WildKat

I know it's a bit late, but congratulations! That's very responsible to go about things the way you and your partner are. Have fun with the decorating and painting!

Honestly I wouldn't worry about it too much. I know that's not so easy, but you will most likely be in a room on your own to get changed and unless you need a lot of help moving around then I doubt anyone would even notice. If they did notice I'm sure they are professional enough to not even think twice about it. After all plenty of people who need MRIs probably have issues with their bladder or bowels. I Bet the people you are worrying about have seen way more than you realize! As far as wearing underwear goes, personally I don't really see a point. I guess if you wear plastic it might cut back the crinkle, but I think it just sounds a lot louder to you because you know it's there. People just wouldn't associate a crinkling sound with a diaper without knowing it was there. I think you are worrying about things that are not really worries at all. Then again I'm always sitting down so it might be different if you are walking...

I think it's better to have old topics replied to rather than having new ones started on the same topic. It keeps everything together so you don't end up having 15 or 20 topics on the exact same thing because the ones before it were closed.

I'm not sure how you could delay the amount of time it takes for these to work. I've used them and haven't ever hoped they'd last longer, although there have been plenty of times where I wished they would hurry up and get the job done. The topic of becoming dependent on them is what caught my attention about this post. I've been using suppositories and mini enemas since 2004 and have asked plenty of Doctors about if I would become dependent on them. i had heard this before, and in the beginning it was a concern for me because for the first two years was the main time when any recovery that was going to happen was likely. I was told by every Doctor (including specialists) that this was a bit of an "old wives tale". I stopped worrying about it after that and although I didn't regain anything, I've used well over 1000 suppositories since then and I'm not worried one bit about developing a dependence on them if I ever do get any function back. The freezing could work. I usually do the opposite and put mine in some hot water before I use them. I wouldn't go so far as to coat them in any food though. Although oil based suppositories tend to take longer to work, so why not just use them instead? Or have you tried adding a thick coat of Vaseline? I'm assuming it would take your body longer to absorb them because it takes longer for the Vaseline (being oil based) to dissolve. Just a couple of thoughts.

At first I wasn't sure if I should reply to this post because I didn't think my answer would really be relevant because I can't actually tell what it feels like. Then I decided to answer anyway because I'm sure there are other's who experience the same thing. For me personally, I can't feel or move or control any of my body below my collar bone. I also only have feeling in parts of my arms and can't move my fingers. This was caused by a spinal cord injury in 2004. I'll start with my bowels because explaining this is simple. I can't control my bowels, so every second night I do a "bowel program" where I use gloves, suppositories or mini enemas (depending on the situation etc.) to make myself "go". I learned how to do this while in the hospital/rehab. Most of the time (unless I'm sick or eat something that upsets my stomach) this prevents any "accidents" from happening. I can't feel when I'm done, but I have learned the signs my body gives me and to time it. My bladder is a bit more complicated. It does one of three things. These seem to happen randomly, and I can never really predict what it will decide to do at any given time. Most of the time my bladder will fill and empty when it is full. I can't feel it filling, or emptying and usually I use a catheter to empty it every 4 or 5 hrs (although this amount of time can vary depending on how much I drank, how convenient it is to pee at a particular time etc.). If I'm going somewhere where I know I won't be able to get to an accessible washroom for a long time, or for longer flights and sometimes if I decide the night before that I want to sleep in the next morning or just to give my urethra a bit of a break I use an indwelling catheter. Sometimes my bladder just continues to empty as soon as any urine starts to accumulate. I pee small amounts very frequently and sometimes I'm a bit like a leaky faucet lol! This usually only happens when I have a UTI (I seem to always have a low grade UTI, but I'm talking about the bigger ones). Sometimes it can also happen for no apparent reason. This is when I am most likely to wear diapers. In this situation they are more convenient than indwelling catheters because I don't have to worry about getting catheters caught or disconnecting them from my leg bag or overnight bag. Diapers are also a great alternative for long flights when my bladder is doing either of the things I have mentioned. Other times my bladder fills and fills and won't empty on it's own. This causes me to get something called AD. It can be very dangerous, so I always have to watch for the signs when this is happening and be prepared to do something about it. This is why wearing diapers isn't always practical for me. So, I don't really feel anything. My leg bag or overnight bag just fills, or if I'm wearing a diaper I have to keep track of how much I'm drinking and how much it can hold to know when to change. I know this isn't the answer you were looking for, but I thought I'd share anyway just to give you another point of view.

I'm not sure is this person visits this board much, but I can probably answer the last part. I'm from Canada and each month my supplies are delivered by courier. The government (in the case of Newfoundland at least) assigns you a nurse who works with you to get you the things you need. If I want something different (smaller caths etc.) or something is not working out for example I call her and she fixes it. Supplies are covered the same as other healthcare is. It doesn't cost anything. They just show up each month from wherever the gov. gets the supplies from.

I went to the school for the blind and university in Halifax. I lived there for about five years, and recently moved back for a short time before moving again. Now I'm back in NL. So, where do you live in the summer when your igloo melts? LOL!

Do you know your roommates at all? Go ahead and buy them. They usually come in an unmarked box and you can always put it in your closet. No one should look through your things, and if they mention it then you know that they were snooping through your things and that is not right at all! I wouldn't worry too much about anyone noticing or caring even if they do notice though. I've had a spinal cord injury since 2004 and I get catheters and all kinds of other medical supplies come all the time. Sometimes the boxes are clearly marked (I haven't thought about telling them to use unmarked ones) and the delivery guys know exactly what is in the boxes (including size etc.) In the end, they have too much going on in their own lives to even think about what other people use or need. I bet your roommates wouldn't even notice, and if they did they would probably be curious about why you use diapers for a minute or two and then move on. I think a lot of the time we get so stressed out about things that we imagine the worst and then add onto it! Meanwhile in reality yes, people are curious but they are not going to make it their life's mission to figure out why someone else wears diapers. Most people have enough respect to not ask about these things and just accept that it is what it is. I don't mean for this next part to sound mean or anything, but do you think that maybe you are reading too much into things because you like diapers therefore you are more likely to notice if someone else wears them and would think about it more than someone who has no interest in the subject?

I know a guy who was born with his kidneys in the front of his body instead of where they should be. Do you mind me asking if you have any hardware in your back (screws, rods etc.)? There's a possibility I'll be facing surgery this year and would like to hear from people who have actually had it done.

I also have a neurogenic bladder caused by my spinal cord injury.

If a guy dumps you for being incontinent he's not even worth it! You can do a whole lot better.

Hi I've noticed that since I've been reading through some of the topics here. I'm originally from Newfoundland but spent some times over seas before moving back to Halifax. I went to University here and it always felt like home.

That is a really good idea! I'm trying to think of other things I could do that with! I want to try it with all kinds of things now. See what you've started lol...

I use baby wipes to clean my hands when I'm out. I'm a wheelchair user and they get very dirty from my pushrims/wheels. I keep some in a ziplock bag too like you said. I find that tey stay moist longer than the ones left in the plastic tub. Try buying the ones in the plastic bags (the refill packs) and keep some to use in a ziplock bag. That way they wont dry out so fast.

My first time was totally by accident and so embarrassing! It was the first time I had sex since my spinal cord injury and the first time with my boyfriend. With all of the excitement I forgot to cath before. I was on top of him and we were having a great time. Then all of a sudden I pretty much emptied my whole bladder all over him and the hotel bed. I was completely mortified and felt like crawling under the bed and not coming out! He said not to worry about it and that it was fine, but I thought he was just saying that to be nice. He went and got a shower and got me a wet soapy cloth and towel and was really nice about it. For the next nine hours or so while we were sitting next to each other on planes and in airports all I could think about was how embarrassing it was! Neither of us had any experiencing with the way spinal cord injuries affect sex. We joked about it through the years and one evening he actually told me he knew it was happening long before I did because he felt something hot and thought "is she peeing". I did little bits before I realized and when I asked why he didn't say anything he said that he didn't want me to feel embarrassed, and after a bit of hesitation added that he kind of enjoyed it. It was the first time he experienced it. This little detail made us both feel a lot better. Now if it happens neither of us worries and it doesn't interrupt anything. We've "experimented" in the shower together and we have both learned to embrace it when it happens. It feels pretty good not having to worry and we can both have some unexpended fun sometimes that is a total surprise to both of us!

I'm 28 female from Halifax.

I just joined the forum and also just moved to Halifax.

I just joined, so this information might be a bit late. I had an indwelling cath after my spinal cord injury in 2004. Your right, it is a pain in the butt to deal with! You should feel a lot better once you learn to cath yourself. I've been doing that for five years now and although it's more work and involves more scheduling it is a lot better. You could have been irritated by the latex in the cath. My latex allergy started off as a rash on my inner thighs and ended with a softball sized blood clot inside my bladder! Mention this to your Dr. and ask if you can be switched to non-latex caths. The thing is with latex allergies the more exposure you have the worse they can become. I can't even touch anything with latex in it now for a second without breaking out in a rash where I touched it and I have nearly stopped breathing when latex gloves ere used around me because I inhaled the powder from them.

I became incontinent in 2004 after a spinal cord injury. I didn't even think about diapers or other things until then. The TV commercials with the seniors enjoying going for bike rides etc. just set into my mind that it's something that happens to many people when they are older, and that you can go out and enjoy yourself much like the women in the tampon commercials! When I had my SCI I had indwelling catheters for the first few months, but eventually learned how to do intermittent caths myself. I was really happy about this and the freedom it gave me. I stuck to a pretty strict schedule and things worked. Then I got my first UTI after the indwelling cath! It was horrible! I spent a whole day wetting myself and felt like I was going to pass out from the cramping even though I couldn't feel it. I kept changing my pants and using Always, but I needed more than pads made for periods. Until that moment diapers were for babies/toddlers and seniors. No one else. It was embarrassing to wear them when you were in your twenties and I didn't think anyone would understand if I did. Then something hit me like a ton of bricks! Every time I got a UTI my bladder would spasm a lot and I'd have to stay home doing laundry until it was better. I wasn't enjoying life when that happened, even when I didn't feel "sick" anymore from the UTI. I also had times when I got irritated from poking myself too hard with the catheters because I can't feel it and of course that would cause me to "dribble" a bit. Then when I did go out I always needed to know exactly where the nearest washroom was and if it was accessible or not and stick to a set schedule. It's as if my whole life revolved around the bathroom! So the next time I got a UTI as soon as I knew it (before the Dr's did) I bought a pack of pull up Depends. I was so embarrassed I swear my head felt like it was going to melt my face was so red. But I thought it wasn't a store I went to often, and I was lucky to use a wheelchair because people would just kind of expect it. I soon found out that these just weren't going to cut it! If you have no control at all they leek pretty quickly so I did a bit of research online and ordered something better. I found out that I could actually sit through a whole movie at the theatre now and I could drink while I watched it! I didn't have to worry on long flights anymore and long car trips or trips to new areas where I didn't know about the washroom situation were so much more relaxing! I have to admit I am still a little embarrassed when at the store, but I know in my head that the people at the counters don't really care. I guess when we are very young we are taught that it is very bad (the worst thing ever) to use diapers because we are "big kids" and the shame never really leaves us. We are taught to be shameful of diapers and our bodily functions and to never speak of them. The toilet is treated as a thrown and when we are young we so want to be like the adults our instinct is to leave the diapers behind and never look back. Maybe if we didn't go through all of this when we were younger and were left to do things at our own pace then diapers wouldn't be so taboo.