THE INDIANA BLOG

Hey Christine..i can wear a bikini...you may not want to look at me but my abdomen looks perfectly normal with the navel stoma...no lumpiness..perfectly flat belly and no scars visible...thats my Italian heritage..we seem to inherit great elasticity and skin.
Anyway truth be known.......the MALE docs mostly only know how to do the neo or the ileal. Its much harder to do the Indiana.......and they think the Indiana is sissy stuff. And really when i first started researching i thought, of course, the neobladder...then i looked into it a little deeper and found all the issues involved with hyper and hypo and having to cath and infections...hmmmm...i really didn't like that. And strangely enough i was taking care of my dear great man of a father who they stroked out during bypass surgery and was in assisted living and i thought...hey what if he had a neobladder and i realized that NOONE would have wanted to take care of him and he was in such a state that he couldn't have done it or remembered to do it. With the Indiana..well its just not so personal and putting a cath in the navel by a nurse would probably be acceptable. So thats my long story of why i chose the Indiana.
There's a group of Italian uro's who have engineered a sling of sorts for the neo...not mainstream yet...but i'm willing to bet it will be in time. Wish i knew where i posted the article?? I know it was in Urotoday..
Now finding the surgeon who did lots of females and agreed with me was another challange but i found them and they're all top guys and gals and i know where they are!!! And it really does take a very skilled surgeon to do the Indiana. It has valves to protect any back-up of urine to the kidneys which is key to any infections. I've not had one in 7 l/2 yrs....knocking wood right now!!
Pat

Personally, I wanted to wear bikinis again and did not really want a stoma in my belly-button (or anywhere else) so the neobladder was my favorite option. Granted, I am hypercontinent and it took me about 2 years to really figure out how to work with it and accept it's limitations. I learned that it was FAR better to be hypercontinent than incontinent after trying botox to loosen up the uncooperative sphincter. I have a little appreciation for the leaking hassels.

Now, for some reason I thought that if the neobladder did not work, you could go with the Indiana Pouch after the fact? I was on a lot of meds when all this stuff was up for discussion, so maybe I totally misunderstood.

And, YEAH? Why isn't the Indiana Pouch offered to men? Maybe it's a "special order" item? LOL Seriously, I want to know!

Hey Pat,

The Indiana would have been my second option through the navel.

Thats why my scar is a round shape surrounding the navel just incase the neo did not work out.

I was very happy with my neo but now with all the meds it leaks like crazy just with a hint of a cough or sneeze.

Nighttimes are regular two hour wake up calls or it is bed sheet dressing everyday.

If I was to do it all again the Indiana would be my first option knowing all I now know. Dry nights will never be a permenent with the neo. Getting up to empty two to three times a night can never be called nighttime continent.

I read about the womens neo just leaking so often which is such shame.

I have not read of any wonder womens functioning neo at this site yet.

xxxleigh

Hi. LoriK here and I am new to this site. I have T1, G3 and my bladder. I wanted to check out other blogs and came across yours which brings up the next set of questions that I was going to blog about: what are the different options when one decides to have their bladder removed. I see that many of you have listed your choice but I don't understand what they all mean (Indiana Pouch, neobladder, etc.) Can someone recommend a site for information on this topic? Thanks - LORI

** This thread discusses the content article: THE INDIANA BLOG **

OK..i've decided to Blog..that's a dance right?

Anyway the subject matter is the Indiana Pouch...how come it's not offered to men? And come to think of it why isn't it the first consideration for a female? It should be. We have absolutely nothing to hold a neobladder in place and it becomes just like a regular prolapsed bladder like my friends have that are forever running to the bathroom or have a look of horror everytime they sneeze or laugh!! I know it seems like a good idea to have your plumbing as it was but its not really...all you gals have to cath and you can't see where half the time or its in a yucky bathroom somewhere. Granted the guys have a better visual but yuk...you have to cath also or run to the bathroom much more often than normal. But with the Indiana Pouch done by a very very experienced surgeon its sooooooo trainable. Yeah i swore at it a few times in the beginning while training it but its kind of like a 2 yr old...you've got to be patient. It will come around. Big deal i pee out of my belly button...its a lot easier and accessible and i only have to cath 4 times a day and i sleep all night...no leaking. Sometimes it rebels...it doesn't like barium one bit and will spit it out...and sometimes its just ornry especially when i've just changed the sheets...but so infrequent and its only a squirt and no big deal. I think it would be a great idea for men...then you'd only have one thing to worry about down there. OK i'm going off to my blogging class now. xxoo Pat