Pretty Basic-simply make an effort to always treat others exactly the way you'd like to be treated. Smile at others every chance you get. Hold the door open for those behind you when walking into a store. Share joy.
:)
Sher

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/MedHelp-Social/Random-Acts-of-Kindness---list-the-ways-you-give-or-get-kindness/show/1510864

Pelvic organ prolapse. Pessary. Urogynecology. Terms that all women should be familiar with, terms that few women are. Pelvic organ prolapse is an extremely common female health issue that has probably been around since women started having babies yet sadly remains in the closet. Frankly, women are just too embarrassed to talk about it. We need to change this dynamic. We need to change it now.

Every year hundreds of thousands of women are diagnosed with POP, and countless more suffer silently with symptoms that they can’t make any sense out of; is it a digestive thing, is it a colon cancer thing, is it a female hormone fluctuation thing? When we don’t know what to tie symptoms to, our minds can be our worst enemies, imagining the most negative scenario.

Half of all women over the age of 50 suffer from at least one type of pelvic organ prolapse (there are 5 types), many women in their 30’s and 40’s have POP as well. Although POP is not extremely common in women in their 20’s, it also occurs in this age bracket. The 5 types of pelvic organ prolapse are cystyocele (bladder), rectocele (large bowel), enterocele (intestines), vaginal vault (vagina caves in on itself after uterus is removed-hysterectomy), and uterine (uterus). When the PC or pelvic floor muscles weaken, one or more of these organ/tissue areas drop down into the pelvic cavity below their normal positions.

Each of these 5 types of POP has its own symptoms, but in general symptoms can include:

Pressure, pain, or “fullness” in vagina or rectum or both.
Feeling like your “insides are falling out”.
Urinary incontinence.
Urine retention (you have to pee, you just can’t get it to come out).
Fecal incontinence.
Constipation.
Back/abdominal pain.
Can’t keep a tampon in.

There are multiple causes of POP; it is likely that most women have more than one cause that fits their health pocket and lifestyle. The most common causes of POP are

Vaginal childbirth-complications from large birth weight babies, forceps deliveries, multiple childbirths, improperly repaired episiotomies. (It is also possible for women who have never given birth to have POP; there are many non-childbirth related causes.)
Menopause-age related muscle loss due to drop in estrogen level; this impacts strength, elasticity, and density of muscle tissue.
Chronic constipation-IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), poor diet, lack of exercise can all cause constipation.
Chronic coughing-smoking, allergies, bronchitis, and emphysema can create chronic coughing.
Heavy lifting-repetitive heavy lifting at work, lifting children, weight trainers.
Joggers, marathon runners-constant downward pounding of internal structures.

There is hope for women with POP; there are both non-surgical and surgical treatments that can be utilized to control, improve, or repair this health issue. The most positive direction we can take is to increase awareness so women start recognizing POP symptoms when they occur. Women who have been diagnosed with POP need to come out of the closet with their diagnosis and treatment paths and share that information with other women, their mothers, their daughters, their sisters, their friends. The sooner we take POP out of the closet, the sooner women will be able to start identifying it and seek professional diagnosis and treatment.

                                       NO ONE CAN HELP US AS MUCH AS WE CAN HELP OURSELVES

Every day men and women are diagnosed with health issues that they may have heard of but know little about. Every day countless individuals search for answers to help themselves come to terms with these health issues.  Fortunately in today’s cyber world, health information is much more accessible than it was years ago. Support structures for an abundance of diseases and syndromes are the norm, specialists within health fields help us narrow down our choices for treatment. Unfortunately for women with pelvic organ prolapse, symptoms that create a scenario of embarrassment as well as discomfort lend themselves to a hidden world of suffering that often goes on for years while this health condition progresses, impacting women from every angle, physical, social, sexual, emotional, and financial.

When I was first diagnosed with pelvic organ prolapse, I’d never heard of it. I’d never heard of urogynecologists, physicians who are the specialist for this health condition. I’d never heard of a pessary, a commonly used treatment device for POP. As a woman who had spent the bulk of her life researching aspects of health and being pro-active with her own, I was shocked to be diagnosed with a condition that I’d never heard of. I was frustrated. I was angry. As soon as I got home from that initial diagnosis, I started doing what I do best, researching. As I researched, I kept coming across the same phrase; it’s so common, it’s so common, it’s so common. If pelvic organ prolapse is so common, how come I’d never heard of it despite years of researching health issues? I knew immediately that I needed to write a book about pelvic organ prolapse so that other women in my position would have access to all of the information they needed to understand the causes, symptoms, and treatment options available for POP.

Pelvic organ prolapse is an extremely common female health issue that half of women over the age of 50 will experience; many younger women in their 30’s and 40’s have POP as well. Symptoms like urinary incontinence, fecal incontinence, urine retention, abdominal pain, back pain, vaginal or rectal pressure, constipation, and painful intercourse are aspects of POP that women frequently experience. Because many of the symptoms of POP are too embarrassing to disclose to anyone, women suffer in silence while the condition progresses. I hear stories from women all the time that sound so familiar,  women with fear, panic, anxiety, and physical pain in their voices. Many women worry about their relationship with their husbands, fearful that symptoms of POP will impact that relationship. Often women are too embarrassed to leave the house or attend a social gathering, apprehensive that POP issues will create an embarrassing situation for them in a public setting.  We need to take pelvic organ prolapse out of the closet; women need to know that there are others experiencing the same symptoms, get a dialogue started, create a comfort zone so that women feel free to communicate these symptoms to their physicians to access treatment as well as enable them to connect with their husbands or significant others about what is happening within their bodies.

I’ve been so fortunate to have the opportunity to speak with many women about POP over the past year. It amazes me every day just how few women are familiar with pelvic organ prolapse and how often women that have heard of POP are misinformed. So much still needs to be done to create a realistic awareness pocket. POP is not an American women’s health issue, it is a global women’s health issue. Although statistics indicate that this health issue is more common in the 50+ category, I speak with too many women in their 30’s and 40’s to believe this is a health issue that occurs in mature women only. We need to change the awareness curve so that ALL women become familiar with the symptoms of POP at a much younger age; this will increase detection of pelvic organ prolapse and women who recognize signs can seek earlier, less aggressive treatment.

I try to utilize every tool I have access to in my quest to help women recognize and become familiar with POP. MedHelp.org graciously extended a hand to me in my quest; I am delighted to be a part of this inspiring community of health care advocates and professionals. I proudly tell people I meet that I affiliate with this amazing organization and truly believe that my connection to Medhelp.org will be a fruitful partnership in creating much needed awareness about pelvic organ prolapse, a health issue that far too many women don’t recognize and many that do have no idea what their treatment options are. I’m hopeful that women will find the Urogynecology Community that MedHelp.org has allowed me to establish a place to go to for the POP answers they seek. As this community evolves and grows, members will do what they do in other MedHelp Communities, reach out to each other with support and advice. Feedback between members of the health communities at MedHelp.org is as vital to the support aspect of these communities as it is for the health advice given. I am also hopeful that we can integrate APOPS groups (The Association for Pelvic Organ Prolapse Support, a network of live, local support groups that I hope to assimilate with Medhelp.org) into user groups within the Medhelp community to enable the women within local regions to more easily share info with each other. If you'd like to join our POP community at the Urogynecology Forum or have a question or comment you'd like to post about pelvic organ prolapse, click on the link below.

                                              http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Urogynecology/show/743

                                      NO ONE CAN HELP US AS MUCH AS WE CAN HELP OURSELVES

For those of you who are either wondering if you have pelvic organ prolapse or have already been diagnosed and are having a hard time deciding whether or not to have surgery, it's truly a good idea to find a urogynecologist to get the facts. There is no right or wrong with whether or not to have surgery, there are good options available for each choice and the bottom line is it is such a personal decision. Typically when the symptoms get  too annoying or painful to handle, many women opt for surgery. Often younger women want to wait because they want to have additional children. I had a grade 3 rectocele/cystocele/enterocele repair done in 2008 and have never regretted if for a second. I won't lie, it is a pretty rough surgery if you are having a combination of prolapses repaired, but if you do your research prior to surgery and know what to expect and have everything set that you will need after surgery ready to go b/4 you go to the hospital, the heal curve flows easier.

Sher

                                     NO ONE CAN HELP US AS MUCH AS WE CAN HELP OURSELVES