if a victim is in real trouble and the swimmer drowns? In the US, at least, exceptions to the ADA for people whose disability prevents them from doing a job. I don't want my lifeguard to have CP, be wheelchair-bound, have hepatitis, et cetera, either. I don't know about the EU. The probably have to hire them and then hire a helper to actually do their job.

Do you think it is really fair for you to clog up the healthcare system faking medical problems (which you suggest is what you are doing with your post) just to show off the fact that you wear diapers, when other people with serious problems have to wait weeks or months to be seen with serious health issues?

There is something wrong. It sounds like some issue with your bladder; inadequate emptying or a neuromuscular problem or something. This could lead to kidney problems. You need to see a doctor about this. I would not feel comfortable until you had been at least seen by a urologist, perhaps a nephrologist. This could be serious if you don't deal with it. Incontinence is a pain, but letting a problem lead to kidney disease is a nightmare. Yeah, you can use incontinent products, but that's just treating a symptom. You have got to get this worked up, I'm serious. There are few decent online resources anymore, as they have all been ruined by diaper-fetish users. I think the really bad users are in the minority, but they are very active (probably due to lack of a decent job or a girlfriend (they are basically all biologically male) I imagine you'll get a dozen posts here about how fortunate you are to be having serious health problems. Ignore them. I've given up on all online resources except for one hidden one I will not mention here. Please, get this looked at. I may not be back here to check with you.

I might add, that to be fair that is a great statement and normally I would applaud it. Have you ever found a lot of spiders in your house? When I find them, I normally take them outside and let them go. Not a big fan of spiders, but they deserve the right to live and do their spider-thing. But sometimes, I've found a lot of them. To the point that I am trapping and releasing 4-5 big ones a day...a lot of spiders around this area for some reason. It gets to the point after a few days you just want to start smashing the damn things. And that is the way it has gotten with a few people like "diapersallways" and a few others. One could argue, that when I let them bait me I am dropping down to their level. There would be some truth to that. But they keep creeping back in like the spiders, and I get so annoyed I want to smash them. That's why at the end of my post, I said (and you quoted): a case which I have already made and won't bother with again. Which is, as I read it, what you are suggesting I do.

Because users like "diapersallways" seriously angered me in another post. If he wants to keep pushing my buttons, that's his problem. I have no patience for that stuff anymore. I used to, but it has been burned out. If your CD keeps skipping on the same song, after a while you learn to hate that song. I tried to be super-understanding for years, and now I've just had my fill of it. I'm tired of the same non-incontinent users posting over and over about how they "know" they will love being permanently incontinent. I know how they "know" this, but they claim some special ability to have such foresight. And even though (or perhaps because) they know this upsets people, they keep going over and over it again like a broken record. I'm sick of cocky users going on-and-on about how they totally understand something they never experienced, so I decided to take their attitude and point it back at them. I'll be cocky and rude and shoot down whatever they say. Perhaps they'll get the point. I have to figure either they want to upset people, or are too stupid to get the point. It's kinda funny how "diapersallways" has a snowboarding image in his posts, as the snowboarding crowd is filled (though not exclusively) with cocky young males who think they know everything and think nothing about destroying other peoples property, stealing power from cabins, etc...as long as they get what they want. Kinda the same personality. The "screw you, I do whatever I want" theory of life. That also hurts things for decent snowboarders, who get marked by the stigma of an 18 year old male knocking kids over and shouting profanity.

A reminder how fragile we all are. I was sick as a child, then came-and-went for years. I thought it was all behind me until it came back like a bad dream when I was 19. I've already had one bad end-of-life scare, for a while I changed and lived more. I've fallen back into my bad habits of working too hard. I need to change that and enjoy what I have got while I still can.

Wow, what an assh*le.

Wow....no wonder you're sensitive to stimulation and/or changes in stimulation. I had to get out my textbooks and look some of those up. You hid the weird-neromuscular-problems jackpot. Normally I would try to balance that last statement of mine with something hopeful or upbeat like "well, that type of MD has a slow progression, so it could be worse", but you've got enough going on that I can't think of anything bright to say. You know how it is. Whenever I am feeling down about my problems, I need only turn around and find someone who has it worse than I do. Not much helpful I can say. But taping a condom cath to the end of your glans might send you into sensory overload! I'm not surprised you don't like it. How did you end up with Erb-Duchenne Paralysis? If it is not too personal of question...did you tear out your Brachial Plexus, or was it something that happened when/before you were born? Damage to the brachial plexus is a major fear of mine. I worked on a patient who hit a tree skiing and ripped his right out. He was a senior commercial pilot until that day. I also had a friend whose was ruined by radiation.

And when I was that age, I thought I was a lot wiser than I was. It's all part of the procedure. Learning how little I knew was one of the most valuable things I ever learned. In my experience (I taught for several years when I was a grad student), the sooner one realizes that...the more they learn. I wish I had understood my lack-of-wisdom five years earlier!