BoariJ

Paper curtains with the fabulous Melanie Reid

Spinal column: Melanie Reid ‘I was an incontinent no-show at a continence conference. What black irony is that?’

RB-PtOnCouch
paper curtains

 

This I know too well:

Melanie Reid in her article in the Times this week.  ‘…The ACA is a brave band of health professionals who strive to tackle the universal curse of incontinence. This is a real Cinderella branch of medicine. Few want to fund research, revolutionise treatments or develop 21st-century solutions………….’

‘The paper curtains in accident and emergency in Edinburgh, I noted grimly, were the same as the ones in Glasgow. Bright blue, stiff pleats. Must be an NHS job lot, I reasoned. Lying on the trolley waiting for the consultant, swallowing panic. I was getting too practised at this….’

Comments throughout the day to the Times included:

  • Jacqueline Emkes: This reminds me of the morning I awoke to find my catheter bag empty. That panic turned to horror as I realised it had in fact been leaking all night. Pee does go a long way. Plus a lovely book my friend had lent me, ( I must’ve fallen asleep reading) showed remarkable absorption to almost double in size! I tried to dry it in the oven without anyone noticing. Nearly got away with it …but that’s another story!
 
  • You wear the medal of Patron of the ACA so well. but even your eloquent expressive words cannot truly express the horror of sudden incontinence.supportive love as usual from Jeannie in Australia. 
  •  Too true about that knife edge Melanie,  and we’re all going to be written out sooner or later. Get out on you new scooter and take the dog for a walk while you can. 
  • Those curtains seem to be the same everywhere, certainly are here in Cornwall.
 
 
  • we are almost always facing the dilemma of trying to “be normal ” and trivialise the  changing of the catheter.My far from foolproof process is to drink a large glass of water just before the change and the nurse waits until it is shown to be flowing.
 
 
 
  • As ever, Melanie, huge admiration for how you deal with things like this and how your column helps others understand disability. Hope you are feeling stronger and are enjoying the weekend.
 

Nightmare. I so hope bit better now. What better way for those at ACA conf to hear the ‘lived experience’ it’s the real stories that make the difference. Well they got that! I wish I’d been there to fill in to help to do anything – arghhhhh

 
  • Grace under pressure…literally. 
  • The ACA couldn’t ask for a patron with better credentials than yours Melanie. 
  • Not to worry.  You’re far too compelling a character for the great scriptwriter to ease out of the narrative any time soon.
 
  • Melanie, I have followed ‘spinal column’ since the beginning but never commented because I could not think of anything that did not sound trite.  What I have learned about the knock on effect of such an injury is sometimes ‘too much information’ but that would be me being a coward.  Thanks for sharing this, we might not need to know but we should know what a sod it is to live with such problems.