In the beginning

The first part of this was told to me by my late mother. When I was three months old, I got real sick one night. I was vomiting a green liquid so my mom took me to an ER. The doctor there told her to drive me around with the window of the car down for a a few hours and I'd be ok. She didn't take that advice seriously so either she or my dad talked to my paternal grandmother. Turns out she faced a similiar dilemma years ago with my uncle so she referred my mom to a doctor named Dr Laib. My mom took me there, the doc took one look at me and grabbed me and took me directly to the ER and performed surgery. I had an undescended testicle but more dangerous, I had a hernia that allowed a piece of stool to get lodged in my uretha. The doctor fixed all the problems and I survived.

Three years later, Dr Laib's assistant who had risen to the level of a top urologist, Dr Ivan Schrekovic ran some tests on me and found that one of the tubes that go from the bladder to the kidney was short. So another surgery was scheduled and while there he went over everything Dr Laib did to see how I progressed and it was all good. Those two doctors saved my life. When the doctor went over the surgery details with my mom, I know he told me that it was not safe to hold in one's urine and I could have sworn he said if I did, my bladder would explode. I obviously misunderstood what he was saying but I was merely three years old. I have since learned one can hold in their urine for 36 hours before they run into a situation that requires a trip to the ER. At 36 hours, it's possible that the urine can back up to the bladder and cause an infection.

At an early age though, the emphasis was put on my bladder, kidneys and urinary functions. Also my dad thought it was funny to hold the bathroom door closed so I'd think the door was jammed and I ended up freaking out. My mom had to tell him to knock it off.

Over the years, whenever I had to urinate, I had to put up with remarks like "don't fall in" or "if you fall in, flush", etc. I remember once my family went down to the lakefront (Lake Michigan) and I had to go so my father's cousin had to take me to the Drake Hotel to use the bathroom. In order for me to use that bathroom, my dad's cousin had to buy a drink so he had to spend like $5. He told me it was the most expensive piss in history. LOL

It began to get old to hear comments and see eyerolls whenever I had to go to the bathroom. When we'd go out as a family and I asked if we could stop someplace so I could use a bathroom, my father would get upset but eventually he did stop someplace. That's why even now I prefer going places on my own, where I'm in control, then going as a passenger where I'm at the driver's mercy. It's also how I learned to use the bathroom before I left the house and I wouldn't leave the house until I did.