How it all started…
In 2013, after nearly a year of unexplained pain in the pelvic, lower back and upper leg areas, Yasmina was diagnosed with diffuse adenomyosis during laparoscopic surgery. While not all women with adenomyosis experience symptoms, Yasmina was in the extreme end of severe, debilitating symptoms like intense pain and heavy bleeding.
The pain would come suddenly and intensely. It would catch Yasmina off-guard, especially when she is out and about doing errands or at work.
Chronic pain is different to acute pain. Acute pain is like putting your hands in fire and you move your hand away to avoid further damage. Chronic pain, at least to Yasmina, has the opposite effect. The pain numbs and paralyses you, as if moving anything would further damage the tissues or organs.
So when the pain hits, its intensity is in direct proportion to Yasmina’s paralysis. Going from no pain to a 6 in a 1-to-10 pain intensity level, in about three minutes, Yasmina just shuts down. Most of the time, Yasmina’s pain is managed through acupuncture, physical exercise, and a gluten- and lactose-free diet that helps with inflammation.
When we’re not on top of the pain, we needed to have a way to get Yasmina back home or to the hospital and have someone with her who is familiar with her condition and is able to make decisions, in case she isn’t capable of making them.
This is when we came upon the idea of Code Red.