In 2011, Brianna was in a car accident where she got a spinal cord injury that left her paralyzed from the waist down. She has been a wheelchair user since the accident, but it took 10 years before she was told how to perform intermittent catheterization in a practical and efficient way, not being confined to her bed and using LoFric Elle. Read her story in her own words.
“My name is Brianna, and I have been a wheelchair and catheter user for 12 years.
In 2011, I was in a car accident that left me paralyzed from the waist down. When I was in the hospital and relearning how to get back into my life, they just gave me one type of catheter to use. They taught me how to pee lying in bed in what was called a closed system catheter kit.
“I was told to lie in bed to catheterize – it hampered my freedom of movement”
So essentially, I had to transfer into bed, do my catheterization, and then I was able to get back to the rest of my life. I did not know there were other options. No one told me when I was in rehab that I might be able to pee on the toilet or that I could learn different ways to catheterize.
So after only two weeks, I was sent home with very little knowledge of how to take care of myself and with closed-system-catheters that forced me to lie down in bed every 4 to 6 hours to pee.
It was really tricky to plan my daily routines around cathing every 4-6 hours in bed.
Having to cath in bed made it really, really tricky to try to plan my everyday life. I had to go to school and work and travel all around this 4-to-6-hour window.
I would have to stay home or miss out on certain things or find places with a bed
that I could lay into just so I could cath, because I wasn't taught any other way.
It wasn't until about ten years post injury that I met other wheelchair users who showed me that I had other options. My roommate taught me that I could cath on the toilet. She got me some samples of different Wellspect products.
I first started learning with LoFric Sense, which was really great, but I was still having trouble finding the hole and putting my hand in the toilet. Then I had the opportunity to try the LoFric Elle. It has this fancy little handle, and it makes it so much easier – not only to cath on the toilet in general – but to learn how to do it on the toilet instead of doing it in bed.
The handle made it so much easier for me to find the hole right away, and to make sure that my hand wasn't fumbling in the toilet. I never realized how much different my life would be and how much more independent I would be just from simply switching to a different catheter brand.
Being introduced to Wellspect was one of the best things that ever happened to my life.
Now I have been able to travel alone independently. I fly all the time for work. I don't need to pack an extra bag just for catheters. Prior to using the LoFric Elle, I would have to bring a bag the size of a small carry-on suitcase just full of catheters and medical supplies. And that's how big they were. Now I'm able to toss a little box of these in my bag and be good to go.
I recently spent a weekend in Amsterdam. I was able to bring a duffel bag that fit right on my lap. For those two days, I had everything that I needed right on my lap, ready to go. It made traveling so easy.
The other thing I got when switching to Wellspect was a whole new confidence in life. LoFric Elle has really made it easy for me to not be worried about where I go. I'm not worried about being away from the house all day long. I'm not worried about whose house I'm going to be at or what building, or if they have a restroom, which I mean, we still worry about in general as wheelchair users.
But now I know that I have a product that can go anywhere with me. Switching to LoFric Elle has really made my entire life different.
I'm able to go wherever I want, whenever I want, and stay gone as long as I want.
And that's why I wanted to share my story. I know there's a lot of people out there who are dealing with the same things. Who is taught one way, and they think that that's it, that's all they get. And I'm here to tell you that that's not all you get. You can have so much more.
If you're interested in trying something different, please reach out to me or the Wellspect team. These LoFric Elles changed my life, and they can change yours too.”
Brianna is a product user and Ambassador of Wellspect.