Women’s Health Workshop Marks a New Era in Student Life Programming

By Dean Marie Dolla & Dean Jonathan Howle

The March 2014 Women’s Health Workshop

On Thursday, March 13, 2014, the Department of Student Life welcomed Riva Preil, a Licensed Physical Therapist, from Beyond Basics Physical Therapy in New York City, who, along with Dean Marie Dolla, led a workshop on pelvic pain and how it’s treated. 35 members of the Plaza College community attended the workshop and received invaluable information.

This workshop is the first in an upcoming series of important issues in health today. Going forward, there will be at least one workshop per semester, which will include the participation of a health/medical professional.

Below, you can read an article written by our Academic Dean, Marie Dolla. The March 13 workshop was a result of Dean Dolla’s desire to educate the community about pelvic pain. Her story is an inspiration.

Words from Dean Marie Dolla

Are you a woman who's suffering in silence?  Do you live with chronic pain? Have you been to so many doctors who can't give you a definitive diagnosis? Do they tell you are healthy and hand you a prescription for Xanax? If this has happened to you or you know someone with this story, then continue to read.

I feel as if I have lost four years of my life and can say "yes" to all the above questions. I have been healthy all my life and can count on one hand the number of times I have had to see a doctor, yet my life fell apart four years ago: and it's been a nightmare ever since.

This article is written to share part of my journey. I hope that this article will offer useful information that will help you or a loved one.

Stress—don’t underestimate it.  It crept upon me when I let the responsibilities of life consume my every waking moment with little to no down time.  I meet students every day with horrific stress in their lives and having difficulty balancing their struggles and responsibilities.  Believe me--it will affect your health in some way eventually.  Stress without relief can lead to physical and emotional problems that cost much time and money to repair.  Physical symptoms can include headaches, high blood pressure, gastrointestinal problems, chest pain, insomnia, and in my case, pelvic pain due to the tightening of muscles from nervous tension.  Physical pain unchecked then can lead to emotional distress and panic attacks.  Panic attacks lead to more stress and more physical pain—it is a vicious cycle!

You may be saying to yourself, “So what?  What gives Dean Dolla the right to discuss pain?  I live with it everyday.”  What may be different in my case is that I have had chronic pain that did not improve. Explanations and treatments from my health care providers didn’t seem to measure up.  Nothing doctors tried seem to last, and I lost day-to-day stability.  I even found the members of the medical community at times to be dismissive about it--maybe because I wasn't their wife, or the first lady, or maybe I was the tenth patient of the day. What is worse was the ignorance of my OBGYN, PCP, urologist, and specialist--four doctors completely unaware of what I was about to learn on my own.

I have lived in fear for years not understanding my pain and having no explanation.  If you don’t know what is wrong how can you treat it? The pain tormented me everyday, and I felt that I was slowly dying inside turning into a person I no longer recognized.  My pain emanated from my core where sitting, walking, and climbing caused me agony—my daily activities. What's left? No more driving, car rides, walks, traveling.  Experiencing pain walking to the grocery store!  Really?  How could this be happening to me?

My doctors failed me, and if I didn't believe that something was being missed, how I would have continued down a path of sickness both mentally and physically? All that I worked for all my life was about to be lost. I BELIEVED in myself and began a quest to find an answer.  Through much research, I finally found a knowledgeable doctor who gave me the right diagnosis and path to wellness.