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Having IC in most work situations is difficult but having IC in the military can traumatic. There are so many challenges, including: loss of career aspirations, very uninformed medical care providers, difficulty with judgmental peers and superior officers. It's tough. I've personally worked with air force pilots with IC, generals with IC, a member of a military band (who was expected to stand for hours without using the restroom)... the list goes on and on. Ironically, an MD at Travis Air Force Base assessed all active duty women on his base a few years ago using the PUF questionnaire. He found that almost 30% had some symptoms of IC which, in all likelihood, is probably an indicator of how stress can impact the bladder as well. In any case, I love this post... and how colourmetwice is coping! Well done!! - Jill
This is the biggest downfall and misconception of far too many diseases.
I was taken out of my main job in the military (working on aircraft) and stuck into what we call Limited Duty. Instead of turning wrenches I'm doing paperwork.
I work for a legal office, and almost all the help up here in on limited duty. One is pregnant, one has a bum leg, and then there is myself and one other guy...and we hear that phrase sssoooo often.
I have IC; he has Crohn's disease.
We both feel like crap far too often, but aside from a sagging smile that we are required to hide from our customers, well, let's just say we obvioususly don't have a bulging belly or a cane.
People always ask everyone up here why we're here (we have symbols on our uniforms that state what our regular job is, so its obvious we belong on a flightline and not in a legal office). We tell them we're limited duty.
And then comes the quizzical look, the once-over, and the inevitable, dreaded, "For what? You look fine to me!"
*Note to self: Resist urge to reach across counter and smack customer neeeding my help.
After trying to explain IC and seeing even more confused looks and getting into a far-too-in-depth conversation about my health (or lack thereof) which just seems to leave both parties even more uncomfortable with the situation, I've taken to keeping it short and sweet, even if I have to bend the truth a bit.
I have ulcers in my bladder.
I'm in recovery from an illness.
Something, anything, that doesn't leave me embarrassed and them wishing they hadn't asked.
I hate saying "I have a bladder problem". People are none to kind to that sort of thing. Especially in the military, because I say "bladder problem" and they hear "she's not potty-trained". And "not being able to hold it" is a "wimpy" reason to not be doing your job.
When I first tried to explain IC people made the rudest comments.
After I told someone I experience bladder spasms they literally asked me,
"Does that mean you piss yourself and don't know it?"
Another common and unwlecome comment:
"Is that contagious? Shouldn't you be quarantined?"
The very best was when my husband asked his doctor (a Navy doctor keep in mind) at the very beginning of all of this, when we didn't know what to do or where to go, if he had any information about Interstitial Cystitis.
The doctor thought about it for a minute, then said,
"IC? That's something to do with your heart, right?"
So I stopped trying to explain to people who really didn't need to know. The people I work with on a regular basis need to know. The people who come and go on a regular basis, do not. It just makes things unnecessarily difficult.
That being said, I know its not just me who deals with this. I read so many posts from people dealing with the same thing. After a while, I really stopped caring about that, I won't lie. It was "okay, I get it, everyone else with IC is angry and frustrated and hurt too, this doesn't make me feel better".
After talking to a friend who has Crohn's and now working with someone who does, its more of a relief to know that there are plenty of things out there that you can have and not LOOK sick.
This isn't an IC problem, its a general population and, heck, an evolutionary problem.
How many of YOU, before knowing someone or dealing with this yourself, assumed that all the people around you without a wheelchair or a cane or a disfigurement were just fine? Hao many of YOU have seen a person with a handicap liscense get out a car and again, not SEE something wrong with them and wonder or remark to yourself and/or those around you that you don't understand why that person should have a handicap license? How many of you have worked at a job and denied people bathroom access due to company policy?
Just wondering...
As much as it sucks, I can't justify getting angry with people who make rude comments. (I still get angry at times, I just know its not justified). Its not justified because I once was guilty of doing precisely what those people do. So maybe I wasn't quite as critical or as rude, but I was still guilty of thinking the thoughts.
I worked at a drugstore for five years and after so many people ask you to use the bathroom, you really get tired of it. Especially when they use the bathroom to steal or any number of things. You just want to look at the next person who asks you to use the bathroom and say "Go before you leave the house, like your mother told you years ago".
I never actually said this...but I was definitely guilty of wanting to.
And yes, at times, depending on the manager, the bathroom was completely off-limits to the public (like when we just had someone pleasure themselves all over the bathroom wall...we didn't let anyone in there for a month due to our whole store being livid at "the public"). Something to keep in mind as well, it is not necessarily the fault of management, more of the customers.
Anyways, to make a long story short, there are bearable, even fun, ways to live with IC.
Nowadays, when people tell me I don't look sick, I just tell them yeah, that's part of the problem, and let them ponder that for awhile.
Oh yeah, and when good-natured people come in to draft up a last will and testament, I jokingly ask them to leave me their bladder
i've had fibro since age 13...try explaining to teachers and friends how you feel "you don't LOOK sick!" (although yes, sometimes i did b/c i was in so much pain i couldn't sleep...). it got to the point where sometimes i'd MAKE myself look as bad as i felt JUST so ppl would stop whispering "she's making it up" 
" I am amazed by the strength all of my IC sisters have, but especially those who are still out in the trenches, going to work every day. I honestly have no idea how you guys do it, but I am so proud of all of you!
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