Third World Potty

[poetgirl]

I think you can all appreciate this story...

Two weeks ago, I was in Honduras on a mission trip with my church. For the most part, I did really well but the 6 hour bus ride on pothole-ridden, deeply rutted dirt roads definitely jarred my bladder a bit. I had some discomfort/frequency the first day after getting off the bus but I took some Uristat and it settled down. Believe it or not, I did fine between the long pit stops on the way there, which was a surprise since I had already flown all morning and had expected to have one of those "gotta go" moments while we were en route to where we were staying for the week.

Well, that happened on the way back to Tegucigalpa, along a stretch of road popularly known as the "Corridor of Death" because of the number of highway robberies and murders that occur. I didn't even have that much to drink but for some reason, my bladder went into high gear. The endless bumping and jolting only aggravated the situation and we were probably 30-45 minutes away from our next pit stop when I finally knew I couldn't hang in there much longer. I had to ask the group leader to find a place to stop -- and there weren't many options. I would have been fine peeing behind a tree but there were none to be found and besides, stopping in remote locations away from villages is not recommended for obvious reasons. Well, we finally came upon a house on the side of the road with an outdoor latrine (typical facilities in rural areas) and asked the owner if I could use it. He kindly obliged while the police officer assigned to our bus (armed to the teeth) stood guard outside. Of course I get back on the bus and everyone is trying to find out without asking directly if I had dysentery! No one wants to get stuck on a 6 hour bus ride with someone suffering from dysentery -- or IC for that matter -- so I had to all but make a general announcement, "No, I don't have the runs!" in order to get the peanut gallery to pipe down. :)

All in all, I did very well on the bus ride, something I could not have imagined sitting through two years ago!

[jaime15]

Wow you did awesome only having to go that one time! I'm glad your trip, overall, was a successful one. I'm so glad you had this opportunity to go.....IC and all. :)

[poetgirl]

I'm glad I had the opportunity to do the trip too! Overall, it was an amazing and positive experience.

My IC/OAB has been under control for the most part since I've been on Elmiron, Elavil and Detrol LA. But for long trips, I try to avoid drinking a lot of fluids just before or while en route because I don't need to tempt fate! If I hold it for too long then I have to deal with retention, plus discomfort. There was a time when I might not have even agreed to do a trip like that because of the very limited access to toilets. A couple of years ago, before I was properly diagnosed with IC, I went on a 2-3 hour train ride through rural India and I managed that fine, but was anxious much of the time that I'd feel sudden urgency/frequency and not be in a position to do much about it. I believe on those third class railway cars there are toilets somewhere but navigating through the obstacle course of people jammed in like sardines only to find a truly foul potty was not a prospect I wanted to entertain. I almost didn't go on the train ride because of that fear. I'm glad I did -- just happened to be having a good day!

[kadi]

How did you manage the diet on this trip?

[poetgirl]

Unlike many people with IC, I don't have many food triggers. Asparagus and tomatoes seem to be my two biggest culprits. I had such a bad flare from asparagus two years ago that I haven't eaten it since. I can tolerate the urethral burning I get from tomato products and if I'm smart, I remember to take something to help it beforehand. I suspect that some cheeses bother me too, but haven't definitively nailed down which ones they are (although I think they may be aged cheeses like parmesan.)

In Honduras, I had no burning at all because we never had anything with tomatoes in it, and the only cheese they had I didn't really care for. If they served sausage links with meals, I stayed away from them -- partly because I don't much like them and also because it's hard to know how they were processed. Overall, the meals were very simply prepared -- beans, rice, veggies, eggs, meat and tortillas. The eggs and meat (chicken and beef primarily) came from the ranch where we were staying.

I did very well in India. In fact, most days I felt great, better than I do most of the time at home! The meals were generally spicy but I can tolerate spices without too much of a problem. I love Indian food. Also, everything was prepared fresh each day, nothing was processed, and I ate a primarily vegetarian diet.

I love to travel and I would be heartbroken if diet was a huge factor with my IC. Usually the dietary problems I have are related to IBS -- that's a whole other issue and if I can manage that successfully when I travel, then I really feel good!