Just read that Marie Osmond and her brother, Donnie, were laughing so had on stage in Vegas that she peed her pants in front of the audience. From what I understand from media coverage about this, is that she wiped up the puddle, laughed more and went on with the performance. How many of us would be able to do this in our real everyday, non-showbiz, lives?? That is, when you are having a rip-roaring laugh in a public place and all of a sudden you feel a tinkle coming on, can’t stop it and it just flows, flows, and flows some more then you manage the wetness and move on. Would you laugh about it, cry about it, clean it up or what??
One aspect of this, other than admiring Marie for not running off the stage embarrassed, is that she could have avoided the public tinkling by wearing some kind of pad protection. While I have no idea why she has stress incontinence or whether she is being medically treated, I do know, pretty assuredly that it is stress incontinence since she was laughing hard when it happened. Also, bet it wasn’t her first time with stress incontinence. Though, it may have been her first time on stage for the world to experience it with her.
In March, 2011, I posted a blog titled, “I laughed until I Peed My Pants; Info about Stress Incontinence”. In the post, I offered the definition of stress incontinence provided by The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and that is:
“In this type, a woman leaks urine when she coughs, laughs, or sneezes. Leaks also can happen when a woman walks, runs, or exercises. A weakening of the tissues that support the bladder or the muscles of the urethra causes it. Stress incontinence is the most common type in younger women.”
http://www.blogher.com/i-laughed-until-i-peed-my-pants-info-about-stress-incontinence
Rather than repeat the information in the post, I am linking to it today, as it seems like a good time to revisit the information while writing further about this because Marie’s story is more than just a medical one. It is about self-esteem, composure and how to avoid an accident. There are tons of articles on women focused sites and on medical sites too about stress incontinence. There are medications to help, weight to loose, exercises to do, surgeries to consider and behaviors to modify. All in all, the most sensible way to manage the problem is multifaceted and personalized to the individual.
Marie, in many ways you are my hero on the topic. It happened, you addressed it and you moved back to the show. That is what I hope for every woman who deals with stress incontinence. But, along with that, is I hope you see your health care professional to better understand what is causing your stress incontinence and get a plan of care that works for you. In the meantime, I wish you many hearty laughs and the confidence and protection to not worry about it.
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