“I
did a jumping jack, and everything was okay!”
These are not words you’re likely to hear from
women struggling with incontinence. So when Linda
Canedy could finally say them, she was thrilled.
Her story starts in summer 2012. A busy wife and
mother, Canedy decided a little pampering was in order
and planned a spa day at home.
“I had put lotion on my feet and slept with socks
on,” Canedy says. “The next morning, when I stepped
into the shower — boom!” Although bruised and sore
from the fall, she brushed off the aches. But by a week
later, the pain had escalated.
“A series of specialists ordered X-rays, CT scans, and
MRI scans, and no one could find out what was wrong
with me,” Canedy says. Over the next year, her misery
increased as she developed acid reflux and incontinence.
“It seemed like my body was doing all these strange
things,” she says. “And it was all happening at the same
time, which led me to believe it was interconnected.”
The incontinence was especially frustrating, as it
interfered with her family and social life.
“I didn’t want to go places,” Canedy says. “I shut
myself out for fear of being embarrassed.”
Connecting the dots
In fall 2013, Canedy saw Tracy Cannon-Smith, MD,
urologist on the Methodist Mansfield Medical Center
medical staff, who is fellowship-trained in female
pelvic floor rehabilitation, a form of physical therapy
for incontinence. She suggested that Canedy try it.
NaKisha Jackson, PT, DPT, at Methodist Mansfield
is one of only a few people in the Metroplex who
specializes in this therapy.
“The hospital is so blessed to have someone like
NaKisha,” Canedy explains. “She put together the picture
of what was going on with my body. It felt so good to
have somebody say, ‘Yes, this is all interconnected.’”
When she fell, Canedy’s sacroiliac joint in her pelvis
shifted, Jackson says. Months later, her body was so
out of alignment that its silent scream was expressed
in other symptoms, such as incontinence.
“The pelvic floor is the true core, and that muscle is de-
signed to contract and stabilize the pelvis before you move
any part of your body,” Jackson says. If unstable, it can
cause issues with movement, incontinence, and intercourse.
Hope for women
In the early weeks of therapy, when Jackson would
ask how things went during the week, Canedy would
reply, “Well, I wet my pants 20 times.” But now, she’s
bragging about doing jumping jacks.
She’ll tell you there’s life after putting lotion on
your feet.
“We’re women,” she says. “We’ve had children. Our
bodies have changed. And it’s hard to admit you’re
getting older. But if pelvic floor therapy is going to
make me feel 43 instead of 53 and feel like I can do
the things I want to do, then that’s a great alternative.”
So long, leakage!
There are many products out there geared toward managing
incontinence, but few actually treat the source of the problem.
That’s where Methodist Mansfield Medical Center’s pelvic floor
rehabilitation program is different. We empower women with
individualized tools to improve or eliminate their incontinence and
experience a better quality of life.
Our program can also help with pelvic organ prolapse, pelvic pain,
sacroiliac joint dysfunction, and pregnancy and postpartum issues.
WHY WAIT?
To learn more about
pelvic floor rehabilitation
at Methodist Mansfield,
call
877-637-4297
or
have your physician fax a
referral to
682-622-3281
.
Linda Canedy raves about Methodist Mansfield’s
nonsurgical alternative for treating incontinence
Jum p ing for
joy
10
Methodist Mansfield Medical Center
•
❁
Summer 2014
