How do you cope

[Guest guest]

Meg,

all I can say is, that however hard it is, believe in yourself. In fact the

fibroid journey can be a very important learning experience. It teaches you

how to research medical problems and find out about your choices, how to

deal with manipulation, how to remain true to yourself. I know it can be hard.

I was lucky that my husband never tried to put any pressure on me to get a

hysterectomy, although living with someone who has the symptoms heavy

bleeding and anaemia is no joke. I think it could be hard to deal with DH

saying " look, have the hysterectomy " . But remain calm and firm. You are the

one who has to live with the consequences of any treatment that you might

have, tell him that. Tell him, that if it was the other way round, and it

was his health problem, you would respect his choices.

I spend a lot of time on patient advocate activities in connection with

fibroids. There aren't many people I can talk to about my activities. My

family don't know, my husband's sister knows (she had fibroids), but many

of my friends don't know. They are still my family and friends, I just

don't share the " fibroid " part of my life with them. They wouldn't

understand. That's why friends like Pat are so important (who is

coming to visit me in Germany this week). They understand, because they

know how much suffering fibroids can cause. This is why we have this list,

to support each other.

Is there a meet-up in your area? Could you link up with other fibroid women

who understand? That might make it a bit easier to stick to your guns. It

is your body and your choice.

Take care,

At 18:19 08.05.04 +0000, you wrote:

>How do you all cope? Not discuss it with acquaintances? If they do

>say certain inappropriate things, how do you respond briefly? I hate

>to get into length about this all the time, but would appreciate

>knowing how you react to this primitive pressure to have a hyst.

>Thanks!

>

>Meg