Tuesday, April 17, 2012

The Journey From D to D - - Not a Subject For The Dinner Table



Dear Readers, 

How did this ever happen!    How does one go from diapers to Depends in 73 years?   (snicker)   How can this be when in my head I'm only 53!

When I started this blog on September 11, 2011 it was with the intentions of being a helpful tool for someone else who is newly diagnosed with Parkinson's and struggling with all the changes your body goes thru - or perhaps in helping to broaden your knowledge base to better understand what your parent might be going thru.   It's my perspective of things and what I have picked up from reading various reputable articles.   Here we are - 7 months later and I'm already talking about (gasp) Depends!

When you have Parkinson's your muscles weaken.   Your bladder is one large muscle.  Did you know that?   I didn't..   Now if you have Parkinson's, it doesn't automatically mean you will end up using Depends, but the chances of it happening are very good.   Muscles tend to weaken as we age anyway, then add Parkinson's to the equation and like magic your bladder muscles weaken too.   What did we ever do before these wonderful products were available?

I am a big water drinker.  If I didn't drink so much water, I'd probably not be buying Depends.  Bbut I love water and you need to drink a lot for urinary tract health and general health.   The biggest problem happens at night.  When you have Parkinson's and Arthritis in the spine, your movements are slower.  Thus getting up out of bed in a hurry for a bathroom trip in the middle of the night just isn't always possible.   It is so nice to have the Depends to depend on for those occasiona l leakages that happen.  (I'm not being paid by Depends - in fact, I buy any brand that's available and is on sale!   They are  nearly all the same.)

While I'm on the subject, Urinary Track Infections are on the rise with the aging population. Dr. Duncan Jefferson blog post on "Sniffing out Urinary Tracts Infections -UTIs" is a very interesting article.  Everyone is susceptible to UTIs - not just the elderly or young children.      You'll remember I've mentioned Dr. Jefferson's blog in the past as being an excellent resource as he writes about all kinds of medical issues in easy-to-understand language. You might nose around in his blog sometime - it's full of helpful information and certainly this post is very interesting.

Until next time,

Mary





7 comments:

  1. Thank you Mary for such a wonderfully honest post! We're not getting older, just getting better as mom likes to say! {{{hugs}}}

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  2. I admire you. I do. You know it's true because I have said so before. You are fearless and courageous. Those two things do not always come paired together, Either one is good but both characteristics is not too common but you have them both.

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  3. Bless you Mary. You tell it like it is and tell it honestly. Some days I feel 18 again and other days I feel like 100. We all have personal battles to face and unfortunately as we grow older the battles become more fierce.

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  4. As I write W is having a PD attack. So I hear you loud and clear.
    Great post and thanks for the link
    Xoxox

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  5. Thank you Mary.
    I am glad to know that you think very highly of Depends [with so brands many out there]
    A friend of mine will wear protection when she goes out, she takes colesterol medication that can upset her stomach & afraid of bowel accidents as well. It must be a colesterol medication I know 2 other people who take meds for that & they seem to have bowel movements frequently

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  6. Sorry that I didn't see this sooner. What a pain to have one more thing to deal with, but it's good that this gives you a little piece of mind at bedtime. It's also good that you continue to drink so much water to prevent UTI's which are probably more widespread with diaper use. You have such a positive attitude which I greatly admire! Julie

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  7. I guess it doesn't matter if you're 41 or 73...it's such a blow to "ego" to have to start needing these...any time of the day. You deal with it with grace and dignity. Thank you for sharing!

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