Saturday 31 May 2014

Being an Advocate for a Family Member or Friend


 
An 'advocate' is someone who supports a patient and helps to ensure their wishes are respected. An advocate is usually a friend or family member, although some hospitals do have professional patient advocates.
 
There are a few benefits of having someone to advocate for you at medical appointments. Your advocate can:
  • Help you plan for an appointment by writing a list of questions you would like to ask, or a script for part of the conversation you are nervous about
  • Attend the appointment with you, and help you talk about aspects of your condition that you find upsetting or embarrassing
  • Prevent you from being (however unintentionally) steam-rolled by a over-confident or overly-busy health professional
  • Provide emotional support if you are asked upsetting questions or required to undergo procedures you find distressing
If you would like to advocate for a loved one, here is a good resource from the American Urogynecologic Society about how to do so effectively: Tips for being a Health Advocate.

Friday 30 May 2014

Prolapse Health - An Online Support Forum

Please note that here at the Prolapse Information Project I do not necessarily endorse the views expressed by members of the other support communities I link to. As always, I encourage you to do your own research and use evidence-based treatments.  



Prolapse Health is a relatively large online community, with a number of active forums.
 
A great feature of the site is the fact that there are specific forums for each type of treatment (eg. surgery, alternative therapies) so you can discuss your treatment with like-minded people, regardless of what your views are.
 
There is also a forum for people to post their stories and share updates on their condition. It can be great to discuss your prolapse and the impact it has on your life in a supportive environment. Taking care of your mental health is just as important as your physical health, and feeling as if someone is 'hearing you' is a big part of this.

Which Health Professional Should You be Seeing?

Continence Foundation of Australia
 
 
Being diagnosed with a prolapse can plunge you into a world filled with unfamiliar medical terminology.
 
One of the most confusing things can be navigating which type of professional you should seek help from. A continence nurse? A women's health physio? A urogynaecologist? What the heck even is a urogynaecologist?
 
The Continence Foundation of Australia has put together a really informative page that tells you what the qualifications of each of these professionals are, and in what situation they can help you. This is particularly important when finding a properly qualified physiotherapist, or when choosing which type of professional should perform your surgery (if you choose to have surgery).
 
This great resource is available here: Which Health Professional?
 
Remember, the Continence Foundation of Australia can also help you to find an appropriate practitioner close to where you live. Call their help line 1800 33 00 66 Monday to Friday 8AM to 8PM.

Safe Exercise with a Pelvic Floor Injury



Physio helping client with exercise

 

One of the most confronting things about being diagnosed with a prolapse is the physical restrictions it places on you, particularly if you have always been a fit, physically active person. Returning to exercise, or beginning to exercise, can be especially intimidating if you are concerned about making your prolapse worse.

The Continence Foundation of Australia have put together a great website about safe exercise for women with pelvic floor injuries (such as prolapse), called Pelvic Floor First.

This website gives you really clear guidelines about what cardio, resistance and core exercise can be undertaken without causing or exacerbating pelvic floor injury. It is worth remembering that this information is provided as a guideline only, and if you notice your symptoms worsening you should stop doing the exercise that is causing them to do so.

With that in mind though, you can build your strength and once again start to enjoy something about your body.

New Surgical Technique with an Improved Success Rate

When you are first diagnosed with a prolapse, and do the inevitable internet search, it can seem like there is little good news to be found - particularly when it comes to surgery. Posts in this series (with the tag "Breakthroughs") will help you keep up to date about exciting innovations in the treatment of prolapse.

Dr Carey, head of Urogynaecology at the Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne

Dr Marcus Carey, head of Urogynaecology at the Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne, has developed a new technique for prolapse repair surgery that compliments the existing use of mesh.

Dr Carey comments: "I saw a huge, unmet need for women needing this surgery, which currently has a high fail rate...Traditional surgical techniques for this operation had been around for about 100 years." His innovation involves the use of a silicone support during surgical recovery, which improves outcomes by almost 15%.

If you'd like to read about the outcomes in more detail, the abstract for a 12 month study of this new technique is available on Pub Med here: Vaginal surgery for pelvic organ prolapse using mesh and a vaginal support device.

Thursday 29 May 2014

A Better Mesh for POP Surgical Repairs


When you are first diagnosed with a prolapse, and do the inevitable internet search, it can seem like there is little good news to be found - particularly when it comes to surgery. Posts in this series (with the tag "Breakthroughs") will help you keep up to date about exciting innovations in the treatment of prolapse.

Dr Edwards with mesh made by our warp knit machine in the background.
Dr Edwards, one of the researchers
One of the elements that causes the most complications in many current types of prolapse repair surgery is the mesh used to support the vaginal walls.

Monash University and the CSIRO are currently researching this problem, with two promising lines of inquiry. They are looking at creating a mesh that has better properties, and also considering using stem cells to help the body accept the mesh when it is implanted.

Good luck to the research team - hopefully we will all be benefiting from their success before long!