Personal Stories

I’d love to hear from you. Please tell us a healthcare experience you had (positive or negative) to post on my website. Your story will remain private. I will post your story, but NOT your name unless you specifically ask me to. I reserve the right to edit since I know some stories will be more detailed than others.

Thanks for being willing to share your story and help others. The women in our health community appreciate your generosity.

Please send us your story via the form below:

Here’s my story:

An Unnecessary Surgery…

I had called the doctor because I was experiencing unusual vaginal bleeding. At his suggestion, I had switched from one post-menopausal hormone to another that he believed would be more effective at protecting against osteoporosis. I had taken the new hormones for just a few weeks when the bleeding began. Because I’m especially sensitive to medication and don’t believe in medical coincidences, I was sure the new hormones were to blame. When I returned to the doctor, I insisted we switch back to my old regimen to see if the bleeding would subside. He vehemently disagreed, saying that none of his other patients had experienced bleeding from this medication and that vaginal bleeding can be a symptom of something much more serious. After doing some preliminary testing, he found nothing wrong and urged me to have exploratory surgery. 

Despite my initial reservations that the surgery was totally unnecessary, I was so anxious that I might have a serious disease, I not only agreed to follow the doctor’s advice, but I insisted the surgery be sooner rather than later. I could tell he was worried, and because

I’m a worst-case scenario type, I was sure he was thinking of cancer. But I didn’t even think to ask what he was thinking and, instead, rushed ahead to schedule it. At the time, I was a young woman with young children and, had he been right, he would have saved my life.
But he wasn’t. The operation showed nothing wrong, and he agreed that I could return to my original hormones. As soon as I did—no surprise—the bleeding stopped and I’ve been fine ever since.

Why didn’t I get a second opinion? Why did I rush into something I was pretty sure was unnecessary? Even though this happened a long time ago, I still occasionally wonder what I was thinking.

 That experience is one of the reasons I wrote this book. I want to help other women facing similar situations make a decision they won’t later regret.

—Susan Salenger

Nicole’s story:

One thing can lead to others

Like Sue Salenger, some of my health journey started with a gynecological surgery that I never questioned. I was told that if I didn’t have the surgery immediately, I would go from borderline pre-cervical and ovarian cancer into full-blown cancer. While the surgery seems to have prevented the cancers, I think it contributed to flare-ups of my lupus and rheumatoid arthritis and a bunch of other things.

After the surgery where they told me, “Every woman is different and it will take you anywhere from two days to two weeks to heal,” I noticed that I was going through tons of different complications from the ones they had told me about. Those issues led me to finally getting my first diagnosis 18 months later. Within the next nine months came my second and third diagnoses.

Currently, I deal with RSD (reflex sympathetic dystrophy), lupus and rheumatoid arthritis and a bunch of other things from the ripple effect . Most people always tell me how sorry they are that I have to go through this. I tell them that I’m not sorry at all. It turned out to be a gift that changed my life and my purpose.  

Fifteen years later I have found my way through the health challenges in the abyss of the medical world and find myself being a lupus and wellness advocate!  My journey led me to the wellness space where I have created Shift Mind Body Soul to help others with their healing process.

—Nicole Fogel - Shiftmindbodysoul - Lupus Patient and Advocate