Multiple Sclerosis and Bladder problems - Personal - http://maxpages.com/happymspage/More_on_Bladder_and

We all know that MS causes a lot of
problems,one of them being bladder
problems. They are not only annoying ,but
often embarrassing. If we have an accident,
we just want to crawl into a hole. If you
have read the other bladder article on this
happymspage u will be able to see the difference
in Doctors opinions on the way the same or
similar problem is treated. I hope you don't
mind if I give you a little background.

A neurogenic bladder and my eyes are whatdignosed
my MS. They think that I possiblely was born with
the neurogenic bladder, and part do to the MS,
so in essence u can almost say that I was born
with MS. As a child my symptoms were missed.
As I got older,I myself knew thet something was
wrong,and found out it was because the bladder
was not emptying, and thatwas leading to infections.
The doctor put me in the hospital and I was
given a medication called Urecholine,by injection
I'm not sure which was worse.The fact that I was not
emptying orthe side effects of the medication.
When u were given the injection,it worked so fast
that u better be right near a bathroom or else.
It caused u to sweat to the point that myself and
the entire bed was soaking wet and had to be changed
The injection was given around the clock,every
four hours. The side effects lasted one hour,so
u only had three hoursat a time when u felt
almost human. This medication proved to be
helpful for only several months. again,we did it,
but it didn't last as long as the first time.
It was time to come to another decision.

The doctor thought,at this point learning self
catheterization would be the best way to go.
Anyone who might have to do it,don't get upset.
It really is very easy and your life is made
much easier. I did this for ten years. I was even
working during this time. The catheter is a very
small tube, maybe about6 inches or so in length.
Like everything else, all good things sometimes
come to an end.I was now at the point,where I was
getting continous infections which could have
damaged my kidneys. The day I was married,I had
a fever of 101 degrees. I saw the doctor,who I
had invited to my reception on the way in.He
told me I made a beautiful bride. If he had only
known the amount of medication I had in me.

At this point damage to my kidneys was a very
great concern. As a matter of fact,when I got
married,my husband and I knew that it was a 99%
chance of having major surgery. Less than two
months after I was married, I was put in Albert
Einstein Hospital. The surgery that was done was
called a Koch Pouch. From the intestines, a
pouch was made underneath the stomach, and a one
way valve was put in to prevent any urine backing
up to the kidneys. A small stoma was on top. At
first, I catheterized the stoma, but because of
tremors and shakiness, the doctor had to put in a
catheter which is changed every month. tHe surgery
lasted 9 hours Actually I was not afraid of the
surgery, but the length of time on the operating
table.

The bladder is a muscle,so it can stretch,in my
case it had stretched to the point of not
emptying and could hold up to 1600 cc of urine.
The doctor decided to do a Cystectomy(which was
likecutting the bladder in half)in hopes that it
being made smaller,the muscle tone would come
back and the problem of emptying completely would
be solved. As I said before, the bladder can stretch
which againmine did. The surgery was only
successful for 9 months. Again Urecholine by
injection and then by mouth,butthe desired results
were unsuccessful. Since bladder infections were
starting again,the doctor decided to put an
indwelling catheter in. I wore a leg bag for close
to a year Infections were starting again,so it
was again time to make another decision.

I had to have a specialist,since the surgery that
was done was relatively new. You want to hear some-
thing really nice?The doctor that sent me to the
specialist, on the day of the surgery, he cancelled
his patients and was there in the operating room
with me. He was the one who cameout to tell
my husband and my mother,that the surgery was going
to take a litle longer than expected, but that was
good and that I was doing fine. Not too many
doctors would do that.

There was no way anyone could have imagined what
I would look like afterwards, or the pain that was
involved ,but because this surgery was done, I will
never have to worry about losing my kidneys.
As I'm told they look as good as textbook kidneys.
This surgery still is not done frequently, but thank
God,they have developed a newer procedure,and it
now can be done most times in about three or four
hours.

i hope none of u ,my friends,ever have to have
it, but if any of u did ,I think it would be
worth everything that you might have to go
through. It was for me and my husband, and
entire family. No one could have been happier
than myself.
Friends forever, Eileen

Eileen Lukeman and Richard Tanner

FL.

Eileen(Lobosgirl) and Richard (RET1000) both at aol.com

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Page Updated Mon Mar 9, 2009 11:28am EST