www.incontinentsupport.org

Last time I was in was for knee surgery. Talked to the Dr. beforehand and wore a Abena M-4 so I was good for 12 hrs or so. Woke up with a cath. Dr. said he wasn't sure the diaper would last. No problem for me.

Like I said, I have been in the hospital and ER around 10 or 11 times. I have worn diapers to all of them. I have never had an episode like Sandy. All my nurses have gone out of their way to assist me. Nobody has talked bad to me in any way. I have been in 4 different hospitals including a military one (Bethesda). I get respect everywhere I go. So no worries. So while I agree that episodes like Sandy's do happen, its not the norm. Yes, people like that should find another job.

All went well with my surgery. Stayed in the hospital for 3 days with no complaints. When I arrived all I had fasted for 12 hrs with only water the previous night. The doctor convinced me to having a catheter put in during the surgery. In recovery I was rediapered and awoke while being changed. During my stay the nurses checked and changed me every few hours. The first day I had no BM's but was quite wet when changed. The second morning (4:00 am) I was woken up by the nurse to change a messy one, the first of several. The nurses in the hospital used a technique of rolling me to each of my sides while removing and putting on which work quite well. Never got attitude or anything from any of the nurses or their aides.

I have no idea how common caring for the needs of a incon person are during a hospital stay, but there are a lot of incon people in the world so it is proably not as uncommon as one might think. I read some place that nursing homes have the highest number of incon people receiving full time care of any place and that only make sense because of the long term effects of a stroke and the age group most affected.

I have to think having some type of a bad experience with the nursing staff would be very uncommon. It's good that everthing went well during, and after your recovery. How long will you have to wait before knowing if your operation was a complete success?

It's in my records that I need to have a diaper on. I had shoulder operation a few years ago. I know the cathed me in the or. When I came out I had a diaper on. If I feel it getting full I just pressed my button and the nurse changed me. It was no big deal!