Hello everyone,

I am excited to find this site. There was a blurb about it in the Burnaby newspaper and I immediately had to look you up. I do not have OAB, but I have an extremely debilitating intestinal disease and an array of accompanying complicated devastating symptoms.

Basically my life has become a toilet, and the trauma this has brought with it has been an absolute nightmare. I am the road a lot for doctor appointments etc., and for every hour of actual travel driving distance I lose approximately a half an hour (sometimes longer) in gas station washrooms! Most of these pit stops are disgusting. I have learned to pack with me in my purse that now resembles a duffle bag, bleach wipes, toilet seat covers, toilet paper, Lysol disinfecting spray along with all the feminine, (let me add there is nothing feminine about this in my opinion) incontinent products (which are not specific to dealing with Mucosa leaking from the rectum). Even going to a grocery store is terrifying because I pretty much cannot leave my house unless I am certain that I have not ingested anything that might demand more time spent on a toilet. I become anxious when I see line-ups for women's washrooms at movie theatres and concerts etc. I have not been able to attend such things for about 4 years now.

I have been dealing with this similar problem for almost a lifetime, but specifically this medical nightmare began 7 years ago and there seems to be no hope. I was truly relieved to see this site existed and I thank you for this opportunity to share some of what I go through with others who might appreciate some of it. I write a lot of poetry because of this, and I am trying my best to keep this entry as short as possible, but I tend to write like I speak...please forgive me...back to the trauma.

I appreciate when a powder room is clean, and functional! I.e. toilet paper on rolls that actually roll and allow you to get what you need! Paper towels to wipe dry with and to use in case someone were there before me and urinated or defecated all over the seat without having the decency to clean up the mess.

Having to clean a toilet prior to using it has become so usual for me, but it makes me tired and upset despite this. People make me sad much of the time, because I have used a lot of public toilets for lack of choice, and their failure to clean up after themselves is so sickening. I have to keep myself as germ free as possible, so that I don't risk getting sicker. I make sure to clean up after myself so that I never leave the facilities dirty for someone else. It is nice to see that more people other than myself actually appreciate a clean powder room. I just wish that more of them actually participated in keeping it that way. How do we get laws in place to make it mandatory for facilities to provide paper towels instead of these hand dryers? How many moms/caregivers successfully wiped their child's rear with a hand dryer?! How many of us women have had an accident at that time of the month only to find that she could get a condom or cologne in the women's room but no paper towel with which to clean and the toilets only had a square dispenser rather than a toilet paper roll, if there was any paper at all. I could go on and on about issues in public washrooms, but I won't. Thanks again for letting me vent.

Sincerely, Georgia

Posted at 4:06 pm