Something that's been, made quite a big difference to me and my freedom has been having a catheter put in, actually. Again we did that for the flight, for the long flight. Lifting me into a small airline toilet is not that easy [laughs]. And my husband and I have done it once before, and it does cut down on your enjoyment of Business Class if you constantly have to worry how many glasses of champagne you can have before you need the loo. So we, we thought we'd wipe that out. And I had a fantastic hospice nurse in Auckland, who I'd built up a really good rapport with, and, and she really, I'd always thought that catheters were a big deal and that you couldn't really have a catheter long term. And she said, “Oh, no, no, they're not. You've got to be careful of infection and you need to drink more, but it's not, it's really not a big deal. And if you don't like it, you know, you can, you can have it removed.”
So having built up that trust with her, I had one fitted, and it, and it's been great, because what it now means is that I can go out with anybody for the day. I'm not restricted to only going out for two hours before I need the loo again and, “Is there a disabled loo? And is there someone strong enough or even that I'd want to help me to the loo?” That's, all of that kerfuffle has gone. And it, and it's great. There are some downsides. It's, it's tubes, it's plumbing. It, you are sitting in your chair, really, for the day then. You're not being picked up for, two or three times a day. And, and I think that does in turn, can affect your, your bowels and make you more constipated. But that's, all of those things are small fry and easily surmountable compared to having to be pulled up and, and the indignity of people pulling your trousers down and…
Yeah…
…being able to do it.
…again, it's, it's sort of possibly slightly counter-intuitive, isn't it? That it, it actually makes you more dignified.
Yes, it does. And it, and, and now my father-in-law can help me and just, you know, fills a bottle for me from my catheter bag by just lifting up my trouser leg. And somehow, when it's in a bag like that, it doesn't, it doesn't seem personal. And it doesn't really - yes, it's, it's something that's, you know, it doesn't really mean like that you're, that he's helping me with toileting. It doesn't feel like that.
No, it's sort of removed, isn't it?
Yeah, it is, it is.
Yeah.
So in actual fact it's given me more freedom. And it means that I never think about how much I'm drinking. I can just drink away, have as many cups of coffee as I like without thinking, “Oh, yeah, but if I have a cup of coffee now, then I'll need the loo in an hour. And, and my husband's got to go out.” All of that worry has gone. And that worry of, “Oh, I need the loo. Oh, gosh, but, but I've only just asked for this and, oh, and she's in a really bad mood or he's in a really bad mood. Oh, God, I've got to ask them to… “Or they're really tired and - don't, don't have any of that now. So that's given me a freedom actually. And, and you've got to manage it, but it, you know, it, it can work. |
