To have such young children and live with this kind of pain is very hard, sometimes it is so overwhelming you either want to scream your head off or climb into bed, pull the covers up over your head & hide from the world! I know, because I have been there.
I had three children, all born withing 3 & 1/2 years, so my place was hectic to say the least! Lack of sleep is a torture only another mother of small children can understand. Feeling ill & still having to take the care & responsibility of young ones is one of the toughest times for a mother.
I remember how I felt Christy, I had dreadful, painful, debilitating periods, which by the time I had the three girls was coming as often as every two weeks! So as my body sort of started to recover from one lot, the next lot was making itself known & so the cycle went on and on. During this time I also suffered with three miscarriages and I was at the lowest point I have ever been in my life!
How did I get myself out of this treadmill existance? It was by chance some would say, but I know that God had a plan, and he was giving me a mighty boot into the right direction! I went along to a residents meeting in the small villiage we lived in at the time, my objective was to discuss the appalling state of the local hall where we held a playgroup once a week.
I laugh when I think of this now, but me, the tired, the sleepless tortured young mother was elected as President of the Association! I went home in a state of shock to tell my husband and listen to his amusement and comments about this new situation.
I thought I would die! How could I speak to councilers from the local council? How could I change what was happening in the villiage, how could I inspire people or light a fire under them and force them into action to save our hall? I was mortified and terrified. God has a strange way of helping us, and I believe most of the time his plan for us in unclear. All we can do is accept what he has put on our plate and do our best to meet his expectations of us.
This committee turned out to be my light, my way out of the dark and stressful, sleepless world in which I had been existing in. The new me that emerged was confident, determined and unafraid of putting in the best effort I had to complete any task life threw my way.
So Christy, I know where you are right now, I understand how you feel and I know what fills your life from day to day, our children are our life's work and we struggle on regardless of our challenges because we love them.
Don't loose hope, take the courage our support group here offers. It is OK to vent, cry, laugh ask questions and to tell us stories about your family. You need a plan, a number of strategies to help you keep your pain under control. Type in some key words in the archive box on the bottom of the board messages page. This will bring up lists of messages that contain information, comments and ideas associated with the key words you use.
You might like to try words like : pain management, breathing exercises, pain medication, relaxation or meditation. The other thing you need to do is ask your doctors questions, read everything that is available on the IAS web site, ask questions and seek as many opinions as you can from various doctors.
Remember you are in charge of your health and your choice of how plan your recovery. Don't look at surgery as the only choice, give yourself the opportunity to try many things and leave surgery to the very last choice. So few of us find relief and a cure in surgery, mostly we find our pain is the same, and sadly more often pur pain is worse.
I hope this gives you a few ideas and helps you to understand the choices you can make. Please keep in touch and tell us what you are trying and how you are feeling.
love & gentle warm hugs
Jo (Australia)
-- P.S. I'm not a doctor or medical person, just a fellow adhesions sufferer who really wants better treatment for us all.