Who to trust?

Hi Aussiemum

Yes, it is difficult to know whom to trust, when two people tell you the opposite story. Christine's book, Saving the Whole Woman has a brilliant chapter on pelvic repair surgery, where she describes the main types of repair surgery and gives the complication and failure rates, as well as a description of each procedure. This chapter is extensively referenced from mainstream, peer-referenced medical journals, so it is all stuff that has come out of the medical area. It is not alternative information, taken from alternative journals.

The medical journals themselves publish papers which admit that many women do not come out of a surgical repair better off, and usually need followup surgery for life, each surgery resulting in more risk of further problems. It is really up to each woman to assess the risks for herself, and I think that to consent to surgery without reading that chapter is a foolish move.

The problem is that many doctors are economical with the truth about the risks and complications of surgery, and women do not know the sort of questions they need to ask the doctor. It is very easy to consent to an operation and not know all you need to know before making that decision. I figure that if I need surgery at any point in the future I will know what I am letting myself in for. So far, five years after joining WW, my POPs are better, rather than worse. Nothing is further from my mind than repair surgery now. If I don't have symptoms any more, or rarely, why would I go anywhere near a surgeon?

sorry to heaar about the result of the colonoscopy. You might find nauli and firebreathing will help you to reposition your uterus, reinforced by WW posture to keep it there. You probably won't have much success at first, but it gets easier and more effective over time, as long as you follow all the WW guidelines.

Your constant UTI's are probably from not emptying your bladder properly. I try to empty properly at least once a day, and UTI's are now a thing of the past for me. Semi-squat works well for this, as does hands and knees under the shower. It is all about letting your bladder come forward and straighten out the urethra. It is all in the book.

When you say you have been riding the menopause rollercoaster, where are you up to? Still menstruating?

Louise

Who to trust...what a question. I read this title and my first thought was, well, trust yourself to listen to what people / care-providers have to offer and then figure out what resonates with you and what does not. Diagnosis and therapies and surgeries are generally a one-size-fits all approach that takes the authority out of the hands of the individual and places it in the hands of the 'experts'. This is very, very dangerous, in my humble opinion. YOU are the expert and the person to trust for your own situation (what a revolutionary concept...that you might be an authority of the same caliber as the care-providers). Others will have a wealth of information and ideas that may or not be helpful to you. This is largely up to you to figure out. Trust your powers of discernment, your gut instinct, listen with total openness, and take nothing as gospel until you have applied it to the field of your own experience.

It sounds like you had noticed some improvement until your recent colonoscopy. There is hope! It must be shattering to have had such a huge set back, but it sounds like you have a great capacity for healing. Can you get started on some of the WW ideas and methods? It certainly can't hurt and even if you don't see immediate results, it will give you a better sense of what is going on in your body. Best if luck to you! Read read read and post away; there is incredible wisdom in here.

the thing i love about WW is that i've come to realise that setbacks are just that--setbacks, not the end of the road for progress. i know longer fear them in the way i did, though they are still really annoying. but they happen--i left something wrong, eat the wrong stuff, whatever. then, really working on posture + Nauli & firebreathing help to bring things back into line. so i'd have faith that things can get better.

the thing to know is that surgery is always there. that option isn't going anywhere. you can try WW and see what happens. give it time. get the book and DVD if you can. read it, understand your options. watch the DVD. do the exercises. look at what you wear and eat, how you hold yourself, and make the changes. then, see wher eyou are at. give it a reasonable length of time, and so much can change...

OK, at least you know you are emptying properly. That is a good start. And all your reading. You clever girl!

I would put the UTI's down to martians and keep doing what you are doing. I feel sure that some of this stuff is perimenopause related, as you suggested before. I cannot believe how peaceful my body is, now I have stopped menstruating (at age 57). If this is the case, you will reach the end of the storm eventually. Batten down the hatches,and expect the unexpected. You will come out of it eventually, and stronger. The martians will eventually leave.

I think that getting my urethra up into my vagina again, and off my knickers, by getting WW posture established, was a key step in cutting down irritation from chafing, contamination from knickers and burning from the combination of faecal stains and urine drips, ie nappyrash on my urethral opening. there are also pH decreases in the vagina around menopause. That probably affects the urethral opening too. If it gets inflamed, bacteria can flourish and move up the urethra, I guess. I also had trouble with thrush for a while. Similar thing I guess, but I am fine since stopping menstruation. Oh yeah, not wearing knickers helped too, I think, because my exterior genitals were not sitting on knickers. the air could flow freely. I wore slips instead. There seem to be multiple factors at work. Addressing as many of them as possible at the same time had the greatest effect. I also had a discharge during those perimenopause years that left a brownish stain on my cotton knickers. All my old knickers have it still, but the new ones that have come into use over the last 12 months don't seem to be developing it.

Goodness, I never thought I would be airing my laundry on this Forum!

Cheers

Louise

I also liked Alemama's suggestion to one of the pregnant Mums to drink lots in the morning, instead of later in the day. That way you can do your bladder flushing during the day, and not have to wee a lot during the night.

This too will pass.

Louise