My Story - Part 2

Yes there is more to my story...

As you have read, I was traumatized due to a catheterization at a very young age.  I think it scared me more that I had lost control and could not move or do anything about what was happening to me. The procedure was painful, but everyone in the room surrounding me and holding me down was worse. I was put on a medication called Bactrim and I took it for years, every day, until my body said, "No more!". I cannot tell you exactly when the itching started or the endless UTI's, but I know that I was very young. I clearly remember 3rd grade being the hardest year of my childhood. This is when my first round of vulvodynia started.

One cannot imagine an itch being debilitating, but I will be the first one to stand up and say, "YES IT CAN!!!" You get an itch on your arm or leg, you just itch it. There, all better. This is a different itch my friends. The more you itch the worse it gets. The only thing I can really compare it to is your crotch being on fire and that doesn't really do it any justice. The way I dealt and still deal with my volvudynia then and now is strange to me but not to my doctors or physical therapist. I sit on my ankles. Strange right?? Well what is weird to some is normal for others. This was and still is my cure all.  The problem with this is that I'm stuck sitting on my ankles all day, no movement, just sitting there until it goes away.  As a school-aged little girl, this was a problem. I had to move during the day. Bus rides to and from school were awful!! When the bus would go over bumps it would hurt so bad and make my flare-up so much worse. Walking the school to class, to lunch, gym, the library... horrible. Soccer practice... horrible. The vulvodynia wanted to control my everyday life but I just kept pushing through, every single day. I loved riding my bike which would shock a lot of women with this condition. Riding a bike usually makes it worse but it felt to me like sitting on my ankles. Wonderful!! Some mornings I would wake up and no pain, I would think, "Today is going to be a good day! Maybe the itch is gone forever." No such luck. It is odd though. One day the itch went from chronic to mild and I thought,  "This is it. It's over. I'm free!!!" Would I be so lucky???