Mark Horton

I was late out of nappies at 4 years old. They were the terry towelling type with plastic pants. My mother, who was sick and tired of changing wet and dirty nappies at that age, rubbed my nose into a wet (not dirty) nappy. Apparently, this disgusted me and I was day dry more or less from that moment on. However, I still wet at night, or when I fell asleep. I also had number 2 accidents at random during the day and at night. It was later discovered that I had a medical condition called Kartageners syndrome, which amongst other things means that my internal organs are a mirror image of where they should be (situs inversus). I initially went to a normal primary school, but was losing ground as I was constantly in and out of hospital. I was then transferred to a special school for physically disabled children. When I got there, I noticed that other children were also in nappies. Children with Spina Bifida and Cerebral Palsy were in nappies, living their lives unashamedly. From that moment on, the floodgates opened (pardon the pun) and I was was wetting my nappies at will. Also, I was starting to lose what little control I had of my bowels. I was being changed and cleaned mid morning, lunch time and mid afternoon by the asisstants we had to call Aunties. I was living my best life. I had a legitimate(ish) medical reason, and I was being attended to as needed. My mother was not best pleased at my seeming regression, but put it down to my medical issues. Of course the school physios were trying to get me dry and clean. Clenching to improve bowel control, bedweting alarms etc. When that didn't work, they had me using catheters to clear my bladder, but I kept getting infection after infection, making my urinary incontinence worse. Then came the disposable nappies. Not as comfortable as the terry nappies, but a lot more discrete. In my teenage years it was down to me to change my own nappies and keep myself clean. I am now 54 and still in nappies. I do still use terry nappies at home, but when I go out, it's disposables. If anyone wants to know any more, then do please reply. No subject is taboo.