Operation Transformation airs on RTÉ One every Wednesday at 9.35pm. Ahead of last night's episode, Ray was joined by Leader Kathleen Hurley Mullins and Dr Sumi Dunne to talk about menopause and incontinence.
A woman of many talents, Operation Transformation leader Kathleen is a beautician, salon owner and farmer from Co. Cork, and lives on her farm in Carrignavar with her husband Tony and their two children.
In December 2020, her sister became unwell and passed away suddenly. In the midst of this heartbreak, it was found that she had undiagnosed ovarian cancer. Kathleen says that losing her sister has been the hardest experience of her life.
After watching her sister go through this, Kathleen was assessed for ovarian cancer, when it was found she had a benign cyst. In May 2021 she decided to have the cyst and her ovaries removed, and immediately went into surgical menopause.
Over the course of the show, the 49-year-old has been open and honest about her health, discussing how both menopause and incontinence have affected her.
"These are issues that should be highlighted," she told Ray. "I know myself, I suffered for long enough in silence. I suppose the fact that I was put into a surgical menopause last year, it just brought it home to me that I could no longer remain silent about it."
Crediting Dr Sumi for her assistance and encouragement when it came to addressing the menopause publicly, Kathleen told Ray just how badly the symptoms could be.
"I have suffered with, I suppose, all the symptoms of menopause - the hot flushes, the night sweats, feeling that my feet were so hot that I put them in iced water and I could hardly cool them."
In addition to this, Kathleen has spoken to fitness expert Karl Henry about other side-effect of ageing - incontinence.
"If I went to run at all, that feeling and urge of needing a bathroom straight away was something that I did suffer from, I must admit," says Kathleen.
To deal with the persistant issue, Kathleen was recommended specialist physiotherapy who assessed her pelvic floor work. In the end, she was recommended some pants and leggings that give support to the pelvic floor and is now feeling much more confident about her exercise plan.
To hear Dr Sumi explain the facts and figures of incontinence and menopause, listen back to The Ray D'Arcy Show on RTÉ Radio 1 above.
