Sharing with others wasnt so hard

[sarah25]

Hi all,

So recently i decided to put a status on Facebook about vaginismus and the response from family and friends was pretty amazing 😀 …
(I don’t know how to put pictures in here but i will have a go)

This is the status I wrote:

These are the responses (I have left the names in because my family/friends don’t mind) .

[kelseroo]

What a brave thing to do- that is so wonderful that your friends responded like that! I would love to be brave enough to post on FB about my operation, but I don’t think I am brave enough. What a wonderful thing you have done though, and it helps all of us too- the more people know about Vaginismus, the more understanding and support the women who suffer from it will get. Thanks for sharing:-)

[Dr. Pacik]

I was totally touched by your courage Sarah and the flood of responses from your friends. It takes a special type of person to have this level of courage. No one wants to be judged. You can walk with your head held high and not cave into the monster called vaginismus.

[sarah25]

Thank you both.
Before the treatment I was getting tired of trying to be excited about a ‘holiday’ when I was actually anxious about the treatment, so in the week before I left the UK I just started telling the truth and every time I was blown away by the positive responses although I never went into much detail.
After the treatment though I felt like I NEEDED to tell people, I am sure my courage came from finally feeling like I have some control after the botox treatment (Thank youDr Pacik!). I am also surprised by the number of people who have vaginismus or who know someone who has.

[ValentinaD]

Sarah, you are extremely brave for posting about vaginismus on fb, I’m so proud of you! I really wish I had the guts to do that, so far I don’t feel ready. It’s true though, surprisingly (or not) a lot of people know somebody who suffers from vaginismus (even if they don’t know the term “vaginismus”). It is very hard to open up to people about such intimate issues (especially after all of those months/years of emotional suffering that we had), but YOU DID THE RIGHT THING 😀

People need to be aware of this condition and it starts with us, victims and in the end VICTORS of vaginismus, to start opening up and talking about it. Personally, my steps so far have been small, 1-2 people at a time, but that’s how it starts.

THANK YOU for setting such a wonderful example! You’re my personal HERO 😀

[sarah25]

Thanks Valentina. Small steps are just as important though, as you say, thats how it starts 🙂

[Heather34]

Words can’t describe how excellent I think this is Sarah and how brave you are for doing it! This is simply amazing and you are doing so, so, so much to further spread the word about vaginismus!!!

[bosox2004]

Wow! I’m just seeing this and I think that you’re the bravest person ever! I have my moments where I want to do something like this but always chicken out (my family still doesn’t even know!). You deserve some sort of medal for being strong enough to reveal something so very, very private in such a very public way. I think I have found my new hero. 🙂 All the best to you and your hubby on this new chapter in your lives. 🙂

I must say 2 things jump out at me from all the comments from your family/friends: 1). How supportive everyone is!!! and 2). How at least 2 other people are familiar with this! We are so programmed to think this is hush-hush and nobody knows about it but the fact that 2 out of roughly 25 people are familiar with this just blows my mind!!!! I know the very first person I told was a co-worker who used to be a social worker in her prior career; she knew all about V and even reached out to former co-workers in that field to see if they knew of cure. The second person I told was also familiar with it since her aunt had it!! Again, here I thought I was a weirdo and had this problem nobody else knew anything about and then to have 2 people tell me they were familiar with it just completely blew me away.

Maybe one day V will be something that is as easily and openly discussed as breast cancer, cervical cancer, and erectile dysfunction. Kudos to you for doing your part and spreading the word. 🙂