Re: A positive story - there's reason to hope
From: Erica (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Thu Jun 30 19:31:44 2005
Chris,
I think you left out one important thing in what helped your wife
out...you!
I am so happy to hear your wife's story. It is of GREAT inspiration and
gives much hope.
Thank you for sharing your story with all of us.
Hope's for continue success to you and your wife.
--
Erica
At Thu, 30 Jun 2005, Chris wrote:
>
>Hi all,
>
>It's been 9+ months since I last posted about my wife Patricia's endo,
>and I wanted to follow up. She started having endometriosis symptoms
>March 2004, and they reached a peak during the summer of '04. We read
>all we could about the condition, both Western and alternative medicine,
>and tried 3 major approaches:
>
>1)Diet - in June/July 2004 Patricia stopped eating chocolate, coffee,
>sugar, milk, red meat, butter, alcohol and a number of foods that we'd
>read were triggers for endo. She was simply amazing in her ability to
>control her diet - something I could never have done myself. She
>essentially became a vegetarian with some fish and chicken thrown in for
>good measure.
>
>2)Chinese acupuncture - a friend who had endo recommended us to a
>Chinese woman in Oakland, CA who she claimed worked wonders on endo
>sufferers. My wife went for several sessions (6-7 in all) over a 4
>month period, and she received fairly immediate and significant
>reduction in endo symptoms as a result. This accupuncture specialist
>(an elderly Chinese lady) said that diet and mental health (in addition
>to her treatments) were the keys to dealing with endo, which in her
>medical system is an imbalance of vital life forces. Lastly [and don't
>laugh here since I'm the husband] she said that having frequent &
>pleasurable intercourse was very important to healing endo. We've
>always been good in that department, but since her endo came on had
>backed off tremendously.
>
>3)Laproscopy - we also had a laproscopy to remove/diminish 4-6 lesions
>on her bladder, uterus and abdominal wall. My wife noticed very little
>correlation between the operation and her reduction in symptoms,
>although one must acknowledge that results often come weeks/months after
>the procedure.
>
>4)No strenuous exercise - in the 5-7 years before her endo hit, my wife
>used to vigorously exercise 4-5 days a week. She did huge amounts of
>stairmaster, treadmill and light weights, and had very, very little fat
>on her. After the endo started, however, she noticed that exercising
>was quite painful and therefore stopped going to the gym. She hasn't
>been back since and feels that reducing her exercise to the work of
>raising kids and walking here & there has helped her.
>
>As of November/December 2004 my wife's symptoms have *greatly*
>diminished, not 100% but definitely manageable and something she can
>live with without much disruption to her daily routine. If her pain
>before was a 6-7 out of 10, now it's a mere shadow of that at most times
>(2-3 she'd say). She's basically back to her life before endo, and
>while she knows/feels it's still there she no longer feels either the
>pain or the associated mental anguish that endo pain brings.
>
>My point in posting all this is to make clear what's worked (hopefully
>not just temporarily) for her, and to especially underscore the positive
>effects that a) strict adherence to an endo diet; and b)Chinese endo
>accupuncture treatments have had in her case.
>
>I hope with all my heart that some of this ends up making a difference
>in the lives of you women who suffer from endo.
>
>Go girls!!!
>
>-Chris
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