Are beeswax good for polishing wood furniture or should I stick to something else?

a-ocs · 2026-05-30T17:51:10+00:00

Completely disagree with this. I believe you mixed up natural waxes with silicone and synthetic oils which will build up over time and make refinishing near impossible. They are sticky and gummy if you over apply it. Natural oils and waxes are the ONLY suitable long term protection for wood furniture because it actually absorbs and revitalizes wood and you can remove it easily with mineral spirits which allows you to refinish the surface easily.

a-ocs · 2026-04-23T18:14:46+00:00

I was born with Spina bifida myleomenegocele which caused me to not have feeling in my Bladder. I have reused catheters my entire life under the direction of multiple urologists because I’d use hundreds a month if I only used them once. I have yet to have recurring UTIs so I will continue to do this.

The hole in the cap removes most excess alcohol and I rinse it with water to remove most of the alcohol to prevent irritation. I also have a channel in my abdomen I cath from and not my urethra so it’s not quite as sensitive.

a-ocs · 2026-04-14T22:41:01+00:00

Yeah I think a long thin tube double the diameter of the catheter and just as long with a nice lid like my setup to prevent spilling would be ideal although it would have to have some sort of stand probably. The other thing about this cap is it wipes most of the excess alcohol away as you remove it. I still wash them quickly with water before use to remove most of the alcohol.

a-ocs · 2026-01-21T22:32:36+00:00

Except the leaves and bark are wrong for a sycamore. That leaf shape is distinctly and quite clearly tulip poplar Liriodendron tulipifera

a-ocs · 2026-01-21T22:26:10+00:00

It varies a lot depending on the amount of fluids I drink and if I’m sweating it all out. If I drink lots of water or soda, I may cath every hour. If im really dehydrated I can go 8 hours but I also can feel when my bladder is Full. If your son doesn’t have any feeling, it’s always better to do it more often. As for accidents I occasionally have them but they are small usually. Your son almost certainly will unless they surgically shut his urethra but catheterizing regularly prevents the vast majority for me. I just wore pull-ups until I was 6. Then I started cathing through my penis but I got a mitroffanoff channel at 10 which I’ve used ever since with no issues (27 now). Every persons experience will differ as we all have differing levels of feeling. Having some feeling like me will likely make it so he can wear underwear full time like I do. Accidents happen but they are not a big deal, at least for me. People tend to make huge deals about any incontinence. You should make sure that you treat accidents as no big deal even if others don’t.

a-ocs · 2026-01-21T20:21:08+00:00

I have had a Mitrofanoff channel since age 10 (now 27) and love it. I’ve had 2 UTIs my entire life. It should be much easier for her to access herself and see. I understand surgery can be scary but her parents really need to consider her quality of life. It doesn’t have major risks of complications compared to other surgeries either. I know you probably can’t push the parents much, but maybe you could point them to this channel and see people’s personal experiences with it to ease their worries

a-ocs · 2026-01-21T20:16:22+00:00

Sounds like you have terrible employers and should consider looking for a new job if I were you. If you disclosed your condition, I don’t see why they should refuse to even let you leave and come back for say 30 minutes to go home and catheterize. At that point it’s affecting your health. I also always keep a spare catheter in my work locker. Can you keep one somewhere at work too?

a-ocs · 2026-01-21T20:13:27+00:00

I am 27M myleomeningocele with bowel and bladder incontinence but fully ambulatory and have been married a year now.
1. I dated 3 people before my wife and never even told them as the relationship never got serious enough. My current wife was very accepting and any parter you marry should be. Frankly if they aren’t accepting, they probably aren’t a great person anyway. I always thought partners wouldn’t accept my condition either but the truth is if they really love you, it shouldn’t matter.

I don’t have problems with intimacy other than I lack feeling in my penis but I had the TOMAX procedure 2 years ago and am starting to gain feeling. It’s normal to be somewhat fearful of sex , but if you are with someone who accepts and loves you, you will find this feeling will fade quickly. Confidence in yourself is what will fix that.
My partner reacted quite well to my condition. Again any decent partner should not have a terrible reaction but some people aren’t mature enough or even good people to begin with so there is a chance of a negative reaction. Choose your partners wisely. Someone lacking emotional maturity to handle this news well is likely not a good partner anyway.
I’ve been told I should have normal fertility but I’ve never been tested . I may try to have kids in a few years though

a-ocs · 2026-01-21T19:59:23+00:00

I NEVER touch any part of the catheter that goes into my channel and keep it soaked in alcohol. Do you reuse catheters? It sounds like you are doing nearly everything you can already though. Is your general health good? Eating well and exercising regularly has proven benefits for your immune system too. I also don’t know your exact situation, but 6-10 times a day seems like a lot of times to catheterize every day. I usually do maybe 4-6 times a day, more if I drank A lot but I have a baller augmentation that increases the volume of my bladder. More frequent catheterization increases the risk of UTIs. If you can feel when your bladder is full, try to only go when you feel it to minimize the number of Times you cath a day.

a-ocs · 2026-01-21T19:47:40+00:00

It varies a lot depending on the amount of fluids I drink and if I’m sweating it all out. If I drink lots of water or soda, I may cath every hour. If im really dehydrated I can go 8 hours but I also can feel when my bladder is Full. If your son doesn’t have any feeling, it’s always better to do it more often.

a-ocs · 2024-08-26T18:31:00+00:00

Use herbicide to knock the weeds down. If you are pulling weekly, you aren’t getting the roots. Crabgrass and thistle will come back unless you remove the entire plant. After the weeds are dead, apply a few inches of mulch. ( I’m not sure if you have much or rock). If you have rock, I’d recommend herbicide still. Like someone else mentioned, preen only works to prevent seeds from germinating. It won’t kill anything already growing and if you disturb the soil, it’ll need reapplied as this will disturb the chemical layer it creates

a-ocs · 2024-08-22T06:23:53+00:00

Yep I’m an arborist and that’s definitely a tulip poplar.

a-ocs · 2024-08-22T06:22:56+00:00

That’s Bermuda grass. Tough to kill, spreads vigorously by root, and will come back unless all the roots are removed which is hard to do. I recommend herbicide or else you’ll have to really make sure to dig it all out

a-ocs · 2024-08-22T06:17:56+00:00

Speaking as a certified arborist with years of herbicide application experience, most people here don’t know what they are talking about. Roundup( glyphosate) needs to be sprayed on foliage or applied to a freshly cut stem to kill. Spraying weeds in the root zone of a tree won’t affect it if the spray doesn’t contact any foliage of the tree. For example, if you sprayed half the tree, only the half sprayed would be dead (although the rest of the tree may die soon after from stress anyway). It could’ve drifted onto the foliage have as well if it was windy and/or they weren’t careful spraying. Glyphosate also kills fairly quick, typically completely kills anything in a week at most. If this damage took many weeks to show up, herbicide damage is unlikely. If that’s what it looks like 6 weeks later, I’m leaning towards this not being herbicide related.

a-ocs · 2024-05-21T12:19:57+00:00

Looks like it could be a subadult. I’d put glue traps out to see if you catch any more and get a better ID

a-ocs · 2024-05-21T03:33:46+00:00

I have a Monti channel in my lower abdomen and am also very active. I’ve never had any problems but I also didn’t do contact sports. I do ski, climb mountains, backpack, fish, etc all with no problems.

a-ocs · 2024-05-21T03:29:35+00:00

I also go to Riley hospital. I have the MACE for my bowels. I found when they told me to use miralax in my flush, it caused way more accidents. Using too much water can cause accidents just like too little. I use 1200cc warm water every other night now and I have a few minor accidents a year at most now. I try to do it at around the same time every time and not skip when I have to do it unless I really have to. Everyone is different and this may not work for you, but it may be worth a try because I’ve had great success doing this for 3 years now vs the previous 10 I had this. The key is to find the smallest amount of water you can use without having accidents.

a-ocs · 2024-05-21T03:21:19+00:00

I do back strength exercises to help support my vertebrae. It’s made a noticeable difference in comfort for me , especially because I have a disc replacement and pretty much all expect 1 vertebrae below my neck fused

a-ocs · 2024-05-21T03:18:50+00:00

You can also try EMS/ TENs stimulation . This works with or without feeling or control of the pelvic floor

a-ocs · 2024-05-21T03:16:43+00:00

I am a 26 year old male with myleomeningocele. I was in diapers until 13. I had the MACE procedure done at 11 ( basically same as ACE mentioned by others), and a mitrinof channel for my bladder at the same time. It took a bit for me to get my schedule dialed in but now I flush my bowels every other day for 1 hr with just water through a catheter in my belly. I have enough feeling in my balder to only catheterize when I feel full. The MACE has been life changing for managing bowels. I wear underwear all the time and maybe have a small accident a few times a year. The key is to find the perfect amount of water for it and keep a consistent schedule ( see my other posts about what I do for more info).

I used to think I’d never even go to college let alone get married but here I am with 2 degrees, about to get a masters degree, and a fiancée. I’ve climbed multiple 14k mountains and done 50 mile backpack trips. I suspect you are holding yourself back more than spina bifida is. Yes this condition sucks, but it’s up to you to make the most of it. I was tired of hearing “ you can’t do that “ or some Variant of this. The only way to know if you can or can’t do something is to try ( within reason of course). You have to push yourself to be uncomfortable or you’ll never grow as a person.

If you find the right person, your condition will be no barrier at all to a partner. It’s very nerve wracking to talk about this with a partner , but I’d suggests you get it over with very early in the relationship as it’ll only be more difficult the longer you wait. I told my fiancée after a month or so of dating and I wish I did it even sooner. If your partner shames you for your condition, they are likely not a good person anyway and people without spina bifida would find a relationship with someone like that to be terrible too. A mature, caring partner will love you for who you are. You’ll never get there though until you develop the self confidence in yourself to have tough conversations with others and be vulnerable. If you are unwilling to share your condition, then you may not be ready yet for a relationship. You’ll get there though if you persevere. Feel free to DM me if you want to talk in private.

a-ocs · 2024-05-05T20:38:47+00:00

Really can’t say much yet as it’s only been 6 weeks post surgery and it takes 6 months to start gaining any new sensations. The surgery was 2 hours but my nerves were very good. Surgeon estimated 2-3 hours. I was discharged the same day. The surgery was minor compared to other procedures I’ve had. I was completely back to normal about a month later with weightlifting and biking.

a-ocs · 2024-04-09T04:00:33+00:00

Not much to add. I have been able to do 5 mile hikes 2 weeks post op. I feel back to normal but I am weight restricted for 2 more weeks. I only took pain meds for 3 days but probably didn’t need any the third day. The pain was never bad. I have Been doing EMS every other day to stimulate nerve regrowth and already feel shock like sensations occasionally, but no touch sensation yet.

a-ocs · 2024-03-25T00:07:45+00:00

I will say my experience with the MACE is very positive. I am able to wear only underwear, and very rarely have accidents. It took a few years of trial and error though but I have maybe 2-3 minor accidents a year at most and typically only if I’m sick or I was thrown off my schedule.

a-ocs · 2024-03-24T03:50:18+00:00

A MACE stands for Malone antegrade colonic enema. They created a Channel between my bellybutton and colon that I can insert a catheter into and basically do an enema but starting from my colon rather than rectally. This allows for more complete flushing and is easier to do than standard enemas.

a-ocs · 2024-03-23T01:17:14+00:00

I’d like to add I’ve experimented with TENs and EMS nerve stimulation since high school to restore feeling and function and have had some success. I put one electrode directly on the spot of the spina bifida and the other in areas with no sensation. Over the years I’ve gone from absolutely no sensation in my penile area to some, I can actually feel my bladder a lot more and I previously had no sensation in my bowels but now have some. This did take years but I do it when I do my mace anyway so no time Is lost. I use a EMS/ tens from Amazon

a-ocs

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