Asking Dr & work cover

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Biggles

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  1. Diaper Lover
  2. Incontinent
I have a dilemma that's bothering me, I have an appointment with my dr in a few days followed by second appointment with workcover next week. Problem is I think I will have to speak to my dr re incon issues and I'm worried /anxious. Long story short I had an accident last year, smashed my leg badly with 3 breaks. I also have had bad back pain since worse than normal as I know I have a bulging disc previously. I have been a dl for ever well before the Abdl term was even a thing. But since accident I have had genuine instances that have Alarmed me and embarrassed me. Most recently without graphic intent my wife and I were making love and I believe there was a significant loss
Which she noticed and I was extremely embarrassed. There have been other problems but luckily for most I was padded anyway. I feel tremendously awkward talking to dr about this but worse it will be discussed with workcover. What do you guys and girls think you would do in my situation?
Btw I am in Australia. Thanks for your input.


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Well, as nerve-wracking as it might be, I usually advise "taking the bull by the horns." So in this case, work up your courage and just do it... and if your doctor isn't understanding, or gives you any lip, just drop them and move on to another doctor. But realistically, incontinence is a rather common issue, particularly after an injury that could cause nerve damage. I would be a little floored if your doctor gave you a hard time about this in any which way. And just in case they do... just walk out the door and find a better one.

The hard part, though, is working up the courage to discuss it in the first place. To be honest, I have some incon issues but they come and go depending on my stress levels, and I already know how to handle them (diapers, pads, etc) and I wouldn't expect my doctor to know any better. Sure there are pills for OAB, but it wouldn't make sense for me to take them every day because I don't have issues every day. Not even on most days. And I tend to get unwanted side-effects from almost any medication I take. So, for me, there's no point in discussing it with my doctor... he won't tell me anything that I don't already know. Well, on second thought, maybe I could get an Rx for diapers and not have to pay for them myself... but I doubt I'd get anything like ABU Little Pawz that way. ^^;;
 
What is a work cover?
 
When I first told my doctor about my interest in diapers, and how I believe it came about, he simply said it makes perfect sense, and informed me of some side effects of wearing all the time. He was very understanding.


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Sapphyre said:
Well, as nerve-wracking as it might be, I usually advise "taking the bull by the horns." So in this case, work up your courage and just do it... and if your doctor isn't understanding, or gives you any lip, just drop them and move on to another doctor. But realistically, incontinence is a rather common issue, particularly after an injury that could cause nerve damage. I would be a little floored if your doctor gave you a hard time about this in any which way. And just in case they do... just walk out the door and find a better one.

The hard part, though, is working up the courage to discuss it in the first place. To be honest, I have some incon issues but they come and go depending on my stress levels, and I already know how to handle them (diapers, pads, etc) and I wouldn't expect my doctor to know any better. Sure there are pills for OAB, but it wouldn't make sense for me to take them every day because I don't have issues every day. Not even on most days. And I tend to get unwanted side-effects from almost any medication I take. So, for me, there's no point in discussing it with my doctor... he won't tell me anything that I don't already know. Well, on second thought, maybe I could get an Rx for diapers and not have to pay for them myself... but I doubt I'd get anything like ABU Little Pawz that way. ^^;;
Click to expand...

Thankyou so much Saphyre very much appreciate your encouraging words and I had better not go to appointment in a Abu space lol infact the morning of my accident I didn't wear any padding due to running out of time I would have died of embarrassment had they cut my pants off and exposed a space diaper with booster covered with euroflex plastic pants. Which I had been wearing most days at the time.



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Workcover is common term used in Australia for insurance company who looks after you after a work related accident.


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Ok cool thanks for the answer.
 
I was in the same boat but didn't tell my doctor. It felt like I was cheating to get back into diapers somehow, or maybe I didn't really need them in spite of my obviously needing them.

Let me just say there is a huge difference between wanting diapers, and both wanting and needing them. Once you're in the second boat, you can ignore the wanting part for your doctor and easily justify the needing part with them.

Just remember it is a legitimate need now. Focus on that and hopefully it won't be as awkward.
 
Oh, and seriously don't worry about embarrassment. They've seen so many incontinent patients of all types and age. The only concern they'll have is for why you're experiencing leakage.
 
You need to just suck it up and tell the doctor everything.

I'm 36 and had to go to the doc last year and tell him I started wetting the bed and that it had become a nightly thing and worse yet was having day time leaks. At my age, it was REALLY hard to get up the nerve to make that appointment! They ran a bunch of tests and eventually determined it was OAB and prescribed meds. None of the meds worked for me/ made me feel like shit so I chose diapers as a better management tool. I haven't necessarily given up and decided to just rely on diapers forever but after trying 7 or 8 OAB meds, I just needed a break. Sometime this year I want to discuss surgical options/interstim etc and see if I'm a good candidate for anything. That said I'm not interested in any treatments if they don't completely get me out of diapers. I could care less if a treatment cuts my accidents from 5 times a day to 1...if I don't know when the accident is coming then I can't really stop wearing diapers.

Anyway I digress....Point is, you need to talk to your doctor if you're having continence issues. They can't help you if they don't know. And trust me it WILL be embarrassing and awkward for you to tell another person this stuff but once you see how professionally the doctor handles it, it will really put you at ease. Doctors generally will take a very scientific approach to it and not judge you. My doctor made me feel better by telling me that even though I am at the younger end of the spectrum for people with this issue that that he sees it all the time and had in fact seen it in people younger than me. I have occasional follow up appointments with him and now he asks me about my wetting episodes with the same demeanor and tone as my primary care doctor asks me how my migraines are. While this stuff is very embarrassing to you, to them it's just the science of their specialty. Day in, day out, they see it all the time.


I have no idea what workcover means, but I'm guessing insurance? I don't really give a crap what the insurance people think but in the US you rarely ever have to talk to your insurance provider unless you're calling to argue a bill or something.
 
As a medical student, incontinence is a pretty significant symptom. It shouldn't mean anything unexpected, but it helps us "map out" the nerve damage. Your Workcover doc should know too. If this turns out to be something permanent as a result of the accident, Workcover should pay for your ongoing medical bills, not you.

Doctors meet lots and lots of people with way more embarrassing personal problems every day. I don't doubt you still feel embarrassed, but simple incontinence from a work related accident won't be even the slightest blip on your Doctor's awkwardness scale.
 
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