A YOUNG woman has revealed how she pees through her belly button after a devastating car accident left her paralysed
Steph Aiello, from California, US, was due to start make-up artists training in October 2010.
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But just a day before it began the now 26-year-old was involved in a major crash that killed one of her closest friends and left her paralysed from the waist down.
In a video shared with her 260,000 Instagram followers, the quadriplegic beauty influencer shows how she uses the toilet, aiming to break the stigma around disability worldwide.
In the clip, she opened up about the interesting sign that tells her she needs to use the toilet.
“My eyes start to water,” she said, explaining that this signals an immune reaction called autonomic dysreflexia.
Autonomic dysreflexia is an excessive nervous system response to stimulation.
It involves several symptoms including sweating and racing heart rate, and causes blood pressure to rapidly rise.
For those with spinal cord injury, it is commonly triggered when the bladder is full and needs to be emptied.
Holding up a long cylindrical compact blue catheter, known as a SpeediCath, Steph added: “I can be anywhere I want to do this.
“When I stick it into my belly button, it’ll reach my bladder.”
Pushing the catheter into her belly button allows her then to urinate.
When she is done, she sticks her thumb into a loop on the catheter bag, helping her slowly pull it out
“Then I will take the [catheter] cap in my hands, put it back in [the catheter tube] and push with my palm.”
“Now I can discard it in the toilet,” she added.
“To anyone who is thinking about getting this surgery, it is extremely brutal. It is a brutal surgery.
“The recovery is really rough but if I had to do it again every single year I would.’
A permanent fix
Before her life-changing surgery, Steph received Botox injections twice a year to relax her bladder muscles, allowing it to hold more urine.
A similar Botox treatment is recommended by the NHS for chronic anal fissures, helping muscles relax to heal the fissure.
Mitrofanoff surgery gave her a permanent fix.
It connects the bladder to the skin’s surface using the appendix or intestines, allowing her to use a catheter to drain urine.
“My appendix was big enough, so they didn’t need my intestines,” she said.
“But if it’s too small, they use part of the intestines.”
She takes bladder spasm medication to prevent leakage and has learned to manage autonomic dysreflexia, a condition she was initially scared of.
“Now, I sense when it’s coming on and check my bladder, clothes, and shoes to find the cause.
“It helps, because it warns me before something serious happens.”
What is Mitrofanoff surgery?
Mitrofanoff surgery creates a channel from the bladder to the skin, making it easier to drain urine.
Surgeons typically use the appendix or a small piece of the intestine for this.
After surgery, patients can insert a catheter through the opening to empty their bladder.
It’s especially helpful for those with conditions like spina bifida or multiple sclerosis.
The procedure helps prevent urinary tract infections and makes bladder management much simpler.
Patients also learn how to care for the catheter and stoma afterwards.
Overall, Mitrofanoff surgery can really enhance quality of life for people dealing with bladder issues.
Source: NHS
