by Candy Jules

Created on: June 16, 2009

This title makes me laugh, My daddy use to say "When you gotta go, you gotta go, otherwise you find out you already went." How true that is. Some people may be able to hold it, and others can not.

It's a vital every day, every hour, fact of life. It's not something you can just forget about and it will go away. The only place it's going to go is in your seat, or down your leg.

I would be totally mortified if I had an accident because of my own neglect. My mother house-broke me 63 years ago. And I plan to stay that way as long as I can. My daughter is 44 years old and has made a habit of holding it for long periods of time. Now she has weakened her bladder muscles, and she and the doctor just had the Detrol talk.. She has been put on Detrol, but they may have to up the dosage.

You see the commercial where the woman is rushing into the bathroom every five minutes, and the little blue doll on the door tells her to have the Detrol talk with the doctor. Don't wait that long. It's not healthy. Let me tell you, urinary tract infections are not fun. It can also weaken your kidneys, and you can't live without kidneys.

Age, that wonderful thing everybody talks about till they get there, has a lot to do with bladder weakness. Our body has a lot of things that start playing out on us as we get older.. We sag where we use to be firm. We have fallen arches, fallen hair, fallen breasts, what was, is now not.

If you don't believe me, look at yourself before you get into the shower. I don't have mirrors in the bathroom that come any lower than my neck. Go to a class reunion, and see the line waiting to get into the restroom. You know they are either taking Lasix (Diuretic to make you pee,) or Detrol to make you stop, at least for ten minutes. You'll see what I mean.

My daughter told me that she went from bikini undies to Depends, then she laughed. I don't know, maybe she did. I told her years ago, to go to the restroom often to keep her bladder healthy, but she just put it off and spaced it out till she did damage to her bladder that she will now have to live with. The trouble is, as she gets older, the problem will worsen.

To pee or not to pee, is like saying "to breathe or not to breathe". It's a necessity, not a privilege. Although we do feel privileged when we find an open stall in the bathroom. Oh the little blessings in life. Do yourself a favor, If you have to go, then by all means, go. If not, stock up on the depends, you're going to need them someday soon.

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