Body and Soul

After suffering for 14 years and having six surgeries for endometriosis, my body had finally reached its limit! I had my sixth surgery at age 41, which left me with one failing ovary and tons of scar tissue. I wasn’t sleeping and was still having chronic pain and experiencing some serious mood disturbances. My family doctor’s advice was Prozac and yoga. I knew in my heart that wasn’t the answer. My heart was telling me to stop working and focus on my health but that was scary for me. However, I felt that if I didn’t do something different I was going to fall apart at the seams.

I took an unpaid medical leave of absence at work and sought out medical practitioners who would support my desire to deal with my health issues from a natural, holistic perspective, focusing not only on my body but also my internal thoughts, attitudes and mental energies. Ironically, I had written a bunch of “positive attitude” quotes to my husband on the walls of a bathroom destined for remodeling: “The good news is that the bad news can be turned into good news when you change your attitude” and “God chooses what we go through; we choose how we go through it.”

During all of this, staying positive has sometimes been tough. The hormones are helping but so is listening to my body and my heart tell me what I need to do and selectively seeking out those who support that decision — family, friends and medical professionals. Being thankful every day for little improvements and letting myself off the hook on those days that aren’t so good is also helpful. Most of us just do what it takes to survive. We learn behaviors, thought patterns and beliefs based on that need to survive. The real trick is sometimes choosing to go against the flow to do what we need to do to reclaim ourselves, healing both our bodies and souls.

Sally Hall