Dej, I'm late reading this and it's all come and gone before I butt in.

But it all sounds very stressful. Had it been me, I'm afraid I would have bought a nice big bar of chocolate, rented a good film and sat at home.

If I need a support group, I just log on here. I know I can flit in and out of here, pick what I read about and know that if I need help, someone will try to pitch in.

Leave the Avon lady to her thing. Walk away...

I can come to NT in my underwear - priceless.

The speaker was wonderful. Her hubby is the new neuro in the big city up from me, and he is sorely needed. The old guy is grouchy, and dismissive to MS patients.

The topic was bladder, bowel, and sexual dysfunction related to MS. One woman had her whole large intestine removed due to Chrons disease years ago, and its a mess. The other has such a slow paced intestine she can actually got 12 to 15 days without pooping. Said "I get busy and dont notice till I start vomiting, and then I know there is a problem" WHAT?! How do you not poop for 2 weeks and not know you dont have a problem? anyway, we spoke of how the intestine has an intelligence all its own. its nerves and signals work independantly of the brain and body until it comes time to open the exit door. if the exit door signal cant get thru to the brain, then the door can either stay stuck open or shut. She talked about pelvic floor exercises are useful to keep the floor strong, but if the signal cant get thru, it doesnt matter how strong the floor is.

She spoke of how many woman get a UTI after intercouse because the urethra isnt as tight and closed off as it used to be, and bacteria can wash upwards into the bladder. Since MS patients tend to not flow as strongly as non MS patients we dont get to flush all the bad stuff away after. We have to become extremely well hydrated in order to keep the fluids moving.

She touched on urinary retention. How the gate simply cant get the signal to the brain to empty. The gate stays closed, and urine can remain trapped in our bladders which causes them to over stretch and ruins the signal process even more. The woman who runs the group retains about 300cc of urine before she becomes painful. We spoke of self cath options and ways to do it.

So, the speaker was well prepared. she was good with her message and had everything timed wonderfully so that at 12 on the dot, she was ready to leave. After all was said and done, the woman who runs the group was gathering up all of her avon books, avon flyers and some MS pamphlets and had quite a load. I said "do you need help?" and she said "yes, if you could grab this stuff for me" and pointed to a large pile of Avon stuff that had been unseen till then. I said "hang on a sec." and I went to the front desk of the library. I asked if they had anyone that could "help that woman with MS" up on the 2nd floor. She called to Randy a big strong teenager and asked him to go up to the 2nd floor to help carry stuff. I got in my car and left. I am NOT good at carrying things. most stuff ends up on the floor and me with it.

So, there ya go.

Deij - way to go. I know I was stubborn but finally admitted to myself and the world, I'm really not good att carrying. I think I'm fooling the world and me that I REALLY can do it. Not.

I had the UTI from hell, it would not go away, saw a great Urologist. He got rid of my UTI, put me an 1x day Nitromono/flurn, (an antibiotic a)nd I have not had an UTI in almost a year. My PCP tells me 2x a day for 2 days following sex - which honestly doesn't occur that often now because of mobility and pain problems. DH has been great about it.

OR, without..

I agree with this whole-heartedly...ESPECIALLY today of all days!