Meet Gail Long…Overactive Bladder Control Patient

Avid traveler Gail Long, 67, of Lakewood, CA, exemplifies what many would associate with freedom.  She has lived in Scotland and Brazil, and taken memorable trips across the globe, including China, South America, Europe (the photo on the left is from a trip to Switzerland this year), and the Baltics.  She also has enjoyed extensive professional success and is a valued leader in her community.  However, it has taken more than 20 years for Gail to achieve the freedom so elusive to her and the more than 33 million Americans who live with bladder control problems. 

Until late August 2010, Gail’s journey in living with overactive bladder (OAB) was filled with countless doctor’s appointments, multiple surgeries, endless tests, procedures and medications.  She regularly experienced leaking, usually with no warning at all, and it seemed she never experienced any relief – day or night.  Her treasured travel time was filled with constant scanning for bathrooms. “The anxiety would keep me distracted from whatever we’d be doing.”

Despite her OAB, Gail dedicated her life to helping others.  In addition to corporate positions with Hasbro and Cox Communications, she spent several years overseeing managed care education and continuing medical education for Rhode Island Hospital, and she and her husband started 50 Brazilian Portuguese-speaking churches along the East coast.

“I always had a fear of leaking.  I always worried that I might not be able to get to a bathroom. I felt that it was hopeless.  I wondered, ‘Am I really going to spend the rest of my life like this?’”  She voiced her concerns to her physician, who at one point said: “I don’t know what else to do.  You can find another doctor.”  

After meeting Dr. Robert Pugach and discussing her treatment options, Gail chose to undergo a trial assessment with InterStim^® Therapy.  After receiving InterStim, Gail noticed an immediate and dramatic relief of her symptoms, proclaiming, “I am enthusiastic.  The difference was immediate, and I have control for the first time in 20 years.  This has offered me hope when I thought there was no hope, and had I known about this treatment at an earlier stage of my condition I could have experienced a much improved quality of life like I am enjoying now.”

Today, as the current superintendent for First Christian Church Infant and Childcare Center in Bellflower, CA, Gail enjoys her newfound freedom while spending time with her husband Wayne, two sons, and four grandchildren.  She serves as a Trustee for Lincoln Christian University in Lincoln, Illinois; Board member of The Hisportic Christian Mission in Houston, Texas; and Board member of Restoration House, a church planting organization in Manchester, New Hampshire.  She and her husband also continue to start Portuguese-speaking churches around the country.

She also continues to travel and is spending energy planning her next big trips: Japan in 2011 and Brazil in 2012.  This time, she looks forward to enjoying the sites without scouting for nearby restroom facilities.

“Too often, women live in pain and are embarrassed to seek help for symptoms of overactive bladder,” Gail said.  “My hope through the FacingOurMoments campaign is to reach women who are struggling with symptoms of OAB and let them know that they are not alone, and that through support and awareness, they can work to become advocates for their own health.”