The fruits of my labours?
Originally uploaded by Geraldine Curtis.

Tuesday
Ever been contacted by two namesakes in one day? It all started last night when I discovered a second comment on my blog (from another Geraldine). I can't hide my excitement - more than one person has read my blog!! Seriously though, when I began this blog, in a way, I was trying some self-help. I'd just spent a year of my life only just surviving from one day to the next. I'd had test after test, but noone actually talked to me about what the problem, it was as though the NHS had a new game, you can come and see the doctor, but if it isn't obvious what's wrong with you we don't want to know and by the way, please don't come back. Well, call me old fashioned, but I had faith in doctors that together we could come up with a diagnosis and treatment and that I would eventually be able to get on with my life. After blood tests (I had to beg for them) and scans (three) nothing showed up to give any inclination as to why I had 'Unexplained Chronic Pelvic Pain
.' The consultants first diagnosis was "it must be endrometriosis
" I was sure it wasn't, so I phoned the help line and discussed the help person's pain as opposed to my pain, which only confirmed (to me) that it wasn't. In the mean time the consultant prescribed Provera
which acts to shut down your monthly cycle (in theory reducing the symtoms of endometriosis) It had no effect on the pain I was experiencing except for making things worse as ProVera does work and gives you severe PMT into the bargain. So however bad you were feeling before, it just served to make things worse. Everything made me dissolve into tears; newspaper articles, songs on the radio, even doing the food shopping (Robert was very puzzled) and it got to the stage when I began to plan my own suicide. I began to pin my hopes on a laparoscopy and again when nothing was found (i now have some very neat scars) things took a nose dive. perhaps what was inferred - that it was 'all in my head' was true. I went back to the doctor's and asked for an early appointment with the consultant which came in 2 weeks instead of the statutory 6. What I hadn't bargained for was to be seen by someone I'd never met before. I stuck to my plea of "Please help" and all he could offer was: " We can take out all your bits (I'm sure those were his precise words), but there's no guarantee it will take away the pain you have" Great, final appeal and no farther forward. However and this is the bit where fate stepped in. The nurse who accompanied me in the see the consultant had made 'small talk' by mentioning that her second name was Geraldine, almost an ally then... When she saw how upset I was as I left, she took me on one side and explained that she too quite often suffered from a pain in her side. At last I'd found a person with a similar pain to mine, it was as though someone was saying that I hadn't imagined it after all. She didn't have much time to spend with me, but what she did say made perfect sense; unexplained chronic pelvic pain is very often due to Irritable Bowel Syndrome
. With this person, if she indulged in very rich food, she knew that her intestines would go into spasm and she would suffer with severe localised pain. My only problem was translating her symtoms/cause/treatment to my own. As I walked back to the car in the rain, hope, as they say, sprung eternal. What was wrong with me? It wasn't caused by rich food, but something was making my intestines go into spasm. OK I was tense and now severely depressed and had been in constant pain for a year. Was I just stressed- was there a way of relaxing? I thought about my ante natal classes and how I'd been taught to breathe deeply- would it make any difference - and that was it. I get stressed easily, this causes my intestines to go into spasm and I feel severe physical pain. It had been a vicious circle, stress-spasm-pain and once you're there it's so difficult to break out. I spent the evening trying to keep my breathing regular and read up on anything that could help - peppermint tea, ginger, milky drinks, comfort of hot water bottles. By the next morning I could definitely feel an improvement. I still have twinges every day, but now I know what causes it. It's not a cure, but understanding what's wrong is a major step forward. If only I could have talked to someone before...
The future looks bright, the future is...