WHEN - Women's Health and Empowerment Network

10/29/2026

The cost of INVISIBILITY in the pelvic organ prolapse space:

Insufficiently screened for,

Poorly or improperly coded,

Restricted or absent from postpartum care,

Shortfall in awareness campaigns,

Curriculum deficit provided to diagnostic practitioners,

Delayed diagnosis,

Unmet health needs,

Gaps in research.

What price do we as a society pay financially as well as morally, when POP remains invisible, underdiagnosed, underfunded, and inadequately addressed?

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38128098/

It's long past time for EYES WIDE OPEN.

Women's Health Empowerment

APOPS

10/28/2026

What is organoid technology?

Organoid technology is growing self-organizing 3D tissue cultures from tiny stem cells or patient tissue that may replicate the structure or function of support tissues in the body. Think connective tissue, ligaments, fascia, and muscle tissue related to pelvic organ prolapse.

Research in the POP space continually amazes me, especially the brilliant cellular level brainiacs! I love wandering into new research paths that fuel hope in the pelvic organ prolapse space. Could organoid technology help us understand POP structural shortfalls? Spoiler alert, before you ladies dealing with pelvic organ prolapse get too excited, organoids are not about treatment for pelvic organ prolapse. This is about understanding the structural issues to better address support shortfalls. POP is a complex interaction of multiple tissue types.

Potential value for POP research:
Vaginal tissue organoids would be studying epithelial health, aging, hormonal responses, and wound healing.
Connective-tissue models would be investigating collagen production, extracellular matrix remodeling, and tissue strength.
Organoid scaffold systems would be studying how cells interact with biomaterials intended to support tissue regeneration.

Regenerative medicine fascinates me. Does organoid technology have your brains spinning as much as mine?

Women's Health Empowerment
APOPS

10/26/2026

There is absolutely a connection between pelvic organ prolapse and cosmetic gynecology. Women deserve to have damage that occurs during childbirth and menopausal issues addressed. They deserve to have anatomical features that are uncomfortable addressed. They deserve to have dry va**nas addressed. Check this Ted talk by cosmetic gyne Troy Hailparn, MD. I know a gazillion cosmetic gynes. I adore them all! They understand the needs of women that capture little press time!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_-fg-tCaEQ

Women's Health Empowerment

APOPS

If you've met Dr. Troy Hailparn, you know she's extremely passionat...

10/26/2026

How many women believe they have recurrent urinary tract infections (UTI) when the reality might be dry, irritated, atrophied va**nal tissue due to low estrogen?

How many women continue to have pain post pelvic organ prolapse surgery beyond a normal heal curve but the pain source is va**nal atrophy?

How many women women are clenching their pelvic floor muscles so tightly they are convinced they are experiencing a UTI?

The intersect between the bladder, the va**na, and the urethra is anatomical. It's hormonal. There can be nerve cross-talk.

Sudden or frequent urinary urgency, a burning or stinging sensation while urinating, or feeling the need to urinate constantly when your bladder is mostly empty can be misinterpreted. And zero doubt antibiotic overuse can be a slippery slope.

Sometimes it feels like you have a UTI when your bladder decides to take a stroll to the south pole (dropped bladder is a cystocele).

Sometimes it's recurrent UTI. Sometimes it's not.

Women's Health Empowerment

APOPS

10/23/2026

TGIF

10/22/2026

Pelvic organ prolapse impact to employment can be incredibly frustrating. Given the wide age demographic of POP, it typically hits during prime employment years. Occupations that require prolonged standing, heavy lifting, repetitive bending, or physical exertion can make the workday challenging. Some types of employment may increase pelvic pressure, heaviness, bulging, urinary leakage, and discomfort, especially for women on their feet throughout the workday.

Healthcare and patient care.

Retail, sales and customer service.

Food service and hospitality.

Education and childcare.

Manufacturing and production.

Cleaning, maintenance and domestic services.

Personal care and beauty services.

Agriculture, landscaping and outdoor work.

Women with POP may struggle with:

*remaining on their feet through an entire shift,

*lifting or carrying items that increase pelvic pressure,

*finding a place to sit when pelvic heaviness or pressure increases,

*accessing a restroom promptly when incontinence symptoms occur (this is a big one-urge incontinence is so frustrating).

Few employers are aware POP exists, much less the impact it can create regarding employee productivity if not recognized and acknowledged. In a brave new women’s health awareness world, will workplace HR assess and then address common needs of half the world’s work force?

We have so much more to address in the pelvic organ prolapse reality.

10/21/2026

Levator avulsion occurs when the levator ani pelvic floor muscle group detach from the p***c bone. Literally muscle tissue being ripped off the bone-imagine how that feels during childbirth.

LA most commonly occurs during a difficult va**nal delivery when the muscle is stretched beyond its limit. LA affects roughly 10% to 36% of women who give birth va**nally, and is most typically the result of the use of forceps, also can occur with suction delivery. Women with LA have substantionally higher odds of experiencing pelvic organ prolapse. With full avulsion, that means prolapse immediately, not years or decades down the road.

This creates a difficult day-to-day quality of life navigation, a physical and emotional roller coaster of pain, urine and stool leakage, va**nal and re**al pressure, and destruction of intimate life, as well as considerable downstream patient costs. LA's structural presence drastically escalates the long-term healthcare and financial ramifications of treating pelvic organ prolapse. Talk about add insult to injury.

10/20/2026

Within two weeks of being diagnosed with pelvic organ prolapse, I knew this path was my destiny. I don't know how I knew. I just did.

I'm most relaxed with dirt under my fingernails. Toss a glass of w**e down my throat at conferences and I'll regail you with farm girl stories of chasing pigs that got out of the pen when I got home from school, shoveling cow manure with a really bad hangover (dad's idea of a funny punishment for staying out way too late), or how embarrassing it was to have horses hu***ng each other in plain view in the barnyard when I got off the school bus. Farm life is an adventure. The former farmers on LI will recognize the backdrop.

The day I explored the lump I felt bulging out of my va**na back in 2007 was the beginning of the rest of my life. I had no interest in writing books, public speaking, founding a nonprofit, or networking with women, white coat, or white collar beyond people I already knew. I was perfectly content in my adult reality, running the office for a semi-truck bodyshop business. But sometimes life happens.

Farmer ethics stick with you for life. Moral principles that guide how to treat others.

Honesty and integrity.

Hard work and responsibility.

Trustworthiness.

Fairness and reciprocity.

Self-reliance.

Community and mutual aid.

Humility and accountability.

Throughout your journey, be respectful of every individual person and path that wanders into your world. Women's health is a big deal. I'm so happy it has finally come into the spotlight! And I'm so happy patient advocacy found me!

10/20/2026

Neither Dr Google or AI will ever replace blood and bones healthcare provider insights.

Sure you can get the basics. But does a search engine know YOU, your normal, all of your health oddities, your medications and supplements, your health history? Tread carefully and as you capture a few general basics about your health reality (this is an especially significant concern in the pelvic organ prolapse space given 5 types, 4 grades of severity, co-existing condition intersects, lifestyle/behavior flow, birthing status, menopausal status), be mindful the you inserted into a search is never the entire you. Every woman's POP reality is her own reality, not the reality of the collective. AI should not be used to make a decision about treatment direction.

Here's a micro-analysis.

https://www.ovid.com/jnls/fpmrs/abstract/10.1097/spv.0000000000001856~evaluation-of-ai-generated-surgical-decision-aids-for-pelvic?redirectionsource=fulltextview

10/16/2026

TGIF