Hi everyone, Trust you have all been well.
Yes, I know I skipped writing last week. I honestly wanted to write but did not have the energy. My period arrived and left me feeling like curling up, bingeing on Korean Netflix dramas…so that is what I did. Flimsy but plausible excuse. I was sharing this with my friend yesterday and she was laughing. She can relate and I am sure most of you can. She was telling me of a popular Lagos designer who will go AWOL for about a week, refusing to answer urgent calls from clients and then text the next week to apologize because you know, period arrived. I empathized briefly with this designer until I recalled that her issue might be more spiritual that physiological. She totally ruined a friend’s wedding dress such that she could not wear it at all. As in, has no pictures in a wedding dress. I believe she even had the effrontery to ask for balance payment so as I said, spiritual, Lol.
Today, I am humbled to share Evi’s journey with you all. Evi is one of the many blessings I have received from writing here. I am yet to meet her but feel quite connected to her because she was open in her experience, and is a writer herself. I mean, anybody that writes is my friend. I’d like to believe I harassed her into sharing, but she felt encouraged by reading so many journeys that she wanted to share hers as well. Some of you are just reading, aha-ing and feeling vindicated but hiding your stories, better come and share and help somebody. :-). Shall we begin?
Evi starts sharing from 2016 when she first noticed spotting in between her periods. At the time she lived in the US. She made a quick visit to the hospital and was told everything checks out fine and she had nothing to worry about, so she went on living her best life. in 2017, she observed that she felt the urge to urinate quite often, matter of fact every 30 mins and woke up every hour during the night to pee. Her first thought was diabetes. Interesting she would think that. I have to google this correlation between peeing and blood sugar for myself. She had a blood sugar test done and that came back normal so again, she went back to living. In 2017, she observed that her feet were swollen and whenever she laid down on her back, she could see a pulse, like a heartbeat, in her tummy. She asked her cousin to check it out, probably thinking she was imagining things and that one said it was normal. Loll, I can tell you for free that it is not normal. I know this thing very well, and it is bloody scary. She says if she placed an item on her tummy, it will pulsate and vibrate, ermmmm not normal.
Shortly after she moved home in 2017, She suffered a bout of stomach aches and pains so her father took her to the hospital in Port Harcourt for check up. The doctor placed his hand on her tummy and proudly announced her pregnant, 26 weeks to be exact. She was like Preg-what? Nah I am not pregnant, but nope, the doctor was firm. Evi laughs as she recalls this, Shey you have to be doing something to carry belle or am I Mary?”. Lolll, A scan was carried out and multiple fibroids was the definitive diagnosis. She states that immediately she was told, it made perfect sense, she could feel the hardness in her tummy. The fibroids were huge, and she was asked to have a surgery as soon as possible. Scared, she wanted to explore other options and visited another hospital for a second opinion. There she was told they could inject her such that the fibroids would disintegrate. She decided against this solution as felt no peace, even having a weird dream about the hospital which settled it. Further research led her to Southshore where a scan was run, and the doctors advised for immediate surgery as the biggest tumor was resting on her kidney which was the cause of the frequent pee breaks and swelling. Further tests would show she was anemic so she had to take medication for 6 weeks to boost her blood levels before surgery. Her aunties prescribed Ugwu leaves but she was not buying that. Lol. I am taking Ugwu leaves as prescribed by my nutritionist and its not bad at all. I even look forward to Bitterleaf juice everyday if you can believe this. My sleep quality is epic and what a cleanse in the morning. Try it people, you’d be amazed.
Evi had a successful fibroids surgery, taking out eleven tumors. She says she immediately felt light afterwards. I know this feeling, I took ten fibroids out. I consider it the best decision of that year.
Fast forward to 2020, she started experiencing sharp side pains. Tests and ultrasounds showed that kidneys and all were fine. She laughs here, deriding herself since working out reduced the pain so maybe it was tied to weight gain. Eventually, a further check would reveal that the fibroids were back. Nothing to worry about was the doctors’ remarks but check in every six months. By January 2021, her periods became quite heavy. She says “I was using those heavy duty Always maxi pads. Not to be graphic but heavy meant spillage very often. She quickly went to get checked out and the doctors announced she has thick endometrial lining which was causing the bleeding. She was prescribed Primolut to help address this situation. Researching this diagnosis left her really scared. Thick endometrial walls are one of the leading causes of cervical cancer. She embarked on the medication with restricted measure use but the “accidents” by no means reduced, they were erratic more like it. She tells a story of travelling for a wedding and not expecting her periods but of course it arrives, heavier than normal and she had to borrow pads. Another of being at the airport for an early morning flight and paying premium money to escape embarrassment. She was prescribed Tranexemic acid which helps to manage excessive bleeding to help control this. As of today, her periods are still all over the place. She lets things trail off here…to be continued…
Evi has her future firmly placed in the hands of God. The general advice as we all know it is to go and have babies. She is quite passionate about children. one of her greatest desires is to have children she states. Sometimes, the thoughts of not being able to have children flashes through her mind. She is encouraged reading ourwombs which has encouraged her that she is not on her journey alone. She has also made some changes to her lifestyle and diet as she walks her path to health and wholeness. What do you want to leave us with I ask? Put your trust in God and not let your fear overwhelm you. Well said Evi. Thank you for sharing your journey with us all. We wish you a smoother path and we hope we can share in your joys in the near future.
Okay then, that it is for today. I am off to drink my Bitterleaf juice, loll…but I am not kidding. It has one of those pseudo bitter tastes that bite but once its downed, leaves a sweet taste in the mouth. I am still struggling with this raw food diet and can confirm that I still find beetroot a pain in the ass and ewedu juice is disgusting. I did not bother with the aloe vera plant at all. I was gisting my mum of this diet and she just advised me to skip that rubbish aloe vera, not that I even needed someone to encourage me not to destroy my taste buds permanently. My fridge is a kaleidoscope of colorful smoothies which is both uplifting and depressing at once. I am perpetually Hangry - That state of snarkyness induced by hunger. I have snuck in cheat meals for my sanity biko. I had a brisket burger this evening before settling in to finish this post, it was not even sweet like that, but it was food…glorious bloody food. :-)
Alright then, I shall leave this here and bid you all a great rest of weekend. Till next week, stay safe and sane!!
X
Evi !!! 🤗🤗🤗🤗
Thanks Nnenna for this beautiful piece ❤️