What Else is True?

What Else Is True?

I’d like to start this blog post off by giving a brief endo-related bio of myself so any new readers to my site can have an idea of what I’ve gone through in terms of dealing with this monster of a disease, ENDOMETRIOSIS:

I’ve experienced symptoms of endometriosis beginning with my very first period when I was 13 years old. From that age through my diagnosis at age 27 my symptoms seriously increased in severity. I finally heard the E-word at a doctor’s appointment in 2010! I remember having trouble pronouncing it even in the beginning and having to read it off the post-it to tell people about it. I was so relieved to have a name for a condition, a PHYSICAL one that was causing these problems- I had been through the ringer up to that point with doctors dismissing me completely or writing off all of these symptoms, which I will list in a minute, to anxiety and according to one doctor “being unable to handle the emotions of everyday life.” I was diagnosed via lap while having a uterine ablation on Saint Patrick’s Day in 2011. To fast forward a bit over the past 5 years I have had 5 surgeries to deal with the endometriosis and severe adhesions i have developed. I had a total vaginal hysterectomy in 2012, in 2014 I had a cholecystectomy and liver biopsy (have some liver issues resulting from a medicine I was coerced into trying, and I had lysis  of     adhesions and excision of endometriosis with an endo  specialist surgeon a few months later. Almost exactly one year later in June of 2015 I had an oopherectomy, lysis of  adhesions and excision of endometriosis performed by a specialist surgeon who uses the DaVinci robot at a leading medical teaching conglomeration in Southern  California. And now I am currently waiting for a referral back to the most recent surgeon having most recently seen a different ob/gyn surgeon who said I am the worst case he has seen and says I need a team of doctors for this next (and god-willing LAST operation).  

Wanted to give a quick list of the symptoms I have experienced over the years, and i have had endometriosis and adhesions removed from most of my abdominal and pelvic organs:

∴intense cramping on left pain at midline/waist area

∴nausea, frequently resulting in vomiting

∴bleeding with bowel movements

∴unbearable pain with bowel movements (pain being way up in the center of my belly, so severe that I cry while trying to go)

∴lower back pain

∴pain both during and after pelvic exams, ultrasounds and intercourse

∴painsomnia (pain so bad that it makes falling or staying asleep very difficult)

∴intermittent vaginal bleeding (nearly 3 years post-

hysterectomy)

∴serious abdominal bloating, where I  can go from looking my normal belly  to several months pregnant in the matter of a few minutes!

Last year over the  Independence Day holiday (one of my most favorite holidays!) I wrote my first piece about the What Else is True technique. I will copy and paste that here:

This year I find myself 5 weeks and one day post-op from another major endo surgery, 5.5 years past my first endometriosis surgery in which I was officially diagnosed. Over the past few years I've really gone through a lot but have also done a lot of work and am experiencing a great amount of growth. I cannot say that I'm grateful for the endometriosis trail I've had to go on but I am grateful to be able to be in such a place of self-exploration, healing, experiencing a shift of perspective and an ever-increasing amount of LOVE in my life. 

I love Independence Day and love it in both a macro and micro sense. I hope you find some time today, even if just a brief moment, or a breath even, to focus on what in your life you are working on gaining independencefrom, maybe what you've already conquered. Take a deep breath and give yourself a spiritual high five for keepin' on keepin' on. 

Whatever struggles you're experiencing may feel or seem overwhelming, I feel that way sometimes with what I'm going through. But the current mantra I'm working with is "what else is true?" So I am learning to be able to lift up out of my pain,  which is very real, and to see something else that is also very real but more positive and less painful. For example on this morning of Independence Day, I am in a lot of pain while writing this, BUT what else true?! What else is true is, I am in the beautiful mountains with people I love, I am going to be going to a firework show tonight and I know it will be amazing, I am able to revel in and deeply breathe in the healing properties of nature. 

For this past Independence Day Holiday Weekend, these were my "what else"  observations that got me through:

I am not always good with the "what else" mantra but that is life, eh, we work on what is presented to us, what we stumble upon, what experiences (good and bad) what are put in our path. Like right now (Monday July 6th) as I write this I am in some of the worst pain I've ever had. Sometimes the pain is so hard to look through that my "what else" can be hard to see. Writing has seemed to help me. I hope by my sharing my process and experiences I can help someone else on their path when the times might be tough and hope seems far away. 

Fingers crossed for me, and each of my readers especially my sisters, that we have an easy day and may our pains be diminished, even if just a bit, by the "what elses" we have in and around us!

I sincerely hope that the techniques offered in this passage will help you in your journey. Please try them and feel free to comment with feedback, or even if you would like to share things you have tried that have helped, and those that haven't!

If we all continue to share what we go through and what we do to get by, we can only grow stronger and even more powerful.

Signing off with love and healing thoughts,

Stephanie