IC patient featured on "Accent Health"

[OllieR]

So the other day I was sitting in the waiting room at my family doctor's and they have this TV with a sign saying it's "Accent Health." I do not know how many doctor offices have this, but I have seen it at several doctors I've been to. It's just like informational and talks about healthy living. But now one of the stories is about IC!

It starts by talking about overactive bladder and then goes into the portion on IC and it's actually pretty informative and not just a quick blip. The woman featured even has severe IC so they talk about the difficulty treating it and how really bad and life-altering it can be. I liked seeing awareness in this form because I know a lot of different people go to a family doctor office and now they will all have the chance to see it. Kind of strange though when I go back to see the doctor and the nurse doesn't know what IC is lol.

[earthlady]

I was in the ER for a broken bone after an accident and they were going over my medical history. When I mentioned painful bladder syndrome the ER dr says " I don't know anything about it. You probably know more than I do." Sadly he was right. It's hard to believe that so many drs. aren't even aware of how bad this condition can be. It seems there aren't many out there who even care about learning more about it either.

[mary124]

Many years ago while I was at my uro office one of the nurses (she was subbing for my regular nurse) and when she as what I was here for I told her IC, and she looked at me and said what is that?
Another time, when I switched family doctors the one I choose I mentioned my IC and I was about to go into detail about that but he surprised me by telling me all about it! He knew about IC, Fibro, etc.

[OllieR]

Hey, it was interesting to see you guys' experiences with this. Not many people, even those in the medical community, know of this like you pointed out, although I can't believe that even if she was a sub a nurse at the uro office didn't know of it! Crazy. I have been very lucky in my experiences. I have had those like you guys where the doctor or nurse is ignorant and rude, but I think I've had more positive reactions than negative:

When I go to the hospital or a non-uro doctor I do of course have to explain IC. The good part is that I find many have asked me more about it because they do want to learn about it and educate themselves. I find I can be quite popular sometimes because I have end stage IC and a suprapubic catheter. Often when I get my catheter changed other nurses and doctors come in to learn how to manage and change it (I have even been brave enough to let some practice on me!!). I get a lot of attention from medical people if they have not seen IC or have not seen a case so severe. I live in another state as my dr (the severity makes it so I have to see an IC specialist) and see local doctors for some things in between visits. I find myself instructing my doctors how to perform small procedures like changing my catheter!

I have also had very negative experiments with some doctor offices where they really treat IC patients not right. So I feel so blessed and honored when I find people who want to be educated. I am more than glad to help them! :D