Reflexology

I decided it was about time I gave alternative therapies a chance.  Since July 2008 I have had two surgeries and had Lupron for six months.  As we are trying to conceive it means the birth control pill and the mirena coil are out.  I use pain killers as and when needed but since my surgery, just over four weeks ago, I have not taken that much (not counting the few days right after surgery when I needed quite a bit of pain control).

I started reflexology Friday of last week and went again yesterday.  The lady that does it is tiny, lovely but tiny!  Seriously I am only 5 foot 4 and I feel so tall next to her.  I feel rude calling her tiny so I will refer to her as just plain and simple T.  I met her at the endo support group meeting at the end of January.  T came in to talk to us about what reflexology was and how it may help with our pain.  Not only our endo pain but the whole body.

The first thirty minutes we just spent running through my medical history.  I am surprised thirty minutes was enough but it was just basics needed I didn't need to go into detail.  Apart from my endo I have been pretty healthy.  I do suffer from eczema and hay fever but only mildly and all my other hospital visits were when I was much younger.  Once the basics were done I got to sit back and relax in the most comfortable sun lounger style chair ever.  Once I was sat comfortably the chair then tipped back so my feet were up in the air much easier for T to do her magic.

There was lovely relaxing music playing in the background and I immediately felt comfortable and relaxed.  T asked me to let her know whenever I felt any pain or tenderness on my feet or anywhere in my body.  The feet part was easy when she pressed on something and it was painful I let her know.  When I had pain in my body though how did I know if it was just pain I would have had anyway or if I needed to let her know.  I went with it and just told her when I felt anything.  Lots of notes where made during the hour she spent working my feet.

Anyone who has endo will likely agree with what I am going to say next and if you don't have endo then listen up!  Fatigue and tiredness play a major part in our lives.  If we say we  are tired we don't just mean I didn't get enough sleep last night.  We mean we are exhausted, beyond tired, our bodies ache with tiredness.  For me the fatigue is worse than the pain.  The pain can be lessened with pain killers and isn't constant (for me anyway other women are not so lucky) the fatigue however never leaves.  It is a running joke that I am constantly tired no matter how much sleep I have.  Well it turns out, as T explained it to me,  that the part of my feet that is connected to sleep is like a switch that is constantly ON!  She worked hard on this both weeks for me.  After the first session I left and was ready to fall asleep then and there at the wheel of my car on my drive home.  Yesterday however I commented that I felt wide awake and she replied "That's because I took it all from you, there was a point when I was so overcome with tiredness I felt like I would fall asleep."

Do you remember me telling you about the awful shoulder pain that was magically gone after surgery? Well guess what it hasn't gone.  It isn't there constantly now but it does still bother me.  It tends to be worse when I am led down in bed, I can't sleep on my back it hurts too much, as soon as get on to my side it eases off.  Apparently we have a nerve that runs from out neck down through the shoulder and then on down toward the pelvic area. T thinks this is what is causing my shoulder pain.  She worked on this both weeks for me but I am not yet seeing an improvement. 

I have a lot going on in all areas connected to the uterus and ovaries.  I guess that is completely expected when I am still recovering internally from surgery and I still have endo in there.  I like the fact that with reflexology they work on the body as a whole.  I had a cold about a week after surgery and it has been lingering just a little bit on my chest.  I cough from time to time.  Right at the end of the session yesterday I coughed and felt like I needed to spit up, of course I couldn't but she told me that she was working on my lungs as she could feel that I needed to get whatever was still lingering out from there.  I also had a slight yellowing in that area of my feet which showed there was still something there.  Hopefully next time I go that will be gone.

I am really happy with it so far and I look forward to the next appointment which is on the 28th.  It is going to be a be a busy day for me as I start back to work and the next endo meeting is also that night.  I scheduled the appointment with T so that when I leave her I can go straight to the meeting.  It is early days and I am hoping to get to see really noticeable changes and results withing the next month or so.  For now it is worth it just for the "me" time and the relaxation I get seems to ease life's daily stress.