I am so, so thankful to have found Dr Crowe, as he has turned my life around for me. To start my story – after the birth of my son in January 2011 I developed severe pains in my left side and after admission to hospital was diagnosed with pelvic congestion syndrome. Despite frequent consultations and hospital visits I was told that all I could be offered was pain relief. The pain became so severe that I was prescribed morphine, with increasing doses which had limited effect. By this time I could no longer play with my son nor do every day activities, my attendance at work plummeted to a point that I had to give up as I constantly had Human Resources on my back. At this point I had reached an all time low and was constantly in tears and my quality of life was zero.

At this point my parents started researching the internet and came across Dr Crowe, they telephoned his secretary and I received an appointment within a week…thank God for that. I finally felt like somebody was believing me and could offer help. After my holiday I went through my procedure of pelvic embolisation and boy what a difference has it has made to my life. Dr Crowe was very informative, explained exactly what was going to happen and what to expect after the embolisation. My morphine is now a thing of the past, I can play with my son and I have achieved the light at the end of a very long tunnel that I didn’t think I would reach. To anyone with this condition I would say contact Dr Crowe immediately. You will not regret your decision, I feel I owe him my life.

Katie Walter

For several years I suffered a dragging and burning sensation in my lower back, bloating in my stomach and an aching in and across my pelvic area. Then I began to get fatigue and weakness in my legs, it would suddenly feel like someone had flicked my power switch off.  These debilitating symptoms grew more intense over time and became such a part of my life that I no longer knew what it was like to be pain free or actually firing on all cylinders. Blood tests did not throw anything up and an ultrasound carried out was normal (I now know this is not likely to show the condition I had in any case) but whilst I was not ill, I was permanently feeling unwell.  I was suffering physically but also began to become affected mentally as there were too many days when I found it difficult to cope with the symptoms and the impact they were having on me.

I also started to gain weight as I could no longer enjoy walking or cycling which added to my distress as I had always been very athletic and feared other health implications such as diabetes due to my weight gain. At the end of a working day, I would be in such pain that I couldn’t wait to lie down just to feel some relief. My job involved lots of driving and standing up so it affected working too and I ended up resigning my training job which I thoroughly enjoyed.  More recent, I then began to experience discomfort during and after sexual intercourse which began to affect my relationship with my husband. The whole thing was making me feel down and depressed and I felt powerless to do anything about it.

As I was in my early fifties, the general consensus of the various medical opinions sought was that all my symptoms were due to the menopause and it would “sort itself out once I was through it”.

Now, I know my body well and I recognised and agreed that I had some menopause symptoms that were very unpleasant and an absolute nuisance but I was sure that there was something else happening and despite one female doctor’s best efforts to put me on HRT, I instinctively knew that that was not going to be the answer. I felt strongly that I would cope with what the menopause might be throwing at me through diet, exercise etc. if only I could get some relief from the pain and discomfort. Coping with everything was becoming too much ad started to come to a head in June last year when I couldn’t continue to work as I started to have spells of fluctuating blood pressure.

I was miserable and feeling very helpless.

One October day in 2013, I was on Google seeking yet more advice / remedy etc. for back pain and found a link took me to an article on Pelvic Congestion Syndrome and Dr Paul Crowe’s work . I still do not know how it came up but it appeared (maybe divine intervention?). As I read through it, I couldn’t believe it. This seemed to mirror exactly my symptoms but cautious of becoming a self- diagnosed by internet person, I went to see my GP, keen to tell him about what I had found and the work being carried out by Dr Paul Crowe.

He admitted he knew nothing about PCS and as I explained to him what I had read was a little dismissive. Slightly irritated, I left him with a challenge to look into it. To his credit he did and called me to say he was prepared to consider exploring it further.

Fast forward to May this year, after an initial CT scan it was confirmed I had a problem with a vein in my pelvis and, the very caring and sensitive Dr. Crowe carried out a procedure to put coils into the vein. It was so painless, I chose not to have any pain relief and was able to watch whilst he carried it out. He and his team were fantastic and explained everything clearly. I was only there for the day and fit to fly out on holiday two days later.

Within a few days I knew I was feeling much better and as time has gone by I keep having to pinch myself. I am completely free of back and pelvis pain and feeling fantastic. I am walking easily without the horrible weakness or fatigue and out cycling almost every day.  The joy of feeling power and strength again in my legs led me to cycle along the cycle track whooping with delight and peddling like fury. I cannot believe the difference to my quality of life. I am losing weight too and am so happy that my long suffering husband is now starting to get back the vibrant, bubbly woman he married. Also, because I am not feeling down and overwhelmed by discomfort and pain, any menopause symptoms I may still have can be easily coped with now and do not cause me too much bother.

I understand that getting a true diagnosis of what is causing a problem is difficult but I hope that more GPs, Gynaecologists and other health workers develop a deeper understanding about Pelvic Congestion Syndrome. I was fortunate in that I took control over my own health through pure desperation and was able to confidently challenge my GP. Fortunate too that he was prepared to listen and think outside of the box, particularly in cases like mine being a women of a certain age. All my symptoms could have all so easily have been put down to simply part of going through the menopause and I would have continued to be utterly miserable.

Thank you so much Dr. Paul Crowe, you are a special person.

Karen Coates, Cumbria

“The fantastic news is that the embolisation has been an amazing success and has totally transformed my life, I am living pain free and I can stand for long periods etc with no problems. I cannot begin to explain what an impact this has had on my life and I am beginning to undertake physical activities that I haven’t been able to do without considerable pain for years. It is simply fantastic. I have a tiny amount of residual ache low down/top of thigh but I would say it is 95% better than before

I cannot thank you enough!”

Imogen, age 36, following ovarian vein embolisation for pelvic congestion syndrome