Video
Voiceover: Wendy has a double reason to be embarrassed.
Wendy: I am doubly incontinent. It’s as simple as that and it is awful and it feels humiliating because human beings go to the loo in the toilet not when you just going around doing things. My bowels are just ruling my life.
Voiceover: Depressed by the loss of more and more of her independence, Wendy’s come to see Dr Christian to discuss her options.
Dr Christian: Wendy, thanks for coming in to see me. Now, I know you’ve been suffering from incontinence for a long time haven’t you?
Wendy: Yes.
Dr Christian: Is this complete incontinence?
Wendy: Yes.
Dr Christian: You can’t control anything?
Wendy: No.
Dr Christian: I guess the obvious question is why has this gone on for so long?
Wendy: Because I put up with things for a long time.
Dr Christian: So you’ve suffered in silence?
Wendy: Yes. And now its got worse over the last couple of years. My whole life is now concentrated on my bladder or my bowels.
Dr Christian: So everything you do and everywhere you go…
Wendy: Everything I do and everywhere I go is ‘can I get there? Can I last out?’
Dr Christian: A lot of the treatments for incontinence look at the sphincters and the way they work and they involves little plugs that try and stop things when you are travelling. Things have improved a lot, there are new methods we can use to help with incontinence like yours thankfully and I think what I’d like to do is send you to a specialist who will tell you about a different technique that actually involves a little implant into the nerves at the bottom of your spine which will help to really work on any residual control that you might have left at all and stimulate that and improve it and actually, generally speaking, it is very, very successful.
Voiceover: Faecal incontinence is caused by damage to the anal sphincter often from prolonged constipation, loss of storage capacity in the rectum and damage to the pelvic floor.
Dr Christian: There was really no need for Wendy to have suffered in silence for so long, but thankfully this procedure is really going to make a huge difference to the rest of her life.
Voiceover: Wendy has been coping with a dreaded but unfortunately common condition in older people, incontinence. But today her surgeon Mr Andrew Clark wants to fit an electrical device inside her body to help her.
Mr Clark: We’re here today to put and implant or device in which will help with your bowel and your bladder control.
Wendy: I’m looking forward to it.
Voiceover: It will be fitted under her spine under general anaesthetic. There’s a little trial and error while finding the exact position for the wire which will stimulate Wendy’s nerves.
Mr Clark: If you look here, this is a good response with this upper needle. It’s causing the anal canal to contract and a response on the toes.
Voiceover: The wire is then inserted and checked. A small pocket is made for the device which will send the electric pulses. The whole thing is hidden under her skin. An hour later and Mr Clark visits a still groggy Wendy to activate the device that will hopefully give her back control of her bladder and bowel.
Mr Clark: We’re just increasing the voltage Wendy.
Wendy: Yeah, yep, yep.
Mr Clark: You can feel that? Where can you feel that Wendy?
Wendy: Just about there.
Mr Clark: So, it’s right down in the anal canal, which is good. 1.7 volts which is great.
Voiceover: It’s been 2 months since her operation and Wendy is back to see Dr Christian. But has the surgery had the life changing effect she was craving for?
Dr Christian: Wendy, welcome back. It’s lovely to see you again, you are looking well.
Wendy: I am well, thank you.
Dr Christian: So, you’ve had your implant. Its gone into the spine, it’s in.
Wendy: Yes.
Dr Christian: What’s it doing?
Wendy: It’s just working beautifully. The pelvic floor muscles must be working superbly because I no longer have to race to the toilet. I can now actually walk to the toilet and life has just changed dramatically.
Dr Christian: That’s fantastic to hear. So, urine and poo all controlled now?
Wendy: Yes.
Dr Christian: Now more rushing, no more accidents?
Wendy: No.
Dr Christian: Wow, what a difference. The problem was so bad. You used to love socialising, making cakes, charity work; you couldn’t do any of that could you?
Wendy: No, I had to cut it down dramatically but this last weekend that’s gone by I’ve been for a meal to a friend’s house, I’ve travelled to a birthday party that was 70 miles away and it’s just lovely. I can do anything I want to now.
Dr Christian: This is a total new lease of life for you, isn’t it?
Wendy: Yeah. I’ve now got confidence. I do feel like the whole of my well-being has changed because it’s all working.
Dr Christian: I’m really happy that you’ve gone ahead and done it, and it’s working so well for you.
Wendy: It is.
Dr Christian: Thank you for coming back and seeing me.
Wendy: Thank you.
Dr Christian: Nice to see you again.
A patient who suffers from complete incontinence visits Dr Christian to discuss how suffering from the complaint is ruining her life. One high tech method of treatment is inserting an electrical implant into the patient’s spine but can such a tiny device really have such a big impact?
Yes
NoComments and Questions
You can share your experiences and thoughts with other Embarrassing Bodies site-users below. Comments & Questions are reviewed by moderators, but if you see anything on the site that worries you, please report it and one of our moderators will look at it as soon as possible.
Please note: Unfortunately Channel 4 cannot respond to individual inquiries. If you have any concerns, you can check out NHS Choices, but ultimately it is always best to check with a health professional.
Male, 52 and diabetic (type 2-insulin dependent), diagnosed about 10-14 years ago.Presently suffering from erectile dysfunction, pre-mature ejaculation and appears 10 years older with embarrassing wrinkles that has defied anti-wrinkle creams. I was having marital problems with my wife before I relocated to Ireland while my family are still in Africa. I wish I can be helped to take care of these problems before re-uniting with my wife and family and urgently need your assistance. Also, I have this embarrassing skin colouration at the upper part of my body that looks like enzyma and has refused to heal inspite of various medications.I will be grateful if you can advise me on how to handle this condition. Thanks. Terry
i was kicked in my back.i have lower back pain & have had mri scans but nothing has shown up the low back pain.6 weeks in to the injury my urine started to stop but had full bladder i told my doctor she keep an eye on it .then about a month later i was admitted in to hospital with having to catheter myself i have no feel down there i have had other test but there is no presser in my bladder .Ialso having problems with my bowels is dew to my bladder
Male, 51, diabetic T2,diagnosed 2 years ago, BPH, I am shortly having tests for urinary incotinence (started having accidents in October, now daily leakage) and chronic urinary retention >500ml. Have only just realised I may have a linked or unconnected problem with bowel incontinence, as over a similar period I have had 5 or 6 instances of barely making it to the loo or not(never previously a problem except with chronic diahorrea). I feel like there has been some reduction in the strength and time with which I can firmly clench my buttocks. Have also over a longer period often had numbness in left outer thigh and pain like sun burn over top arch of left foot. I feel nervous about bringing this up as I feel my current health issues are already likely to put obstacles in the way of future employment. Is it likely that they are connected?
Hi, I am sorry for your problems. I would definitely mention all those things to your doctor, its important they know everything as I do think they are connected. Bare with me please, this is a long reply but I think I should share my experience with you, even though in my case what happened is rare-please bare that in mind too when you read it! I'm a 30 year old women, not diabetic by the way so cant say if that is connected but the other symptoms you described are very similar to ones I experienced. In my case, I was born with Scoliosis (curve of the spine) and about 7 years ago the vertebrae from L4-S2 (lower part of the spine) started to collapse onto each other. This happened gradually over a number of years, (it went undiagnosed as I put my back pain, numbness in my legs and other problems down to the Scoliosis). The collapse of the vertebrae started crushing and damaging certain nerves to my lower limbs and bladder, during which time I experienced urinary incontinence, I was unable to completely empty my bladder, same as you with urine retention so I had accidents twice a day or more. I also started to develop bowel incontinence. I had numbness from my hips down on the outer thighs, down the outside of my legs and onto both feet on the sides and top of the feet which worsened gradually too and I had a lot of pain at times. I was eventually sent to an incontinence nurse who taught me to self catheterise every day so I could empty my bladder completely using single-use catheters and this stopped the accidents happening as often. She also referred me for a test of my bladder where they insert a tube to fill up the bladder with a liquid dye to see how much it can hold until you feel the sensation to pee, I didnt have any feeling to pee after almost 1 and a half litres of the liquid were put into my bladder (it should never hold that much!!) and was asked to have an MRI as he was worried the nerves were not communicating to the brain to tell me when I needed to go to the loo. All of these symptoms were not connected by any doctors I saw and I was waiting for an appointment for the MRI to come through when I collapsed with back pain and taken to hospital. Thats when they discovered through MRI and CT scans that the vertebrae had collapsed and almost killed the nerves to my bladder and I was at such a risk of losing the ability to walk and being in a wheelchair within 6 months because of the damage to the nerves to my lower legs and feet that I had surgery within a week to decompress my spine, release the trapped nerves and they pinned the vertebrae into place with rods. I still have problems and the nerves to my bladder haven't repaired themselves as they had hoped because the damage had gone on too long but I am walking fine and the pain is managed by injections and I still self catheterise about 4 times a day so all in all the surgery was the best thing to happen to me and saved me from being unable to walk again and stopped the other problems worsening. OK this is a long story and in my case very drastic, this kind of nerve damage is rare but the symptoms you described sound like nerve damage to me, definitely go see your doctor. I don't mean to scare you telling you all this but I think your symptoms are connected and you need to have your spine checked by a CT scan and the connecting nerves from your lower spine checked by an MRI. I am no doctor, I just know my symptoms and diagnosis of them very well, and know exactly what the surgeons found and how they tried to fix me!! I think self catheterising will be of great help to you with the incontinence if there is no other underlying cause. I hope this helps in some way and you get the treatment you need! By the way, I cope fine with work and as long as there is a loo I can catheterise!
I am not a doctor but be sure you are looked at by a neurologist if possible because the combination of incontinence and sensory disturbance (eg numbness) are common experiences to people with M.S.
I have had bowel incontinence since after childbirth in 1980, when giving birth to my son in hospital, after watching the Healthcare show on You Tube and the video of Wendy on embarrassing bodies online it has really made me hopeful now that I can at last get this corrected. I have seen an NHS physiotherapist at my local hospital using external wires which exercised the sphincter muscle etc but this has had No effect whatsoever!!!!!! I am the same as I ever was, no releif from the awful problems at all. I will persue this now with my GP and get further help. Thanks a million to all who took part in all of this, I am eternally grateful.
Hi, I to have bowel incontinence since I gave birth naturally to my daughter in 1981 age 18 ( I'm 48 yrs old now ). In 1997 I became pregnant for the second time with my second daughter. On my first visit to my Obstetrician he was shocked as to how damaged I was from my first born. He advised me to have a Cascerian, and said he would refer me to a Specialist whom could repair the damage, but advised me to take a year out to enjoy my daughter before treatment began. I had her by section in January 1998. Fourteen months later I went to a Renal Hospital for several tests for three months before I had surgery. The Surgeon whom performed the six hour operation could not believe the severity of my problem.I was completely torn from my Vagina to the Anus and explained my Sphincter muscle was so bad ( I had from 12 o'clock to 3 o'clock of muscle, the rest was torn ). In his words he told me the best way to explain my procedure was he had to rebuild me inside out and outside in, with the result I had an Illeostomy (bag)for three years, to which I had reversed and also a hernia ( size of a golf ball) repaired. I developed the hernia on the Stoma, just where the bag had to be placed due to lifting my daughter. The repair from the Episiotomy has been a great success, but the Sphincter repair has not been, I still suffer bowel incontinence.Due to my Surgeon retiring I'm under a new Consultant and to date I'm having treatment with a Physiotherapist which consists of Vaginal and Anal exercises. The Consultant originally referred me to her for treatment on the Machine, but my Physio does not recommend this, she actually advised me to see a dietican, to which I see once a month. If this does not work my Consultant has recommended another Illeostomy, this time for life. I told him I would prefer not to have this done, as I have lived and coped with this for thirty years now, and wait until I'm of age when I won't be able to. In saying that my attitude towards my having the Illeostomy was very positive, in fact my Stoma Care Nurse used to get me to chat to other patients about it. When I do have my bad days I have no problem explaining to family, friends & strangers if need be. I have never encountered a bad experience from anyone. I make sure before I leave home to bring wipes, pants and extra clothes just in case.Initally before the advice from my Obstitrician I had many procedures from several Surgeons/ Consultants i.e Cysts removed from my ovaries, internals, smears etc., and not once was I told I could be repaired, so please do not be afraid to speak up and ask for help.
My daughter is 7 years old and was diagnosed with immunoglobulin A deficiency when she was 4 years old, i do not know much about this condition apart from what I have read on the internet. Her symptoms include high temperatures, constant coughing and diahorrea that sometimes lead to faecal incontinence which she cant control and seems to be affecting her confidence, could anyone give me any information regarding this condition and possible help with the symptoms
Hi I am male in my late 20's I had this Surgery last year, the trial with the external wires which I tried for 3 weeks was fantastic and I had very good results, however with the perminant device It wasnt as effective to begin with, I have now had the device for a year and I am glad to say that finally its having a much relived impact and has started working, It has so many different settings, over 400 I believe, and so it can take a while to get the right setting of stumulation to work for each individual. Before this surgery I had tried everything, possible and it didnt work. Many thanks Medtronic for helping so many helpless people!
I am going in for this op hopefully next month, I am 25 and have been doubly incontinent since I had my son almost 2 years ago. Fingers crossed it helps!
Dear Christian, My mum is suffering so badly. She has recently become doubley incontinent due to child birth 40 years ago, having suffered with a prolapsed womb. she is now 65 diabetic and desparate, could you send me some more information re this procedure. Many thanks Jill
help I do need to know what this treatment was called..was a MAN that got in operated some kind of device (button) into his scrotum...and could open or close a device that blocked his urethra ! Sure hope dr Jessen can help me with this question. Been looking to find that episode again to snap up what this treatment was called !
Really pleased that you have highlighted such an embarracing and dibilitating problem, however this is not an old age problem my friend and I have suffered and I mean suffered with this for many years!!!and our ages are 37 and 41 and my oldest child is 9 and my friends is 12!!! We are known as the ABBA of feacal incontinence, and nobody believes what we indure on a daily basis as we endure to lead as "normal" a life as we can!!! One that involves madication and planning our lives around toilet stops!!!! Fab Eh what a glamorous life we lead XXXX J+H