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Don't be down on yourself! You are not your body! Your body is just the wagon that carries around your kind heart and your sharp mind. Your wagon has some issues, but you are a great person! I hope you don't think I'm just trying to be kind. I am completely serious.InconLifer said:No need to apologise! I agree with your point. That was very much my philosophy pre-Long Covid complications as well which is why I found it easier to handle psychologically. My mentality was sure, I have this embarrassing condition but I'm a great runner and guitar player so that cancels it out. It was easy to manage and ultimately protection made me a lot more confident. When everything stopped working as it were and my incontinence changed to being much more severe it was harder to deal with because rather than one issue I have it became a reminder of how nothing works in my body.
The capacity thing's the key thing with the wheelchair really, due to the potential of not being able to find a toilet to change in and also wanting to really minimise the chance of leaking on my seat a high capacity is key. I do have some lower capacity, regular ones for round the house for cost reasons but they're prone to leaking and if they leak at home then I can't risk them outside.
I can really relate to this as it sounds very similar to me. I was taken out of nappies way before my bedwetting ended. I was really glad but then the reality that rather than sleeping through the night and having a dry bed and pyjamas I'd have interrupted sleep and be soaked every night kicked in, I missed the protection. Indeed, I remember wondering why being miserable was a better alternative to protection. The reason I was taken out of protection was because my Dad was embarrassed about buying nappies at the supermarket in case he saw anyone. However, then when I was ten we were staying with family friends and he was worried about the embarrassment of me wetting the bed so I was back in protection. I remember my Mum asking me if I was okay with it and I was fine. Indeed, I was actually glad to not have to worry about wetting the bed again.
My nightly bedwetting ended when I was ten but I'd still wet now and again but never told my parents as I was too embarrassed as when I became a teenager I figured I was way too old to be doing it and couldn't bring myself to tell them. However, as I knew that whilst my issues were a whole lot better that they hadn't completely disappeared, I was always super anxious on school trips and at sleepovers. I was due to go on a German Exchange and was utterly terrified of wetting the bed and did wonder about DryNites as I'd seen them advertised and knew I'd have my own room in the house but never plucked up the courage to ask and was just super, super cautious about fluids. I remember one night we were around someone's house and his parents weren't there and so they had some alcohol. I had a bit of a drink of some but then felt like an idiot as I was convinced I'd end up wetting the bed. Fortunately that didn't happen but I was super, super anxious and indeed relieved to wake up in a dry bed in the morning.
Then again in the Sixth Form at school I wondered about protection and solutions to my daytime issues as my trousers were now dry clean only and so come the end of the week they'd smell really strongly of urine. I once again wasn't able to pluck up the courage to talk to my parents and mused on trying to go to the doctors without telling them but it wasn't doable. I guess that ultimately, I'd always seen the positive aspects to protection and that's why I did eventually pluck up the courage to go back to using it and after feeling very awkward and self-conscious actually became much more confident.
Nowadays though, as I said above, my headspace is very different due to the severity of my overall condition.
It is interesting to hear your backstory. It's sad that your parents put their own emotional well being ahead of yours, but I'm sure they didn't think of it that way. I'm a semi-lapsed musician myself, just because I'm too busy, and I miss it. It must be really frustrating to simply not be physically able to do it anymore. I'm glad you've come to terms with your challenges, and hope you get back to being a great runner and guitar player, in time.