Aging parts and still can laugh!

Had a fantastic girls trip this past weekend. On the last night of our trip, and although we were having a blast in the hot tub talking, I knew I had not been able to urinate. I tried for well over two hours. I for some reason thought that the hot tub might help. By midnight, before everyone was asleep, I asked a couple of my dear friends to drive me to the emergency room. There, they got me in quickly and yes, they emptied my bladder with almost a liter of urine and I immediately felt better. Then they placed a catheter in me and sent me on my way. I walked out of the emergency room within an hour, all I had to do was agreed to contact my urologist Monday morning. I got in the car and said to my friends…”I am now Mrs. Pee Bag”. I was a little annoyed but knew that things could have been worse.

My problem was probably caused by my prolapse bladder. It is thought that it was caused by a severe cough that I had in 2022 with some viral infection. My cough had lasted for well over six weeks and the doctor said that there was not much to do for it but just wait it out. Unfortunately, it caused my bladder to slightly protrude and didn’t even realize till one morning I was showering and discovered something coming out of me. I kind of panicked but went to my Mr. Google and he let me know that is probably was. I of course made an appointment with the doctor, and she too explained that yes, it was a prolapsed bladder. Today, I had the catheter removed and they are running test to determined what happened. And, we still had a blast driving home even with my pee bag.

So, why do I share this? Well, because as we age, things start to change. I have now learned to embrace it all with curiosity instead of fear and it is working. It has not served me in the past to complain or have a pity party about these things. However, spending time researching on how to improve it, live with it, or get rid of it has been so much easier on my emotional well-being. I use to fight it but now I laugh and say "I got this". I will admit that the fear did creep up when my stomach felt like it wanted to explode but I knew that I needed it tended to and it all worked out.

As we age, things begin to happen. It is nature. We can live in fear, we can try to deny, but it will only make us miserable. If we simply use our brain to investigate to make the most of it, life will much easier….embrace aging with a smile and a lot of curiosity. Use your investigation skills to find ways to make it easier to with aging with more comfort. Do things now to make it easier for your older self. She will appreciate it! Of all the things I have researched, don’t forget to stretch!

Janie