About Janelle Strop
In a 2022 presentation, Janelle Strop discussed a leadership program she ran at the University of Toronto that integrated movement and embodiment into leadership education. She stated that the program was designed for students who identify as BIPOC, cis women, trans women, and non-binary. Strop described using physical exercises, such as deep squats and push-up positions, as metaphors for leadership concepts like balance, confidence, and persistence, and said the program aimed to normalize all body types and abilities in the learning space.
In a 2018 interview, Strop spoke about her experience with urinary incontinence, which she said began after the birth of her children and worsened over time. She described seeking treatment from a physician after experiencing an eight-week menstrual cycle, and stated that she underwent minimally invasive surgery. Strop said the surgery allowed her to return to exercise and daily activities without the issue interfering, and she encouraged other women to discuss similar health concerns without shame.
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Janelle Strop's recent appearances.
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Transcript (10 segments)
J
Janelle Strop0:09
It started with just the sneezing and having incontinence of urine, laughing, coughing, all of those things that are just normal. That started after my children were born, and for probably in my 20s and up through about 45, when I actually started exercising and really got into trying to get healthy, I was finding that I was unable to get through even an hour of a workout without having to stop and go to the bathroom.
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Dr. Rush0:56
Problems like this are complex. There are sometimes an isolated issue with an isolated cause, and we can just address that with some sort of therapy, whether it be medicine or surgery or even physical therapy. But oftentimes it's complex with multiple things occurring, and we have to treat the multiple aspects of it.
J
Janelle Strop1:17
I thought it was just normal, you know. Seeing it didn't seem like that big of a deal, you know. It didn't happen that often, but as I got older it happened more often and it became more severe.
D
Dr. Rush1:37
Many women will come to see their physician for another reason or related reason, and in a discussion they may volunteer the information they're having some of these pelvic floor issues. But a lot of times they find them too embarrassing and they don't want to talk about it.
J
Janelle Strop1:51
I had a menstrual cycle that lasted for eight weeks, and I was done with that. So I went to see Dr. Rush for that. That's how I got hooked up with Dr. Rush was I needed that fixed. And during my appointment he had asked me, you know, 'Do you have any other concerns?' And I thought, well, you know, go ahead and throw this in there. And so we started discussing that. And during that appointment is when he actually said, 'Let's just do the test and let's see.' I said, 'There is something we can do about it.'
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Dr. Rush2:22
I did sit down and talk with you and examine you, and we could talk about all these options, but that absolutely we can help you. Dr. Rush is excellent about, you know, finding out if a surgical issue or is it something you can do with just bladder training. There's other options if it's not always surgery, but you know, when it is something you can fix surgically, is that you, you know, look at those options and know that it's available.
We did some testing on her bladder that's done in the office to see exactly how it functions. We do a bladder diary to see how her bladder is for her in regular life, and this helps guide some of our treatment decisions and processes. But within that, once we had that information based upon her symptoms, we talked briefly about some medicines that might help, see a physical therapy was an option, but ultimately Janelle decided on surgery, which for her was a very good choice.
J
Janelle Strop3:32
All of Janelle's surgery was done in a minimally invasive manner, way to make no large incisions. It was done either vaginally or through little incisions the size of my fingertip. It was a big surgery, but my recovery period was really not bad. The pain was minimal. I was back to work within four weeks. It's a six-week recovery, I just had to go back on light duty, but it went really well.
D
Dr. Rush4:02
As we age, we need to remain active and healthy, and anything that gets in the way of that we should try to address as best we can.
J
Janelle Strop4:08
I'm able to exercise, I'm able to, you know, take trips. I can go to the store without having to find a restroom. I can do just about anything without that interfering with my day. I just would want women to know that there's something else available to them than living like that every day. And they just have to start the conversation, and they need to not be ashamed of it. They don't need to be embarrassed by it. They're not the only people out there that have this. I was real lucky, I mean, you know, to get back a sense of normalcy is a gift. And you know, I can't thank the people who helped me with that enough.
