UPDATE 7.12.19

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I’m about to be extremely vulnerable with y’all so hang in there with me. I was always an open book when it came to my surrogate journey but not many know my journey post surrogacy. Mainly because I didn’t understand what I was going through at the time and I suffered silently for so long...

💊“Nearly 70% of Americans are on at least one prescription drug, and more than half take two, Mayo Clinic and Olmsted Medical Center researchers say. Antibiotics, antidepressants and painkilling opioids are most commonly prescribed. And what’s worse is 20% of patients are on five or more prescription medications, according to the findings.”

💊“In the United States, 259 million opioid painkiller prescriptions were written in 2012. An estimated 2 million people later developed an addiction.”

💊“The US makes up 5 percent of the world’s population and consumes approximately 80% of the world’s prescription opioid drugs.”

💊“In 2016, more than 46 people died each day from overdoses involving prescription opioids.”

I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m sharing these statistics with you? What does this have to do with postpartum care??? Well you see in January 2018 I became unbelievably sick after having my surrogate baby. 10 short days after giving birth I was rushed to the Tulia, Texas ER with a fever of 105.9 in severe pain and extreme bleeding (still from birth). I saw a Nurse Practitioner who just wanted to give me pain meds and send me on my way. Thank God I knew to be my own advocate and insisted I be transported via ambulance to another hospital for better care. I was rushed to Plainview, Texas hospital because all hospitals in Lubbock and Amarillo were on diversion due to the flu outbreak at the time. I spent two days here getting IV fluids and antibiotics and more pain meds. Once I finally got transferred to BSA Hospital in Amarillo I spent 7 more long days in the hospital where my obgyn finally found a small piece of my placenta still in my uterus. This is what was making me so sick but it took over 10 days and numerous scans and labs and doctors to figure this out. Sadly this was only the beginning of my issues. After I was discharged the pain never truly went away. I tried different birth controls, more scans and labs, I even went back to the ER at BSA twice due to severe pain and bleeding only to be sent home with more pain meds and told to follow up with my obgyn. We had tried everything to find relief until our last option was an explorative surgery of my abdomen and uterus. During the surgery my doctor found 5 cysts on one ovary, 1 large cyst on my other ovary, and 3 large spots of endometriosis on my uterus. I was diagnosed with Endometriosis and given more pain meds and told that it would only continue to come back and this would be only the first surgery of many more down the road to keep “managing” it so if I ever wanted to “try” to have more babies in the future I could at least try. This is where my infertility journey and fight with postpartum depression and anxiety begins. Everyday was a struggle. I was newly a divorced mom of a 3 year old, in chronic pain, and struggling with an emotional roller coaster in my head. I took my pain meds religiously like clock work like my doctor told me to but that obviously only put a bandaid on my symptoms. I was an emotional wreck having mood swings almost daily. This wasn’t healthy for me or anyone in my life.

💊“Many teens believe that prescription drugs are much safer than illegal street drugs because they are prescribed by a doctor.” Sadly I knew they weren’t good for me but it was my daily routine. It was the only way I was finding some relief from the chronic pain I was in.

In November 2018 my life changed. My sweet friend shared Full Spectrum Hemp Oil and quintessential supplements with me. I was skeptical at first. I had been on holistic supplements for 3 years and still felt this way so why would these be different I thought. Within my first week the brain fog and emotions I’d been living with for soooo long were lifting and every day I continue to feel better. I ran out of my oil for a couple days and my emotional roller coaster was back. So needless to say I haven’t ran out since.

My point to this long post is to share what most doctors won’t.... there are holistic alternatives to the drugs they push. There are ways for our bodies to truly heal themselves with supplementation instead of destroying them with prescriptions. We can thrive and not just survive. We can save our youth from going down a path of destruction and addiction. There’s a better way to live and I’m forever thankful I found it when i did. My story could have turned out so differently. I’m proud to say that since December 2018 I have only taken my prescription pain meds twice and only because my endometriosis had flared up again. Without my full Spectrum Hemp Oil and quintessential supplements I could have ended up as an addiction statistic.

If you suffer from endometriosis and feel alone in your fight my inbox is always open. I’ve been there. With endometriosis being one of the most under diagnosed diseases most doctors don’t know how to treat it and our friends/families don’t understand what we are truly feeling inside and tend to think we are overreacting (not because they don’t love us but because people aren’t educated about the effects of endometriosis and if people can’t see what’s causing us pain they truly can’t comprehend what’s going on). Just know you aren’t alone.

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More updates to come loves!

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XO,

B.