Story · 2 min read · 24 Jan 2023
Emma’s story
Find out about Emma’s experience of finding a health team who listens, and provides validation and empathy to support her ongoing pain care.
By Prof Helen Slater
By Prof Helen Slater
Emma is 21, living with endometriosis, pelvic floor pain, hypermobility, and a couple of other “fun little things”.
Emma shares her experience of enduring ongoing painful abdominal cramps, associated with back pain and nerve pain that radiates down her leg to the point where she can’t walk, can’t really move and has trouble running or playing sport.
“Part of the endometriosis is that it’s not just based around your periods, it kind of affects all of you…”
“…there’s no way of actually proving it to someone other than having the symptoms and unless somebody really has endometriosis or that pelvic floor pain, it’s hard for them to kind of imagine the absolute pain it is.”
“You still gotta work, you still gotta study. You wanna find ways to keep moving forward, to keep going through it.”
Emma describes the importance of seeking care from health professionals who listen well, provide validation and empathy while working together to create a collaborative tailored care plan that works for you.
“The best thing you can do to help someone who says they're in pain, is to listen to them.”
Emma
“A really great doctor, they ask for consent, they ask you how do you feel about this? What can we do to help you? What works for you? And you should feel like you’re having a discussion together. You’re tackling this problem together.”