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Dr. Archelle Georgiou, Dr. Sherry Thomas, and Michelle King Robson, CEO & Founder of EmpowHER.com, discuss leaky and prolapse bladders.
Dr. Archelle Georgiou:
This is EmpowHER Live at the Women’s Conference 2010. I am Dr. Archelle Georgiou and I am joined by Michelle King Robeson, who is the CEO and Founder of EmpowHER, as well as Dr. Sherry Thomas, who is a urogynecologist. Thank you so much for joining us today.
Dr. Sherry Thomas:
Oh well thank you for having me. It’s quite an honor to be here, listen to all the women and all these wonderful things that are going on about empowering women.
Dr. Archelle Georgiou:
Well, and that’s what EmpowHER is all about – it’s empowering women. So let’s just jump right into what you do. Urogynecology means incontinence. How common is incontinence in women?
Dr. Sherry Thomas:
Well, about one in three women will experience incontinence in her lifetime and about 10% of women will have a prolapse problem where the bladder or uterus will drop through the vagina. So it’s a very, very common problem and women need to know that they don’t have to live with this. There are so many things we can do now for this.
Dr. Archelle Georgiou:
And this is one of those problems like sexual health that is very difficult to bring up with their doctor. So, when is it problematic enough that a woman should bring it up with her doctor?
Dr. Sherry Thomas:
Well, anytime it becomes a problem women can’t have an activity with their children; they can’t have sexual function or they just bathroom map. Somebody told me they have a function in their phone and that it tells them where a bathroom is, and that … yes, or the feel like, “Oh, I can’t go to this function” or “I wonder if there’s going to be cloth seats there. Let me make sure I wear something dark in case I leak,” or “Let me bring an extra pair of clothing” – that’s just wrong.
Dr. Archelle Georgiou:
That’s a quality of life issue and I know Michelle you have had some experiences that you said you were willing to share on this topic. So what is your experience?
Michelle King Robson:
So my experience was having a complete hysterectomy, which I think they are like, I don’t know, Dr. Thomas you can tell us but I think the numbers are like 98% or 95% of women who have hysterectomies are going to have bladder issues and so, you know, I started having a little bit of prolapse and two weeks ago I lost my bladder walking down the mall, entirely, and I was mortified beyond belief.
The interesting thing about this too is that, you know, and they told me for a while that I should just wait and that it might get better and doing a couple of things to help it, but it didn’t. So when I lost it I am like okay, now what are we going to do here? We’ve got to get it fixed.
And I went to Target actually to look at the section where they keep all the incontinence pads and things and I couldn’t believe the aisle way of what was available in incontinence pads and diapers and also, I said, how many women and how many people really suffer from this.
Dr. Archelle Georgiou:
Well it’s a really common problem and I want to get into treatments in just a second but since we are sharing stories, you know, I haven’t had a complete hysterectomy but I have had three children and so going out dancing, running, not part of my life right now because it is an ongoing problem, so not as severe as what you experienced, but certainly problematic in its own way.
So with that we have Michelle who lost her bladder, Archelle that can’t go running, what are some effective treatments and what’s the spectrum of treatments that work?
Dr. Sherry Thomas:
Well the very first thing to do is start discussing this with your healthcare practitioner whether it’s a nurse practitioner, a gynecologist, an internist, you must bring it up and say, “I am having this problem. I am leaking urine and I need it addressed,” and understand what it is you have and what’s bothering you and if your practitioner isn’t able to address it, find one that can because there are so many of us that are well-trained and understand.
And we can do an evaluation, which may include doing a urinalysis to make sure you don’t have a bladder infection, a pelvic examination, and then the treatment maybe something as simple as kegel exercises or physical therapy involved with the kegel exercises, or even a surgical procedure which can be done as an, on out-patient basis to put a sling underneath the urethra and help support the urethra so that you can go jump on the trampoline with your kids and exercise and you don’t ever have to lose your bladder again.
Michelle King Robson:
Thank you. I don’t ever want to lose my bladder again. It was just horrible.
Dr. Sherry Thomas:
Yes, hopefully we’ll be able to put those incontinence pads out of business. No more diapers.
Michelle King Robson:
Thank you.
Dr. Sherry Thomas:
No more diapers
Michelle King Robson:
I am telling you, I just couldn’t believe how many there were which really tells me how big an issue it is and I don’t think women want to share this because it’s too embarrassing. It’s kind of like the sex topic we are afraid to talk about it but someone’s got to start the dialogue.
Dr. Sherry Thomas:
It’s even more in the closet than the sex issue. Women will talk about sexual dysfunction; women will talk about many other issues – menopause, PMS, but to talk about ‘I leak urine’. That’s just the first, the very first issue to address. Many times I say maybe have a friend that might like this information.
Let me give you a website, pelvicsolutions.com. Please go there. It will tell you how to understand and address and identify, educate yourself first so that you can find the right practitioner to get the correct treatment.
Dr. Archelle Georgiou:
Well, thank you so much. That is a great resource – pelvicsolutions.com. you can also go on to the EmpowHER.com website and share your story, look at how other women have dealt with this similar issue and we thank you so much for joining us here today.
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