It has been A Week, friends. A Week.
Let’s start with the highs, shall we?
On Monday afternoon, I had my first visit with the delightful Dr. Napoe. She is a urogynocologist and I can’t believe my good fortune in meeting with her. Dr. Napoe is a most excellent listener and the first thing she did was ask my permission to use an AI app to record our conversation so she could be fully focused on me versus having to type notes as we talked. (Yay technology!) She was kind, attentive, and so easy to talk to… she “double clicked” often. It was a profoundly meaningful conversation… I felt very seen and heard.
Now for the lows… (and trust me the lows have won the week…)
My reason for a visit with Dr. Napoe is that I have been having some significant trouble “going” if you get my drift. As in I rarely “feel the need to go” and when I do… trying to get “started” is a Herculean Task. I have always had a “shy bladder” … using a public restroom is really no fun at all for me. Silly? Yes but knowing it is silly does not make much difference.
I figured that I would need a somewhat full bladder for the appointment, and I was right, but little did I know that I almost always have a somewhat full bladder! After a very thorough and, at times, embarrassingly frank conversation, she “scanned” my bladder and then off to the bathroom I went… (only to struggle to “go”) to then be scanned again… with the same volume as the first scan. She also did an exam and discovered, or perhaps confirmed, her suspicions from our conversation – tight, spasming muscles in my pelvic floor. I am not ever emptying my bladder (It is called Post Void Residual) and so we then talked about the “next steps”…
Silly me for thinking there would be some magic solution… alas no. I was prescribed PT (who knew there was PT for peeing…certainly not) but the first available appointment was not until the end of April. So until then, I have reverted to very early childhood… I am on “timed voids” until further notice. Yep… timed voids people. Every 2-3 hours during the day I am “going” whether I need to or not (an unexpected bonus for this activity is an increase in “stair climbing”)
And I am now keeping a Bladder Diary. Sigh.
She also suggested more relaxation… meditation… calming thoughts. I would laugh at this… if I was not so frustrated. Relax and Pee are not words I would ever use together in a sentence… but there you have it!
Getting old is not for the faint of heart, dear friends…
And I wish us all (myself included) a good weekend!
Oh my! I am not a friend of public restrooms either In fact, whenever we would drive to Vermont – either as a kid or an adult – I would not use public restrooms…I would “hold it” until we arrived at our destination. Not the smartest thing to do, and now I will use a public restroom (but only if I HAVE to!!). Fortunately, I don’t have any problem going now. I’m so glad you have a caring, listening doctor and I hope PT (when you can finally get it) helps. I do agree that aging is not for the faint of heart (though, as my Dad always said, the alternative isn’t great!).
Well, at least she was able to suggest a way to deal with it, which is promising. I hope it will help with the issue, that must be so frustrating.
It sounds like you have found a great doctor though, so that’s always good news.
I’m sorry for the issue you’re experiencing, but glad you’ve found someone who listens that can help you resolve and/or deal with the problem. A family member has a similar issue with her pelvic floor and she was telling me about her PT. It’s been helpful; what didn’t help her was having five children. (But we love them anyway even if carrying them causes many problems for our bodies.) I hope you have a good weekend, filled with calming thoughts and a cooperative bladder.
I’m sure that despite the lows, having found someone who really listens to you is a major high. I hope the PT is helpful and you start seeing a difference soon! The physical issues that come along with aging are frustrating, but the good news is that science and medicine are in a much better place than they were decades ago and we have options and treatments our grandparents didn’t!
Oh my goodness, Kat! I’m focusing on the highs… it is EVERYTHING to have a medical provider who listens!! I’m sorry you’re experiencing the lows, but it’s so great to have a plan.
Aging is not for the faint of heart. I’m glad you found a physician who listened. I hope the PT is the same. The good news is women’s health care is better these days than in our mothers’ lives. Hang in there.
So many of us have the opposite issue: having to pee all the time! It’s also pelvic floor issues.
Glad you found a good specialist. And glad the residual volume doesn’t result in UTIs. That’s a whole other issue for us oldies.
Take good care.
(Turn on the faucet? Like for toddlers? )
It can’t have been comfortable to share this with us but I applaud your vulnerability and bravery in talking about it. I am really glad you found a good specialist. I have a friend who is a physical therapist in all pelvic floor issues and she helped a coworker of mine immensely a few years ago. I hope you get the same relief and healing as well.
I am praying for you Kat! The wait time for TX is ridiculous. I don’t know why health care is like this. I am waiting for an office to call me to schedule an appointment and it’s almost a week of waiting…ugh.