How wonderful - there’s a new Pelvic Girdle Pain charity on the block! It’s specifically set up for sufferers living in Scotland but the fact that more people are clamouring against the tide of government/health policies and trying to bring Pelvic Girdle Pain into mainstream medicine can only be brilliant news for everyone affected by this debilitating state.
It’s not just your pelvis that gets weakened by this, but also your relationships with friends and family, your sense of independence, your identity as a woman, mother and person, and your grip on reality. Pelvic Girdle Pain should be a household name in that everyone should be made aware of the possibility of it and the full effect that it could play out in your world. When I was diagnosed with it - medical professionals were so surprised that someone so young, so fit looking, in otherwise good health, should get SPD in a first pregnancy and I was told pretty definitely that within 3 months of the birth it would be vanishing into as much of a memory as the birth would be.
Pelvic Instability Network Scotland (PINS) has inspired me to compile this list of SPD/PGP/DSP websites that I have found useful: if there are other informative and helpful places on the web to visit that you know of, please leave a comment as I will be adding to this list often.
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Pelvic Partnership - The only other UK charity in this area that I am aware of. The website doesn’t give a lot of information as regards chronic (read: post-partum) pain. Well, no more information than common sense and a visit to a GP who has more than vaguely heard of the condition will give. The group of dedicated volunteers with personal experience of Pelvic Girdle Pain keep a helpline going, they also have “a number of e-mail contacts that will direct you to the person who can help” .
I’ve not yet used the helpline, but I did try to get help via email a while back and it’s pretty obvious that they prefer to give advice over the phone. Fair enough for some, I know, but I spend a lot of time talking talking TALKING about my condition with my GP, fiance, Mum…. the list goes on, it would’ve made a pleasant change to be able to write it down and get a written answer I could refer back to, perhaps print out and keep with me when I go to medical appointments etc.
UK Pelvic Pain/SPD/DSP is the single best resource that I have found for post-partum sufferers. This appears to be where those women in it for the long haul hang out, finger tips poised above keys, ready to pass on their struggles and knowledge of the medical world and procedures it offers. It’s a veritable hive of information. Though it is not the busiest place, I think it is the emailed conversations behind the scenes that give the most information and reassurance. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
The Delphi Forum set-up takes some getting used to, it is unlike most other forums I have seen and makes me wonder why that format was chosen (as opposed to the easier to navigate versions you can create). I can only assume that it is from the “old days” of the internet and asking members to update their url bookmarks to a clearer discussion board is too much trouble. If it ain’t broke, and all that.
Obviously two websites does not an exhaustive list make, but the evening grows late and the heat grows stifling so I should probably take this opportunity to either a) catch up on the soaps, b) give my love some attention or, as ever, c) sleep. Decisions, decisions…. !
