What led me to today.

Yesterday, I met with a naturopath for the first time. Why? Well let me take you through a little background-er.

Endometriosis, Surgery and Managing Pain

For a long time, I had been suffering from chronic pain, brought about by endometriosis. I've had, so far, 2 surgeries. The experiences I had in these two occasions are colourful stories in themselves, and I'll leave that for another day. Enough for now to say that they were very helpful to get rid of the nasty cells in my uterus and thus significantly improve my lifestyle.

Since my last surgery I had been taking the contraceptive pill. I've tried at least 3 brands: Microgynon, Yasmin and Norimin. Changing brands was necessary to find out the *right* combination of hormones that would give the most *bearable* side-effects.

Aside from this, lifestyle changes were in order. I enrolled in a gym-health group to motivate myself to be more active. I participated in walking and running marathons. I took up yoga and went to pilates class. I took the stairs every chance I got.

In terms of diet, it is a struggle to maintain a constant check on what I was eating, especially living alone. There was a challenge to acquire the needed food on a budget, as well as setting time aside to prepare the *right* food. The personal training in the gym helped a bit and provided general information about food that exists in the places I shop usually, and what these contain and what to watch out for.

Today, a pattern is emerging

At present, it is now 2 years after my most recent surgery. I am noticing that I am getting symptoms similar to before that 2nd surgery, which makes me concerned now that I am developing a 2-year pattern. You see, my 2nd surgery was also 2 years after my first one. I was told before that fibroids (uterine tumors) are bound to reoccur.

So I've set a time now to speak with my surgeon-gynecologist in late April. He told me last year to see him again if I either (1) experience similar symptoms as before, or (2) I plan to get pregnant. And well, both are possibly true.

I asked him about my options that would allow me to stop taking the pill to manage my pain. He had since prescribed me a strong painkiller. He told me I can stop the pill anytime and take the painkillers when I experience pain. I tried this for a time, but it was really hard. And I wasn't comfortable bombarding myself with this medicine. I smelled like it sometime, I didn't enjoy it at all. And I wasn't feeling good at all, in general.

A door opens to naturopathy

Fortunately for me, my surgeon has a team of people who study and practice care for women's health. He set up a clinic outside the public hospital (where I was treated) and I met some of them that time. He introduced me to their resident naturopath then.

I have heard about homeopathy before. One podcast I listen to faithfully from the journal Nature, featured a dispute going on in the UK about Diplomas in Homeopathy. Even back in the Philippines, every Filipino would likely have heard about home remedies, most of which are traditional, or emerged from faith and anecdotal evidences.

While I won't say that I am a supporter/believer (yet?) of alternative medicine, I do support the idea of supplementing medicine/healthcare with natural *methods*.

So I met with the naturopath yesterday, for the first time. I'll write next about what emerged from that meeting.