Depends Don't Work So Well

I have discovered that the Depend solution is not really a solution at all, simply a replacement of one system for another. Wearing both the Depend undergarment and a catheter seems to make failure all the more certain rather than adding security to my life. In the last two days I have experimented, wearing a Depend with a catheter, wearing a catheter without the Depend product, and wearing the Depend underwear without a catheter.

No configuration of these incontinence products deals with the single basic fact of my life. I can still control when I go pee. It's just the mess that goes with peeing while in a wheelchair, with incomplete drainage, that causes me the most grief. As long as I have a jug with me, I am safe to go pee. On the other hand, having either the Depend or the catheter has a much messier failure than simply a bit of over-spill or post urinary dribble.

Today I am wearing neither. I have come to a kind of decision about this, a pattern of how and when these various products will fit into my life. When I am at home, or something resembling home, such as here at Adam's place, I will wear neither. I will simply do what I have always done, using my jug and going to the washroom during the day just like everyone else. At night, no matter where I am, I will use a Depend undergarment, but still pee into my jug, and still have a towel at hand. The job of the Depend will be to capture late leakage. The towel will be there to clean up after my continually bad nighttime aim.

When I am going out, either in my power chair or in my truck, I will wear a catheter. This simply eliminates the need for finding a wheelchair accessible washroom. I will not wear a Depend over the catheter; it just makes things worse. This will, however, be my time of greatest risk. This will be the time when failure of the catheter will cause the greatest damage. It is a risk I have to accept.

As with all things in life, if all you have is a hammer, everything is a nail. I have more tools in my toolbox, both emotional and physical, for dealing with this issue. It does not have to dominate my life. There will be failures and accidents. I will survive this too. I'm going to use all the tools I can to make my life easier to live. That's what really matters.