Totally off topic

So, this is my crafting blog . . . but today I am going totally off topic.  I have to share with all of you the issues I have been dealing with recently.

I have been having issues with back pain for a while now.  Actually, it was almost a year ago now that I really started to notice that my back would be sore for 3 - 5 days at a time.  At first I blew it off thinking I was just sore from something I did . . . we were looking at selling our house at the time and we were packing a lot of stuff up so that we could get the house on the market . . . I assumed I lifted/moved wrong and that was the cause of the pain.  We ended up moving in September, and I was still kind of blowing off the pain to moving, packing and stress.

Then, while thinking back over things, I realized that the pain was coming the week before my period each month.  It was lasting for 3 - 7 days.  Now, this is not just a "oh, my back is a little tight" kind of thing.  I am talking about FULL FORCE pain that I can only describe as being equal to back labor.  This pain goes on 24/7 for the 3 - 7 day span.  The ONLY time I am not noticing the pain is when I am asleep (so I was taking a LOT OF NAPS!)

Another thing I started to notice in the fall of last year was that a few days before the back pain would kick in, I would feel like I was about to come down with a really bad cold.  You know that "this is just not right" feeling you get just a few days before you break out in bad cold/flu?  Well, now I was getting THAT for a few days BEFORE the back pain started.  There were even times I would be in bed feeling feverish.

So, a few days of feeling like I am getting sick
Followed by a week straight of back pain
Then a couple weeks of feeling "normal" and then it all starts again.

I thought I was going nuts!

I went in to the OB/GYN in February, and she had me go for an ultrasound to see if there was a cyst that could be causing this.  Oh, and in February the length of time that I was in pain doubled . . . it was just a couple days short of being 2 WEEKS of pain.  Ultrasound came back normal, so she put me on the pill to try and control my periods and my cycle . . . basically hoping that if my body thought I was pregnant I would not have the pain associated with getting ready to have my period.

I was telling one of my sisters all of this and she said "Did you here about those ladies on the news?  The ones that had Essure done?"  I said no.  She told me that there was a group of ladies on the news that were having side effects from Essure that were similar to mine.  I thought there is no way that could be the issue.  I had my Essure done in 2009 . . . 6 years ago!  I started to do some research.

I found story after story of women describing EXACTLY what I have been going through!  I still was not 100% sure though . . . these ladies must have gotten theirs done recently . . . there is no way anyone who had it done back in 2009 JUST started to have problems now . . . right?!?!

WRONG!!!!

I was reading stories of women who had the procedure done in 2008 or 2009, but just started to have pains last summer.  That matches my timeline exactly!  I felt like I was reading someone telling my own personal story . . . that is how similar their stories were to what I am going through.

back pain a week before your period
nausea, fever, chills, cold/flu like symptoms
low energy

This cannot be a coincidence that I am seeing the same issues as THOUSANDS of other women and the one thing we all have in common is that we had Essure!

Fast forward to today . . . I have been on the pill for a month now.  Today the pain was so bad that I took 2 Tylenol 3 by Noon just to be able to manage the pain so I could get through the work day.  I even commented to a co-worker around 2pm that I could still feel pain . . . it was "dulled" but I could still feel it after that amount of medication.

The solution? A hysterectomy to remove the Essure coils.  I have scheduled an appointment with my doctor to make plans to go down this path.  The sad thing is they cannot get me in to discuss my options until April 20th . . . which means another month with this pain.

If you know ANYONE that is even THINKING about using Essure as a permanent form of birth control, please tell them NOT TO DO IT! No woman should have to go through the pain I am going through!

PLEASE join me in spreading the word about this issue, by going to Erin Brochovichs site and signing the petition against the makers of Essure!

http://www.essureprocedure.net/petition/

There is a second petition to make them change the laws with are currently holding THOUSANDS of women from being able to sue the makers of Essure here

https://www.change.org/p/u-s-house-of-representatives-repeal-the-biomaterials-access-assurance-act-of-98?after_sign_exp=member_sponsored_donation

#EssureProblems

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Rhinestone Support Ribbons

I had some time in my craft room the other day . . . oh craft room, how I have missed you!

I used my Sizzix die and Big Shot to make some rhinestone support ribbons.  Yellow for the troops, Pink for Breast Cancer awareness and Rainbow for a PRIDE event that The Buckle Boutique plans to attend.

I have the pink and yellow for sale.  Click HERE to go to the store.
Let me know if you would like a few of them.  Since they are all made from the rhinestone sticker sheets from The Buckle Boutique, the all have adhesive on the back so they are ready for you to stick them to any project you want.

Follow The Buckle Boutique at our Blog  //  Facebook  //  Twitter  //  Pinterest

Shop The Buckle Boutique at our Main Store and Etsy

Tips and videos for cutting our rhinestone sticker sheets can be found HERE

Are you a retailer who would like to carry The Buckle Boutiques products in your store?

Please contact us for wholesale pricing information.

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Off Topic Going to the Movies

My family just got back from going to the movies.  We saw the new Avengers movie . . . it was great.  But there was one thing that really bugged me.

Up in one of the first few rows there was a parent who brought a young child.  We were back further so I could not see the child really well, but I would guess they were under the age of 5.  Now, I have NOTHING against bringing a child that age to a movie, as long as the movie is something the child can handle.  This child OBVIOUSLY did NOT want to sit still for 2 hours, and it seemed that is exactly why the parent sat so far up to the front of the theater.  We could hear the child talking through the whole thing, sometimes trying to yell over the sounds of the movie . . . and then of course the movie would go quiet and all you would hear is the child yelling.  At one point the child was running back and forth in the theater.

I wanted to go up front and tell this parent to get a babysitter so that all of us dont have to listen to their child through the whole movie.  It was terrible!

I just wanted to add, after I posted this topic for discussion on Facebook a lot of people commented and I had to come back here and make one thing VERY CLEAR . . . I do not blame the child for being a child.  They want to run, laugh, talk, move and be free.  I do blame the parent for not parenting their child and teaching them that we sit quietly in the movie theater . . . and also for not doing the right thing and leave the theater when their child was disruptive in the theater.

It is the parent that is in the wrong if you ask me.  They were being selfish.  They wanted to see the movie so they did not care how many other people were disrupted.  I have been a single mom.  I have wanted to go out and do things but was not able to due to the fact that it was not appropriate to bring my child/my child could not handle the situation.  That is part of what being a parent is about.  Sometimes you have to give up some of your luxuries, like going to see a movie in the theater.

Am I the only one that thinks this way?  Anyone else agree with me?

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The Next Step

I had my appointment with Dr. Presthus at Minnesota Gynecology and Surgery yesterday.  I have to say, the staff there is SO NICE!  Dr. Presthus made me feel very comfortable right away, and I could tell he understood what was going on and BELIEVED ME that it was all related to Essure.  When I first told my OB/GYN that I thought this was Essure related she told me she had never heard of a connection between Essure and symptoms like I was having.

Oh!  I had to pick up my medical records to bring with to Dr. Presthuss office . . . I got to the office a little early so I was reading through all of the info recorded by my OB/GYN from the date I had the Essure procedure done to today . . . there were things that were documented that I totally forgot had even happened!  So MORE things that I now see were symptoms of troubles with Essure.  (I will go back and update my story with these additional items later)

I now have a laparoscopic assisted hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy scheduled for March 30th!  This was really great news since my normal OB/GYN could not even get me in for a consultation on what we should do next until April 20th!


#EssureProblems

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