An NHS worker says her life has been turned around after living through years of pain and anxiety.
Karen Parker, a volunteer manager at NHS Ayrshire & Arran, of Ayr, spoke to the health board about her experience on Monday.
She told them how she had been in chronic pain for as long as she could remember and had approached life by "putting on a ‘happy face’ and getting on with it".
Karen, who is originally from Irvine, had first been diagnosed with endometriosis and fibroids when she was 19, following five years of ‘crippling’ period pain which, she said, often lasted an entire month.
She said: “It was a relief to know there was a clinical reason for my experiences. Whilst it didn’t give me a cure, I was able to rest in the knowledge that it ‘wasn’t all in my mind’."
However, when she was 25, Karen was hit by the devastating news that she suffered infertility.
The only positive was the realisation that the fertility treatment helped the chronic pain.
That would not last, she said: “It wasn’t until I was around 33 years old that the pain was back again – and worse than ever before.”
From there she searched for as many alternative therapies ‘as humanly possible’, but was forced to resort to over the counter pain relief as there were days she simply couldn’t function because of the pain.
She continued: “But the pain only got worse, along with the increasingly long list of symptoms such as continual bleeding, headaches from anxiety and stress, and further down the line, a diagnosis of depression.
“Painting on the ‘happy face’ was no longer something I had the strength to do. I guess you could say, I felt like the condition had ‘consumed’ me.”
Then, in 2020, her condition took a turn for the worse, with increased symptoms and a change in the pain she felt.
“Something just didn’t feel right,” she said. “I contacted my GP who immediately referred me to gynaecology for investigation.
“This was the first time I met Dr Inyang, and I knew from this point forward, there was hope for a better quality of life for me.”
Rather than simply look at the problem at face value, Dr Inyang went above and beyond, said Karen, taking time to look back through years of case notes and investigations.
“He was the first professional to demonstrate a desire to do something about this. He wanted a better quality of life for me,” she said.
“And he set the wheels in motion, that very day, back in 2020, to ensure I was given the chance of a pain free future.”
Following discussions, Dr Inyang and Karen agreed on a hysterectomy.
“Was I scared? Yes! But I knew what I was facing, and after almost 20 years, I was ready.”
As this all took place in the shadow of covid, the surgery did take longer than normal. But regular contact with Dr Inyang meant that Karen could cope.
“I was able to keep in regular contact with Dr Inyang – enabling me to ask any questions I had about the surgery. But also to express how much pain I was in by this point in my journey.
“And throughout it all, he gave me hope.”
In July 2022, Karen was admitted to Crosshouse Gynaecology Department for her hysterectomy.
She continued: “From the moment I was admitted, until the day I was discharged, my experience was so positive.
“I was treated with dignity, respect, care and compassion.”
She described the work of consultants, nurses and other staff as ’empowering’
“Here we were, fresh out of the pandemic, and the clinical teams around me were nothing short of outstanding.
“No ask was too much. No question too trivial.
“In a world where there is pain and suffering, where there is fear and hopelessness – we must recognise the beauty in those who can really make a difference.
“My life has been turned around. I feel like me again. And I cannot thank Dr Inyang and his team enough. Sincerely, and always, thank you. “
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