Saturday, August 17, 2013

Flying Tips for Incontinent People flying to, From Or in america

I felt like contributing this post for people who wish to fly on a plane. I have come up with these tips based on my own personal experiences flying and having to deal with security protocols and such.

1. When you carry diaper rash cream with you, make sure your tube is three ounces or less. If it is not, your cream will be confiscated and thrown away. You always want to carry diaper rash cream with you in case you get that lovely thing we call a diaper rash so suddenly. We are prone to those if we have to fly for some time because it is terrible to try and change a diaper in a plane bathroom. I do not even try because the space is too small. I always wait until I land to change my diapers.

2. Do not carry a large pack or box of baby wipes with you if you do not want to be hassled. When a bunch of wipes are stuck together, like in a pack or a box, it looks like liquid on the scanner. You will be asked to dump out your bags and be subjected to scrutiny. What you need to do is carry some travel sized packs of wipes or a small wipe contain of wipes that you would put in a diaper bag. Or, you can get the individually wrapped reassure wipes from HDIS by calling 1800-269-4663.

3. Make sure your bottle of baby powder is not any bigger than eleven ounces. If the powder is more than eleven ounces, it will be tested with a certain chemical by TSA staff. No, they will not destroy your powder, but they will dump a bit of it on a special test strip and dump your bag to make sure there are no threats. Travel sized or medium sized bottles of powder are more ideal for flying.

I hope that you find these tips helpful. I had to learn these the hard way. Thankfully, the guy checking my stuff was really cool. He and I chatted, and he explained all the protocols to me. I am glad he explained things because I can now share that with you.

A Crazy Week with My Incontinence

This week was crazy with my incontinence issues. I do not even feel like crazy is the word to describe it. I am going to give a brief overview of what happened.

1. On one day, I had diarrhea six times. I had to change my diaper eight times during one workday because of it. I also got a terrible diaper rash as a result. Oh, it was terrible. It hurt so badly.

2. I have been urinating too much. I have been saturating my diapers a lot quicker than I normally do. I still am. I am not sure why.

3. I pooped myself one time while talking to a coworker. I was discussing business while it was happening. I felt real self-conscious about it but was glad nothing smelled. He did not even notice. If he did notice any change in my facial expressions, he never said anything. I hope I did not make facial expressions to give away that something was wrong. I also pooped my diaper while working on my government issued computer. Because I work with classified information, I can never leave that computer unattended. I was troubleshooting the computer and trying to shut it down. Because of all the encryption programs, it was taking some time. I really had to poop badly and was hoping I'd make it to the toilet. I squeezed my butt cheeks together and tried so hard not to lose control. It did not work at all. I messed myself. As soon as the computer was shut down, I locked it in my desk drawer. Then, I ran to the bathroom and changed my diaper.

What a pain. Seriously. What a week. I hope things calm down soon.

I Am Not Sure I Ever Want to Complain Again

I do not know that I can ever complain about having my condition again.

There is this lady who had cancer and ended up losing her large intestines. Because of this, she has to wear a colostomy bag. If that is not bad enough, her bladder was damaged during the surgery. As a result, she cannot pee on her own anymore and has to be emptied using a catheter.

And I cry about having to wear a diaper.

At least my stuff works. At least I do not have an incision in my side and have to wear a bag that can bust or fall off if not careful. And at least I can pee without assistance. I mean, I just go in a diaper. I do not have to worry about dying or getting these terrible infections because my bladder cannot empty. Sure, diapers give me UTIs and yeast infections, but that is minor in comparison with what this lady has to endure.

While I do not like to wear diapers per say, having to wear diapers is a walk in the park compared to someone with those problems. My heart goes out to that lady. I am not going to mention her name here because she would be horrified. I do not want to embarrass her anyhow.

I Love the New Tranquility Smart Core Diapers

A week ago, I received some samples of the new Tranquility smart Core diapers. I loved them so much that I ordered a full shipment and changed my personally delivery plan to these diapers instead of the Slim Lines I was receiving prior.

The Smart Core diapers are right up there with the Tranquility ATN diapers but they have the cloth backing instead of the plastic. Just recently, I have taken a liking to the cloth covered diapers and have forsaken the plastic because they are not as noisy and do not make me sweat so badly.

For a while, Tranquility only made the Slim Lines with the cloth out cover in my size. They are awesome but not quite as absorbent as the Tranquility Smart Core. I liked the absorbency of the Tranquility ATN diapers but did not want to continue to get them because of the plastic. But when I heard about Smart Core--I heard about them from a member in my support group, I just had to try them.

I must say that these adult diapers are the absolute best ones with the cloth outer covering. They do not leak and quickly take the moisture from my skin. They also contain agents in them to keep fungal infections and bacterial infections at bay as well as chemicals to keep PH balanced and control odor. Best of all, they are not even nearly as expensive as the Tranquility ATN diapers, and I do not have to change them as often as the Tranquility Slim Line diapers. With the Tranquility smart Cores, I feel more confident and comfortable.

Tranquility is an awesome company. Tranquility diapers are made to fit people of all body shapes. Some brands are only designed to fit people with a specific shaped figure, such as an out-glass figure, and they do not work for others who do not have that specific that the diapers are designed to fit. With Tranquility, there is no guesswork, and you can get these diapers and feel confident that they will work and fit well.

I recommend Tranquility Smart Core diapers to anyone who needs to wear diapers.

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Wetting Up My Dress on August 6, 2013

I thank God that my dress was dark and nobody could see what happened!

I had to change my diaper really bad. I have been going to the bathroom much more than usual, and the diaper needed to be changed badly. I am not sure what all this is about, all that urinating and stuff. I know that my bladder is overactive, and I go a lot already, but I have been going way more than the norm. I am going to get checked for diabetes, just to make sure I am okay in that regard. Diabetes runs in both sides of my family, so I am at risk. I just pray to God I do not have that, though.

I went into the bathroom, and I began the changing process. When I took the diaper off, pee dripped onto the back of my dress because it accidently got in the way.

Now, I was freaking out bad. I did not know how I was going to go back to the office with this big urine spot on the back of my dress. I had to think fast!

After taking a second to breathe and pray, an idea came to me. I finished changing the diaper, and then I let down my dress. I went over to the sink, got a few soapy paper towels, and I wiped off the urine spot. Then, I got some wet paper towels free of soap, and I rinsed the soap off my dress. I took dry paper towels and kept wiping the spot until it was as dry as I could get it. I was praying nobody would come into the bathroom during this process. They did not, and I was glad.

The nice thing was that it dried completely in a couple of hours. The fact that the dress was a thin material and not cotton really helped that.

Later, I worked up the courage to go and ask a female coworker if she could see anything on my dress. I told her I spilled something--technically, I did, and I wanted to know if she could see anything. She said she could not. While I was relieved, I was still embarrassed.

I cried privately when it happened because I hate that things like that happen to me. It is incidences like these that make me really wish there was a cure. I know that people who love me accept me for me. My friends and loved ones do not care that I need to wear diapers. It does not matter to them, but there is nothing wrong with wanting to be cured. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be free of the problems diapers cause, like diaper rash, yeast infections and UTIs. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be free of embarrassing incidences that happen to us that do not happen to people who are normal. People say I should just accept it, but they really do not understand. It is not their life. They do not live with this every single day.

Pooping Myself at Work on August 1, 2013

It happened to me last week on August 1. I was finishing my lunch, when I felt like I had to poop. Whenever I do, I get this bad stomach ache. It has always hurt when I had to go since like the age of seven. People say it is not normal for it to hurt, but it is my normal, and I have gotten used to that.

I gathered up my things, and I began walking fast. I was sitting outside eating my lunch and was at work. Before I got to the door of the office building to go inside, it happened. I pooped myself. Thank God I already wear diapers twenty-four/seven for my overactive bladder.

Now, I felt really self-conscious. I could not smell any odor--the diapers I wear do a really good job at masking it. I was so afraid someone else would. I really got self-conscious when I got on the elevator. I thought I was going on the elevator alone, but two other women got on with me. I was so tempted to just jump off at the last second, but I did not want to draw any unnecessary attention to myself or have to explain anything. I wonder if I had an embarrassed look on my face. I know that my face felt hot, so I am sure I was blushing badly. But since we live in such a polite society where we are taught as adults to mind our own business for the most part, not too many people would have said anything, even if they did notice something was awry. However, they would not hesitate to go and talk about me behind my back to others. I wonder what they would say to their friends and coworkers.

I held my breath until I got to the sixth floor. That was where my office was. I moved to the third floor this Thursday, August 8, because there is where our team was moved. I got off the elevator as fast as I could (Perhaps, the women would just figure I was trying to hurry back to my desk after break like so many others do.). I got my diaper bag, and I ran to the bathroom. 

I set to changing myself. It was difficult because I had to try to keep my dress out of the way. I was so tempted to just take it off and hang up until I cleaned the mess off myself. But, I managed to keep it free of getting messed up. I also had to work hard at cleaning myself because there was a gooey mess everywhere. Lately, the consistency of my bowels has been strange. It's not firm or runny, though, it is close to diarrhea.

After I was done, I hurried back to work. Nobody said anything, and I am so glad.