Wedding is in TEN days!
And now, in the interest of full disclosure about what it’s like to be a person living with this disease, I have to confess my biggest shame: urinary incontinence.
I know that it’s a common problem with MS but my mom was asking me about my preferences for something to do with the wedding yesterday, and I said, “All I care about is not wetting my pants.” You might think that is funny, but it is my biggest fear. And my experience with Depends™ and Poise™ pads is that they aren’t always enough, and they are uncomfortable and ugly besides.
I was in a group of MSers a few years ago and one patient was brought to tears lamenting bowel incontinence that rendered her incapable of wearing thong underwear anymore. And I confess that I do sometimes comfort myself with that as evidence things could be worse for me.
But I am only 42 years old. There was a time when I looked at urinary incontinence as proof that things could be worse from where I was.
I think, at some point, I’m going to have to investigate self-catheterization.
copyedited in 2022