(gentle music)
>> I really did suffer in silence.
I did my best to hide it.
I was ashamed of it.
It was embarrassing,
the idea that this is what's going on,
and did anybody else notice?
To be public about it was not an easy choice.
It is so common that if I'm willing to talk about it,
there's a lot of people who need to hear it.
I'm Stephanie Richards,
and for 15 years I suffered from stress incontinence.
So whenever I tried to do active things,
live a very active life,
I always had a problem with my bladder leaking,
and it ruled my life.
For 30 years I've been a volunteer diver
at the National Aquarium in Baltimore.
Diving is a very strenuous activity.
Having stress incontinence meant
that I just always had to think about being protected.
So whether it was in the car,
my purse, my back pocket, I had pads everywhere
so that I would never be caught unprepared.
>> Child: There she is!
>> There are a lot of women out there
who are suffering with urinary incontinence
and don't seek treatment.
And women don't have to suffer in silence
with this condition.
There are many options we have,
both surgical and non-surgical,
to help improve their quality of life.
>> How did I come to help Stephanie?
Well, we're dive team members,
and we were talking about my surgery that I had,
and that led to further questions.
And she saw the changes that it made in my lifestyle,
in being able to do the things that I wanted to do
without having to cross my legs every time I sneezed.
>> It's good that I had a chance to talk to Becky,
because if I hadn't talked to somebody who had done it,
I wouldn't have known that there's a specialty
in pelvic floor disorders.
I wouldn't have known that there were
several options for surgery.
And depending on what your situation was,
there'd be recommendations for you to choose from.
And when I met with Dr. Patterson,
she really made me feel comfortable.
I was even laughing about the situation
as we did the evaluation.
I was the one who would stop at the bathroom
every time I passed a bathroom.
>> So we did a surgery called a sling procedure,
which is a minimally-invasive procedure
where we make a small incision in the vagina,
and we use little needles to pass the sling
up behind the pubic bone,
so that it creates a hammock around the urethra.
So that then when the urethra moves
with increases in intra-abdominal pressure,
such as sneezing, coughing, laughing, exercising,
it helps prevent leakage of urine.
>> To be able to discuss it to find out how common it is,
it just took the stigma away.
It brought it into the open
to discuss, to research, to solve.
>> All right, thank you.
I don't feel any different.
Actually, afterwards I was kind of like, did they do it?
Is that it, really?
Procedure takes 30 to 40 minutes.
I went home that day, rested, binged Netflix, you know.
(group chuckling)
And then sat around thinking, I really did it.
I can't believe
I really did it. >> Wow, wow.
>> And then you wait.
>> How long? >> Six weeks.
>> Six weeks you put in-- >> To let it heal,
to let things settle,
to let things be strong enough, and then--
>> I got to pamper her.
>> Yeah. (group chuckling)
I did, I took advantage of it all I could.
>> The other message I would really like people to know
is that it is never too late
to come and have something done.
So, a lot of women think
they're are too old to have surgery
or there's no other options for them.
But there is always something we can do to make this better.
>> The biggest change is I can be spontaneous now.
I have a new grand-nephew who is just all energy,
and keeping up with him,
to be myself without having to pay this price,
it's amazing.
Dr. Patterson gave me my life back.
I was unprepared for how much
this was going to change my life,
and I'm so grateful.
I can't thank her enough.
(triumphant orchestral music)