The Crisis on the Train

The date was Saturday July the second. The weather was hot and sticky, though, that did not matter to us. My friends and I were traveling to the National Federation for the Blind convention that was taking place in Orlando, Florida this year. We were excited.

All five of us hopped aboard the train. The group included my friend Tyron, my other friend Tiffany, and Lavonnya and her six-year-old daughter. All was going well, until I discovered that there was a major problem.

I needed to change my diaper. I looked into my bag for the diapers that I had packed to take with me on the train, and they were gone! Immediately, I felt my heart drop into my stomach. I felt myself begin to sweat and get anxious. After all, this was a nineteen hour train ride, and one diaper would not hold me the entire way through. With complete and total urinary incontinence and partial bowel incontinence, it would not even work!

Tiffany noticed that something was wrong. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Hardly," I said back.

"What is wrong?"

"Um, you know how i need diapers because I am incontinent?"

"Yes," Tiffany said.

"Well, the ones i packed for this trip are no longer there. I think that they fell out of my bag when the conductor made me change seats before we took off. What in the world am I going to do? We are only three hours into this trip! The diaper that I am currently wearing is not going to last!" By this time, I could hear my voice starting to rise, as I began to slightly panic.

"Try to calm down," Tiffany said.

"Calm down?" I asked. "How on earth do you figure I do that? Do you know what is going to happen to me? At any time, the diaper I am wearing could spring a leak if I go too much. Then, what in the world do I do? Things will be worse then. I wonder if they could stop the train so I could buy more diapers." The diapers in my carry on were the diapers that I was to use for the entire week. I'd now have to buy more when I arrived in Florida.

"They cannot stop the train," Tyron and Tiffany both said.

"It is an emergency! I need diapers! Pee will get everywhere and it could get worse than that! Don't you realize I have complete and total urinary incontinence and suffer from bouts of bowel incontinence? Oh, this is going to mean big trouble!"

I took a couple of deep breaths and called my friend Pat on the phone. Pat is a really rational person, and she always has a good head on her shoulders. I was all out of ideas for the moment.

We talked for a bit. She told me that I was going to have to not drink the rest of the time on the train. She also told me to make several bathroom trips an hour. Now that would be hard, considering I have no real knowledge of when I'm going to go. But I figured that I'd have to do whatever it took to avoid embarrassment. Unfortunately, though, I lost signal.

I got off my seat to make the first bathroom break. On the way, I was praying to God. While walking, one of the women came up to me that I was talking to earlier and asked me what was wrong. I figured I'd tell her. What could it harm? After all, she could have a solution.

"Well, I do not know how to really explain this, but I'm incontinent. I can't control my bladder at all. Sometimes, my bowels do not work well, either. It is kind of like what a baby does. I have to wear diapers. I lost all of mine when I moved seats before the train took off. They may have been picked up by now and thrown away. I checked before I got on the train, and they were in my bag. Now, they are not, and I do not know what I am going to do."

"Well, I have some pads for you." She grabbed a few thick period pads out of her purse, wrapped them in a plastic bag, and then handed them to me. I did not want to hurt her feelings and tell her they really would not help too well. I went ahead and took the pads from her, and I suddenly got an idea that would save me. I was going to take the pads and stuff them into the diaper I was already wearing, so it would make the diaper last a bit longer. That would have to work. It would be uncomfortable, but there was nothing else I could do.

I went to the bathroom to do this. I did not use all of the pads because i wanted some others for later. But when I was walking back, something unexpected happened. I ran into an old friend who was also traveling to the same exact place. It was my friend Velma.

"You okay?" she asked.

I proceeded to tell her all that was happening. And she had an idea that I did not think of at all.

"You can fit extra-large baby diapers, right? I mean, you look small enough. I could have sworn you told me that before."

"Yes, I can. I can wear the Loves size six and Pampers size sevens."

"I'm going to go around and look for a mom or dad with a big toddler and ask for a couple of diapers for you to have. I'll explain what is wrong."

"You'd do that?" I asked her.

"Sure. I want you to be comfortable."

"Velma! Thank you so much!"

I went back to my seat and waited. I got some signal, so I called Pat again. I proceeded to tell her what transpired and apologized for losing her call. I explained that the signal was sporadic. She was cool with it. She was also happy that there was a solution. We got a little further than that, and then the call died again.

Velma came back to my seat, and the mom that was giving me the diapers was with her. This time, I did feel a bit embarrassed and could feel my face growing hot, but I remembered that I was an advocate and that there was no need to be embarrassed. It was up to me to set an example.

She is the one who needs the diapers?" the mother asked.

"Yes," my friend said.

"Ma'am, I am incontinent. I cannot control my bladder and sometimes, my bowels act up. I lost the diapers that I had when the conductor made me move seats before the train took off. I know that by now, they have been trashed."

"Well, here you go then," the woman said, as she handed two diapers to me. "This should help you, until you get to your destination."

"Oh, thank you so much!"

"You're welcome," said the mom, and then she walked away.

I turned to Velma and said, "Velma, thank you so much. You really made my trip. I do not feel so anxious about what could happen."

"Hey, that is what friends are for. Besides, Jehovah knows what we need. He takes care of us. He knew your needs, and I just happened to be there at the right time."

That was so true. I prayed during that whole ordeal, and it all worked out.

I went to the bathroom, changed into one of the diapers, and I then walked to the dining car to get my supper. I ate, had a few bottles of orange juice, and settled down to get comfortable. I was so glad that I was going to be able to sleep that night in peace without having to worry about springing leaks or even waterfalls. I was going to enjoy my train ride after all.