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“No one wants to talk about it,” exclaims Cathy Vinčevič “No women that I know talk about it. I didn’t talk about it. I didn’t even tell my husband. I tried to hide it.”

But, she is talking about it now, and “it” is Stress Urinary Incontinence. Cathy says, “You reach a point of no return and know you have to take care of it.”

After having a hysterectomy in 2009, and following all the prescribed post-surgical steps for recovery, Cathy had thought she had already taken care of her Stress Urinary Incontinence. However, after moving to Danbury a couple years ago, and taking a job as a director at the Gordon Nash Library in New Hampton, she realized things weren’t progressing the way she had hoped.

“It was difficult to do things I wanted to do like riding my bicycle, gardening, painting the house,” Cathy explains. “Stress incontinence happens when you lift things, sneeze, even going up and down stairs. It seemed everything I did might cause an “accident” and it wasn’t getting better. I didn’t want to live that way.”

“I’ve always been active,” she continues. “I wanted to be able to exercise and do things so I could live the next part of my life with grace. But dealing with incontinence is one of the most embarrassing issues women, or anybody, can have to deal with.”

Following a visit with her primary care physician, Dr. Andrea Berry, at Mid- State Health Center, Cathy was referred to Plymouth OB/GYN and scheduled to see Dr. Joseph Ebner, gynecologist. Prior to her appointment, Cathy says she went on the Speare website to learn more about him. She wasn’t even sure she was going to talk to him about her incontinence. However, when she read that incontinence was one of his specialties, she recalls thinking, “I was surprised and relieved to learn there was an expert right here at Speare.”

Dr EbnerCathy says Dr. Ebner was charming and personable and immediately put her at ease. Getting up the courage to talk about her incontinence, Cathy says Dr. Ebner was reassuring and helpful. After talking about possible treatment options, she decided surgery would be the best option and they worked out a plan so she could take control of the situation.

While her complete recovery from a bladder lift and partial sling, in January, would take six to eight weeks, the “results” of the surgery were immediate. “I can do things now without a sense of impending doom that something embarrassing is going to happen to me,” Cathy happily exclaims. She is back to walking her dog, riding her bike, working in the garden, and painting the house.

And she can’t say enough about Dr. Ebner, “He was so kind to me, discrete in explaining what was going to happen and made sure I was okay with everything. “

Even though Stress Urinary Incontinence is no longer an issue for her, and can be hard to talk about, Cathy says, “It happens to so many women, we need to be talking about it. I want other women to know there is a way around the problem. You can take care of it and make your life whole again.”

Plymouth OB/GYN understands your unique needs as a woman, with care that extends from adolescence and the reproductive years through the perimenopausal and postmenopausal years. For more information on the Plymouth OB/GYN team and services please call (603) 536-1104.

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