A sweet reminder to everyone called a WOMAN

So, outside of works and hell, what’s new?

If you’re following me on Twitter or Instagram or both, you’d know that my mama had undergone uterus removal surgery which the experts call as Hysterectomy. Blame the greatest oblivious of the medical world inside me; I mistakenly thought it was cervical removal. For the misleading information, I am sorry.

It started with when she suffered this prolonged menstrual period and urination incontinence where it was totally debilitating. I found that it's crucial to see a doctor and get an advise because it was getting worse each day just like the bladder lost its control. Several times occasionally she couldn't get to the toilet in time just after she sneezed or coughed or laughed. So on one balmy day, she finally agreed with me accompanying her for a consultation. FINALLY. There were actually some dramas along the spin, primary because we sneaked out from the house and kept it secret from abah. That was because abah will get himself caught with the willies knowing something's wrong with mama. So yea, we sneaked out, went to the clinic, saw the doctor and went back home. We succeeded, at first, but it's all domestic in life so how far could you manage to lie? Laki bini pulak kan.

So the doctor encouraged her to get further advices from HKL and to do some proper check-ups with x-ray, uranalysis and pelvic ultrasound because such cases with urination incontinence might be a cancer thing whereby a tumor anywhere along the urinary tract blocks the normal flow of urine, leading to overflow incontinence. Well, something like that. Roughly a month after that, mama had done all the tests and we got the results. It is a prolapsed uterus problem. Uterus, or womb (rahim) is held in place inside our (women) pelvis with various muscles, tissue, and ligaments. Due to various reasons, in some women these muscles weaken. Also, as a woman ages and with a natural loss of the hormone estrogen, uterus can drop into the vaginal canal, causing the condition known as a prolapsed uterus. In Malay culture it is common to say “peranakan jatuh”.

I did some research and would like to share with you. You might be thinking that prolapsed uterus will not happen to young ladies and that proves you wrong because prolapse is a common problem for females of all ages, worldwide.

Causes of uterine prolapsed:

1. Pregnancy and childbirth are the main causes of prolapse. It can happen immediately after pregnancy or up to 30 years later. Contributing factors include a large baby, a long and intense labor, and assisted labour.
2. Even though female bodies are good at recovering from pregnancy and birth, damaged muscles and ligaments sometimes never fully regain their strength and elasticity.
3. Large fibroids or pelvic tumors put women at an increased risk of prolapse.
4. Ageing and menopause further weaken the pelvic muscles, as the natural reduction of oestrogen at menopause causes muscles to lose some of their strength and elasticity.
5. Obesity puts you at increased risk of prolapse as the extra weight stresses internal support structures.
6. Chronic coughing from smoking or asthma can lead to prolapse due to the constant straining of muscles and ligaments.
7. Constipation and the associated straining to have a bowel movement can stretch ligaments and weaken your pelvic floor.
8. Heavy lifting can damage pelvic muscles. Women in careers that involve regular manual labor or lifting, such as farming, landscaping and nursing, have an increased risk of prolapse.
9. Certain genetic conditions such as collagen deficiency increase the risk of prolapse even if there are no other risk factors.
10. Previous pelvic surgery, for example bladder repair procedures, may damage nerves and tissues in the pelvic region.
11. Spinal cord injury and other muscular atrophy conditions such as muscular dystrophy and multiple sclerosis increase the risk because pelvic muscles are paralysed or movement is restricted.

Source: https://www.poise.com.au/female-incontinence/prolapse-uterus

No. 5 and no. 8 are pretty much regular ey? And familiar too. I am not a doctor hence I couldn't deliver more on this. Regardless of how mild or how bad or you’re totally clean from this, there are several things that you should take into account to help improve the condition. Get lose weight if you’re carrying too many kilos, let the gentlemen to do the heavy lifting, quit smoking and stop the coughing that can make symptoms worse, eat a high-fibre diet, drink lots of water and regularly exercise to avoid constipation and boost your general health and wellbeing.

Perhaps you have heard it before, “Prevention is Better Than Cure”?