Denise Conway - Empower Your Flower: Empower Yourself to Overcome Pelvic Floor Dysfunction

Identify the patterns in your body, mind, and life

to empower you to overcome

female pelvic floor dysfunction

Denise Conway

ERYT500, YACEP

Certified Personal Trainer

Creator of TheFlowerEmpowered.com

z e n i m o t i o n

Zenimotion AB

Box 1720, Stockholm

SE-11674, Sweden.

Copyright 2021 by Denise Conway.

Empower your Flower

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced distributed or transported in any form or by any means including photocopying, recording or other electronic or mechanical methods, without prior consent of the author.

First printed 2021.

Zenimotion

https://empoweryourflower.com

Cover and interior design by Arianna Oliviero

Illustrated by Denise Conway

Photography by Aaron Conway and Arianna Oliviero

Edited by Joanna Booth

ISBN 978-91-987097-0-4

Disclaimer

This book is not a medical text and is for informational purposes only. The ideas, opinions and concepts presented are the opinions of the author and are intended to provide information that is both helpful and informative in relation to the subject matter. The resources in this book should not be used to replace specialized training and the professional judgement of a healthcare professional. The content is not a substitute for professional medical advice, nor is it intended to be used to diagnose or treat any medical condition(s). It is imperative that you seek medical advice if you believe you have any conditions mentioned in this book. Always work with your healthcare provider and seek their guidance as to the relevant treatments, exercises and practices for you and your body. A global directory of specialists is available at https://specialists.theflowerempowered.com.

Neither the author nor the publisher assumes any responsibility or liability whatsoever on behalf of the consumer or reader of this material. The author and publisher specifically disclaim, so far as is allowed by law, any responsibility, loss or risk (personal or otherwise) which is incurred, either directly or indirectly, as a consequence of the use and applications of any of the contents of this book.

The author and publisher do not have any control over, or responsibility for, any third-party websites that are referred to in this book. All web addresses provided in this book were correct at the time of going to press. The author and publisher regret any inconvenience caused if these web addresses are offline or no-longer available but can accept no responsibility for any such changes.

Any reference to or mention of specific manufacturers, commercial products or brands should not be interpreted as an endorsement, advertisement or recommendation for any company or product.

Names and identifying information of individuals mentioned in this book have been altered and any similarity to a person living or dead is merely coincidental. Any perceived slight of any individual or organization is purely unintentional.

Some of the material in this book has been previously shared online on The Flower Empowered website.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my children. Before putting finger

to keyboard, I asked if they would be ok with me talking

about this taboo subject. Above all else, I wanted to be sure

that my passion for breaking the taboo surrounding pelvic floor

dysfunction would not negatively affect them. Their support has

been complete and unwavering. They are three amazing young

individuals who encourage me to be the best person I can. They

keep me grounded, they keep me humble, and they show me love

each and every day.

To Aaron, Ciarn and Dearbhla,

I love each of you with all of my heart.

In memory of my coachthe legendary

John Mountain Dog Meadows

Table of Contents

Part One

The seed of Knowledge - learning to see patterns and connect the dots

Table of Contents

Part Two

Empower your flower - Nourish, develop, grow, and blossom

Preparation Level

Beginner Level

Table of Contents

Intermediate Level

Advanced Level

Part Three

Symptom management, tools and strategies for empowerment

Symptom management strategies for Pelvic Pain ......................................................................................476

Table of Contents

My Story

In the spring of 2015, during a visit with my urogynecologist, I received the worst news of my life.

I had been living with daily pain since November 2013, following minimally invasive surgery to treat mild stress incontinence. The pain was unbearable and made me feel desperate and broken. Unable to have sex, my relationship was in dire straits, and I needed the suffering to end. Having eliminated every other possibility, I returned to my urogynecologist knowing that there was only one possible remaining causethe mesh sling he had implanted. I assumed he would just remove it to make the pain stop.

Implantation had taken just fifteen minutes; surely, removal would be simple and equally fast.

Thats when he dropped the bomb.

The device is permanent. It cannot be removed. The look on his face implied that I was a dumb blonde. Dont you understand how many nerves and blood vessels sit close to that device? If I try to remove it, I could kill you.

Oh my God, could this be true? I pushed back with, You told me it was the gold standard, that it was safe, that there are no risks aside from the surgery itself.

He thought for a minute before responding, You are a very rare case. It is extremely unusual for women to have issues with this device.

I subsequently discovered that I was not a rare case; in fact, one in every ten women implanted with a mesh device has to live with devastating side effects. Life, as I knew it, was over.

He offered to cut the offending device in half. Maybe that will relieve the pain. He sounded very unsure. This guy was a reputable urogynecologist and I was in Sweden, a country with a world-class healthcare system. How could this be happening? What should I do? The mesh sling felt like it was slicing into my bladder. The thought of two sharp ends, roaming around freely inside my pelvis, filled me with dread. Why hadnt I done proper research? Why did I just blindly trust this medical professional when he told me I needed the surgery? I was dizzy. Shaking. Completely in shock. I left his office and returned home to cry. My life was over. I would never have sex again and would be left to live my life in constant pain. All because of some shitty plastic mesh that took only fifteen minutes to implant but could never be removed.

Foreword Lifting the cloak

i

At that point in time, I was not aware of the level of suffering some women have to endure because of mesh implants. It was not clear to me that I was one of the lucky ones. Mesh creates devastation.

If you are one of the women who is now confined to a wheelchair or who has lost your bladder or bowel, and left to live with a stoma, your current reality is far from the life you were expecting to live.

My story may seem trivial to you, and, for that, I am sorry. I cannot ease your pain, but I hope to help to raise awareness to save the lives of those who have yet to go under the knife.

At the time that the doctor had agreed that the cause of my pain was the mesh, it had been in place for over one year. Initially, I had believed the pain was due to healing. The surgery had left me with severe bruising on my genitals, legs, and backside. It looked like my nether regions had taken twelve rounds with Mike Tyson. I could only imagine that my bladder and pelvic organs must also have been bruised. When the painful symptoms failed to subside after six weeks, I blamed what I was drinking.