To Deborah,
I didn't believe in the power of physiotherapy until I met Deborah.
When I became pregnant with my first child in 2012, I suffered from a very severe pain in my tailbone from the first trimester. I sought help from a physiotherapy department of the maternity hospital I was attending at the time. I suspected that my pain was very much related to an injury I suffered as a child when my tailbone got severely bruised. The physiotherapist in the hospital didn't seem to be interested in my theory at all and proceeded to treating my symptoms as a common pregnancy related pain. After my first appointment with the physiotherapist I felt no improvement at all and at a follow up appointment I was given a belt that was to hold my pelvis in a stable position during my daily activities. It wasn't explained to me what activities to avoid, how to hold my body correctly, how to perform certain movements. I will never forget that day when wearing the belt, I went to the local supermarket and while pushing a trolley I started feeling such an agonising pain I could barely walk. Two lovely ladies approached me as they appeared very concerned for my welfare and offered help. I somehow made it home and managed to call my husband who came home from work straight away as I was completely paralysed by pain.
I wasn't able to walk to the bathroom on my own; I had to stand for few minutes holding on to him before I could take a step. The pain was so excruciating I used to crawl at night up the stairs to my bedroom and I remember crying out loud while doing so. I rang the emergency department in my maternity hospital and asked where to seek help. They said it's not their problem.
I was out of work for the last four months of my pregnancy and not being able to move, I spent my days on the couch feeling very depressed. This kind of pain affects your body but it also affects your mind, your mental wellbeing and this should be very much acknowledged. I feared I was going to end up on a wheelchair, I told my husband I will never be able to have another baby.
After I gave birth to my daughter, I was convinced there was some kind of damage in my spine hence the pain during pregnancy. MRI showed no damage whatsoever. On the top of that pain in my tailbone, I have been suffering from a very bad pain my upper back and after giving birth this pain reached maximum level as well. I decided to find a private physiotherapist. I had about five sessions, spent a lot of money and received no relief whatsoever. Again, I wasn't provided with any exercises or explanation as to what is the main reason for this pain. The instructions I was given was to swim five kilometres a week for the rest of my life which really doesn't seem very feasible and even reasonable, not because it's impossible to do it but because your well-being should not depend on your swimming sessions for the rest of your life. At that stage my faith in physiotherapy was gone completely and I refused to ever go back.
It turned out that my maternal instinct was stronger than my fear of pain and I decided to have another baby. When I became pregnant in 2014, the pain in my tailbone came back straight away. It was actually the first symptom of my pregnancy and it was progressing incredibly fast. My husband insisted that I make an appointment with a physio again, however I didn't even want to hear about it, I felt it was a complete waste of time and money as nobody would be able to help me.
How wrong was I...? I felt I was getting into very bad place and one evening I decided to at least do an extensive research online. I wanted to see if there actually are any physiotherapists out there that specialise in pregnancy related pain. When I found the Physiofit Woman' website and read the testimonials submitted by pregnant ladies, all clients of Deborah, I knew straight away that I found the right website, the right physiotherapist and the right person. My heart was filled with hope and the next day I rang to make my first appointment. I was 18 weeks pregnant when my journey with Deborah has started.
Deborah is an amazing physiotherapist and a lovely person. During my first appointment, I described my symptoms to her and she looked at me full of understanding and compassion and said: "OK, this is slightly different, have you ever...?” Without letting her finish her sentence, I replied that yes, I had an injury and yes, my tailbone was bruised a long time ago. For the first time ever, I felt my pain was understood and somehow validated by someone else. I felt relieved. Deborah was exceptionally honest from the beginning, she said that she cannot promise me a cure as my pain was very advanced at that stage but she said she would do absolutely everything in her power to help me. Despite her very busy schedule, she managed to fit me in for a physio session every week and she performed a hands on treatment which proved to be very successful.
Every week my pain was reducing until I felt normal again. Not only Deborah worked on and with my body, she took her time to teach me how to move and cope with daily tasks, what activities to avoid and so on. She explained that a lot of my pain could be potentially relieved by correcting my posture. I attended a four week postural course during which Deborah showed me how to carry my body, how to strengthen my core muscles and this experience was invaluable. I am now 29 weeks pregnant and I walk every day, I am in position to look after my two year old daughter, I can cook, I can do the laundry, I can go grocery shopping. I can now do all the little things that back in 2012 were just a dream.
I consider myself very lucky to have found Deborah. I have recommended her to many of my friends with back pain. I also provided her details to my GP so that if there are any other women out there suffering from pain during pregnancy, they can be directed to Deborah.
I would like to thank those ladies who took their time to submit their testimonials as reading them was the only factor that convinced me to make the initial appointment. Pregnancy does not have to come hand in hand with agony. There is help out there and it's definitely worth your while reaching for it.
Thank you Deborah for your hard work, commitment and your humanity. You truly are a star.
Marta O'Leary, 29 weeks pregnant, age 29
