Oh my!!

Body: 

I just joined a Facebook group called Pelvic Organ Prolapse Support (POPS), and upon a quick glance at some of the recent posts, there is frequent mention of surgeries, kegals, and lots of things that fly in the face of WW. Guess Ill have to be the one who flows against the current of thought...I already posted a link to the WW site!!!

You'll probably be banned from the group in short order! Meanwhile, put all the information out there that you can. - Surviving

Surviving60, I've already begun seeing an anti Christine bent. I questioned one woman as to whether she had thoroughly read Christine's research, book, and explored the website (I have my doubts), and the reply had to do with Christine being off putting over the use of pessaries! Geeze.

Don't expect much. After over a year spent trying to spread the word on Yahoo Answers, I was eventually "reported" and kicked off the site. I figured that if I got through to even one person, it was worth it.

Ironically, I would swear that it was a post on Yahoo Answers that originally pointed me to Whole Woman. But after a diligent search, I could never find that post. I suppose that person eventually got reported and banned as well. Kicked off, and all their (and my) posts blown away. What a world this is. Nothing to do but keep fighting the good fight. - Surviving

I honestly cannot understand how a Facebook page formed, I assume, to help women with POP would have such a negative attitude toward Christine and the WW site. Of course, people have differing opinions as to how best to help women with POP and it's amazing they cannot welcome a site such as WholeWoman. Surely any contribution or suggestion in aiding people with POP would be welcomed! If only people could be more open-minded and accept the fact that there really are women who don't necessarily want surgery and who also believe surgery to be one of the worst scenarios for a condition such as POP which cannot be looked upon the same way as an ordinary ''hernia'' can.

Sevilla, here's some recommended reading - go over to the Blog tab and put Prolapse Wars into the search. Besides the two articles that come up, there are countless other articles that clearly lay out what the issues are.

There is an enormous medical machine that has nothing to gain (and much to lose) if women discover that they can manage their own prolapse and overall health and well-being. Until women stop requesting medical treatments for prolapse (which range from useless to extremely damaging) women will continue to suffer and doctors will continue to prosper.

There are also many women out there who are very personally invested in the solutions they have chosen, and really don't want to hear that there is something better. Since the Internet and Whole Woman opened up this knowledge to anyone who goes in search of it, women can no longer cry ignorance of their options, as anyone prior to that time can certainly be justified in doing.

We owe it to Christine, Whole Woman, and women everywhere, to continue this fight to put the truth out there. - Surviving

After re-reading my response to this thread, I deleted it. Sorry for being smug. ;-/

It was right on, and I'm glad I read it while I had the chance!

The point was that women who have had surgeries are not going to be severing that relationship. Many will be heading back again to their surgeons, due to failure of the procedure and the fact that they have narrowed their future options by choosing the surgical route in the first place. Most of these women are not likely to embrace the WW approach, on FB or elsewhere. We wish they would, of course.....we try to get our message out to them as well, because adopting WW posture is much better than anything else they can do at that point. - Surviving

Well, I left that FB group; it was definitely NOT for me. So much celebrating over surgeries past, present, and still to come. I just can't surround myself with that right now when I'm fighting to gain pelvic stability without further surgery (I am unfortunately a victim of a hysterectomy, and if I had known then what I know now, that surgery would NEVER have happened)!! What is so sad, is realizing how many women are struggling with POP to some degree.

Bouquets to you, Cecilly, for stepping into the arena. When you leave a FB group, do your posts leave with you? Your short stay could have made a difference to someone struggling with a decision. - Surviving

Please, take it from me too, Christine, that your post wasn't smug. It was right on. I've been looking at that fb group (have to join to see the posts and have already left the group after only a couple of days). So many posts (and there are plenty of them) sound like the women who come here in the worst crises of pain and fear. I didn't find credentials that compare with yours. Encouragements to keep trying to find a good doctor, to have surgical intervention, to rationalize the errors and deny the real post-surgery experiences do far more harm than good. I'm not for bashing differing opinions and left the site without making comments like these. I chose to comment here to express again my appreciation for your work and this forum. I'm glad you have more time to spend on the forum and I really do value the knowledge and experience of monitors and regulars here. I miss Louise's regular posts and hope she's well. Thank you, too, Cecilly for bringing that page to my attention. It was another eye-opener. I am so sorry that those women are going through so much pain and trouble and have only found so far a forum that propagates the misery. Being so affected by reading the posts for only a couple of days also has caused me to appreciate more the patient persistence of the regulars here. Kudos to you....because it's really hard to take on someone else's pain and panic.

Christine, the thing is, YOU do the research, so you know and can pass on to us the facts. So many (I was one myself) just take their "almighty Doctor's" word as if it was Scripture without looking further into the research and results. THANK YOU for going into these battles for us women. We very much appreciate it.

As for the FB group and my quick departure, if I was feeling up to battle (normally I am, but in light of the recent loss of my mom, worsening POP issues, and other family stressors that have zapped my energy and drive a bit), I would have tried to maintain a presence there. Maybe another time I'll be more up to the fight.

Agree with Cecilly! It's the abundance of in your face information that we get from your work that catches us and keeps us coming back to whole woman. Once reading this work, anyone would just be arrogant or foolish, or both to turn away from that kind of commonsense!!

Well, that's just the thing. Christine's teachings made total and immediate sense to me, and I've never been able to fathom how anyone could be exposed to it, and then turn away. Nothing short of extreme personal prejudices can explain it. Why must the politics of prolapse continue to do so much damage to women? - Surviving

After several months of wondering why, of all the women I know, I have not had one tell me she had prolapse. Then I realized it's probably because I hadn't been telling them I had it either! So I decided to insert a brief paragraph into this year's Christmas letter to family and friends and let the chips fall where they may. Nestled in the middle of the letter, in among paragraphs about our past year, how things are going, what we've been doing, etc., is a paragraph that reads: "Early May brought a new wrinkle when I learned I have a condition known as complete pelvic organ prolapse. The good news is it's not a disease or an illness. I've opted out of the recommended surgery, instead choosing holistic approaches as needed." I'll either be banned from the letter list, or I'll finally hear from a few of my women friends and relatives that they, too, are dealing with prolapse! We'll see!

Wow, I'm impressed! I hope this brings a few of your friends out of the closet. Let us know how it goes. If you get even one nibble, it will be worth it. Nice going. - Surviving