Rita's Story*
Step 1
Rita discovered what mattered
Rita (she/her) is a proud, 72 year old grandmother who felt that her body was betraying her. After being referred by her gastroenterologist, she shared a long history of bowel and bladder urgency and incontinence that began after she had children and worsened during menopause. She had always blamed herself for not doing enough pelvic floor exercises. However, working together, we discovered that the impact on her nervous system of a challenging childhood, worry about her husband’s health and the fear of exercising and socialising outside her home were all contributing to her symptoms.
Rita's Pelvic Health Goals:
- Understand what is going on and why and have a plan to improve my bowel & bladder problems.
- Reduce my bladder urgency and not worry about leaking.
- Sort out my bowels! They are ruling and ruining my life – better stool consistency, diet, routine and regularity.
- Discover ways to calm down my nervous system as I think that might help my symptoms.
- I want to have the confidence to travel again – hopefully overseas – so I can see my son and grandson – they are my world.
Step 2
Rita restored what mattered
After gaining an understanding of how her past and present experiences were contributing to her symptoms, Rita used the motivation of seeing her grandson to commit to her pelvic health plan. She improved her pelvic floor muscle strength, changed her diet and improved her stool consistency, used breathing to calm bladder and bowel urgency and was then ready to challenge herself. She started to walk outside, went to a café, initially without drinking or eating and then enjoying a meal with friends. She had setbacks but gradually Rita used her new skills to cope with her fear of having an accident and was able to calm her urgency. Her confidence built and she started to believe she could cope with being on a plane.
Step 3
Rita enjoyed what mattered
After 6 months Rita had achieved her first 4 pelvic health goals and was working towards her goal of travelling to London. Three months later we received an email and photo from Rita saying she’d just taken her grandson to see Big Ben and their smiles said it all.