It's been awhile since I updated my incontinence issues but things have been getting much better for me lately. Back on April fourth, I wrote about going to physical therapy for the first time, and how much harder the doctor wanted me to contact my pelvic floor muscles to help with my control. I went back for a second physical therapy appointment for my incontinence about three weeks after the first, and things were much better. I was able to hold my pelvic muscle contracted for about twenty seconds. That would be twenty seconds with the lights on the bio feedback in the red. All of this was helping. I was doing the Kegels harder, and I was doing fewer of them than before. My issues of peeing myself were becoming fewer and fewer. I was even able to drink some beers, and not go straight to the bathroom. Caffeine was still giving me problems, I'm not sure why. Since I was having fewer issues with my incontinence, I decided to try a different pad other than the Depends Ultra protection I was wearing. It also coincided with the first heat wave of spring. and the Depends weren't that comfortable in 100-degree weather. I purchased a container of Tena pads. I played it safe and went for the level 3 pad they sell, which is for moderate incontinence issues. The Tena pad is much more comfortable than the Depends pad. If anyone is going through something similar to this, buy different small containers of pads, and see which ones you like best. It was only a matter of about 10 days though, and I began to notice my pads were staying drier and drier as the days went by. A quick side note, make sure the pad is firmly attached to your underwear before you pull up the briefs around your waist. If the pad fall over as the underwear is pulled up, the sticky side of the pad comes into contact with the scrotum, and it hurts when the pad is pulled off. I found this out the hard way. Anyway, about a week and a half ago, I decided to try and work without wearing the pad. I'm only having issues when I sneeze or laugh too hard after drinking some beers. The experiment has worked, as I only need to currently wear a pad if I'm running.
On May 20th, Robin and I went for a bike ride to celebrate our wedding anniversary, and I wore my custom made Depends pad for the ride. I was nervous, as I hadn't been biking yet. Not only did I survive the ride, but I was able to stop and pee after about an hour of riding. There was some liquid in my Depends, but I had been able to hold some inside me for a change and get rid of it like a normal person. This was a huge milestone for me. This past weekend Robin, Maggie and I went for an eight-mile hike and run that featured over 2000 feet of climbing, and lasted over 3 hours. At the turnaround point, i decided to change my pad since I could feel a little moisture between my legs. I had brought 2 extra pads, just to be safe. When I went into the bushes to change my pad I was surprised to find the pad mostly dry as the moisture I had been feeling was from sweat. Not only that, but I was able to stop and pee twice over the course of the three hours.
I was ecstatic over the progress I had made suddenly, but it wasn't so sudden when I think about it. I have been consistently doing exercises and following directions of doctors for the past 4 months, and it is paying off. The hard part now will be to continue to do the exercises. My goal has to be running without a pad, and until then, I guess I'm still suffering incontinence after prostate surgery.
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