A woman in England, Anna Gray, 27 years old, has been unable to urinate for almost 6 years due to a rare condition called Fowler’s Syndrome. It all started in December 2018, when she woke up in the night to urinate, but couldn’t.
According to Fowler’s Syndrome UK, this condition only affects women and usually begins at the age of 26. The problem is with the urethral sphincter, the muscle that controls urination—it doesn’t know how to relax, so the patient has difficulty urinating.
Anna went to the doctor after a few days of not being able to urinate. Her bladder was hurting and she couldn't walk. When she had a scan, the doctor found that she had 1 liter of urine in her bladder—4x the amount her body normally can hold. She had to use a catheter to drain the urine.
The doctors said there was nothing else they could do. They said she would no longer be able to urinate naturally, so a permanent catheter was placed in her abdomen. Now, Anna herself self-catheterizes 5 times a day to urinate.
Although it was a struggle at first, Anna has learned to accept her condition. She is now part of an online community of people with Fowler’s Syndrome. Even though she has a catheter bag, she is confident wearing shorts and crop tops, and she is okay with people asking questions.
