Anna Victoria is on the mend after undergoing an egg retrieval as part of her IVF treatments — but she’s still dealing with intense bloating and pain days later.

The fitness influencer, 31, had a successful egg retrieval on Sept. 22 that will hopefully help her and her husband conceive a baby. And while Victoria is getting better, she said Tuesday that the recovery process has been more difficult than she expected.

The trainer posted a selfie on Instagram of her bloating.

 

 

 

 

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Can I journal with you and share #whatimgoingthru? First, I want to preface this by saying that when I took this photo, I didn’t realize how much of a prego pose this was. So no, this isn’t what it seems. This is actually the bloating that lasted 5 solid DAYS from the egg retrieval. A part of me isn’t sure what was more painful, the procedure itself, or the bloating that resulted from it The answer is probably both. . I know it doesn't look that bad, but it felt a lot worse than it looked. I couldn’t sit or stand or even move for the first three days without wincing in pain or bracing myself. I’m used to having a really high pain tolerance and battling through, but this really knocked me on my booty. Thankfully I am pretty much fully recovered now and I find out today when I am cleared to exercise (hopefully tomorrow!). Even then, I’m definitely going to ease into it for the first few days. . There have been so many physical, mental, and emotional ups and downs this last year. And while I’m resilient AF, I’m not going to pretend it’s been easy, and I don’t want to pretend. When @sophiegray reached out to ask if I wanted to be a part of her #whatimgoingthru campaign, which is a response to the mental health epidemic that has been accelerated by social media, of course I said YES, YES, YES. . I’ve felt it. Many of us have felt it. And it scares me that the younger generations have and will feel it, too. While there’s nothing wrong with highlighting our best moments on insta, it’s important to talk about our struggles, too. Whether that’s an infertility struggle, a weight loss struggle, a financial struggle, or a relationship struggle, everyone is going through something. But from the looks of insta, you’d never know… . I hope some of you (lots of you!!) will join me and share your own #whatimgoingthru stories. If you do, please tag me so I can read and send you some love #fbggirls #fbgcommunity #infertility www.annavictoria.com/fitbodyapp

A post shared by Anna Victoria (@annavictoria) on Oct 1, 2019 at 7:10am PDT

“First, I want to preface this by saying that when I took this photo, I didn’t realize how much of a prego pose this was. So no, this isn’t what it seems,” she said. “This is actually the bloating that lasted 5 solid DAYS from the egg retrieval. A part of me isn’t sure what was more painful, the procedure itself, or the bloating that resulted from it The answer is probably both.”

RELATED: 9 Things to Know If You’re Thinking About IVF

Victoria said the post-procedure effects aren’t just external — she’s also dealing with intense pain and hasn’t moved much.

“I know it doesn’t look that bad, but it felt a lot worse than it looked,” she said. “I couldn’t sit or stand or even move for the first three days without wincing in pain or bracing myself. I’m used to having a really high pain tolerance and battling through, but this really knocked me on my booty.”

Victoria and her husband have been struggling with infertility for nearly two years. After trying to conceive naturally, they decided to move forward with IVF treatments, and hope to implant fertilized embryos in Victoria towards the end of the year.

RELATED: The Surprising Reason Why Some Women Get Pregnant Naturally After Undergoing IVF or Adopting

The trainer, who has always been known for sharing an honest, unfiltered look at her life, decided to talk about the egg retrieval process for a fellow influencer’s campaign about social media and mental health.

“There have been so many physical, mental, and emotional ups and downs this last year. And while I’m resilient AF, I’m not going to pretend it’s been easy, and I don’t want to pretend,” Victoria wrote.

“When @sophiegray reached out to ask if I wanted to be a part of her #whatimgoingthru campaign, which is a response to the mental health epidemic that has been accelerated by social media, of course I said YES, YES, YES.”

RELATED: 8 Things You Should Never Say to Someone Who’s Going Through IVF

“I’ve felt it. Many of us have felt it. And it scares me that the younger generations have and will feel it, too,” she continued. “While there’s nothing wrong with highlighting our best moments on insta, it’s important to talk about our struggles, too.”

Victoria established a following in 2017 after she posted photos of a different kind of bloating from a big meal. She later said that she did it for “transparency,” and was amazed by how many people thanked her for sharing honest photos.

“If all I have to do to help so many overcome such serious internal battles is to share a photo of myself sitting with a few belly rolls, it’s the least I can do,” she said.

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Forget long queues in doctors’ waiting rooms. Old-fashioned house-calls are back and becoming increasingly popular around the world – and South Africa is no exception.

Dr Cameron Bruce has pioneered a Cape Town-based company called Chariot Health that is entirely focused on home-based medical care. According to Bruce, home visits are making their way back for very humane reasons:

“People want a choice, and when it comes to medical care, growing numbers of individuals are choosing to be treated in the comfort of their own homes, close to their loved ones,” he says.

Chariot Health was established way back in 2010, with Bruce initially being the only practitioner involved. In 2015, a nurse got on board. Since 2017, the company has seen steady growth and currently has a total of 17 practitioners, including doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and a speech and swallowing therapist. 

“Some practitioners are busier than others. We’re growing our footprint between Melkbosstrand and Scarborough, and we now have representation in the City Bowl and some extension into the Northern Suburbs as well,” says Bruce, adding that they’re looking to extend their brand further afield in areas outside Cape Town. 

Old-fashioned with a modern twist

Chariot Health is essentially an administrative platform that provides the necessary means for independent practitioners. Home visits are facilitated through their digital platform that allows for communication between a patient and multidisciplinary medical practitioners. 

The platform also allows practitioners to share information on the patient, coordinate treatment, and record updates on the patient’s condition. 

An additional benefit is that it assists healthcare practitioners involved in a case to provide regular feedback to selected family members, or other loved ones, keeping them informed of developments.

Bruce says this has been especially helpful in families where one sibling is entrusted with parental care while the others are based elsewhere.

Targeted at the frail and elderly

Chariot Health’s services is especially valuable in the case of vulnerable patients or those requiring palliative or geriatic care who can’t easily leave their homes to see a healthcare practitioner.

However, Bruce explains that their practitioners do also see younger, more able-bodied patients who are happy to pay for a home visit, although they do not form the core target market. 

Home visit services are available during normal working hours and after hours in the evening during the week. On weekends, there is a telephonic call service attended by a doctor on call.

“We are able to visit after hours at times, although we unfortunately cannot guarantee this. We can, however, ensure telephonic support as a baseline.”

Does it cost more than a ‘normal’ consultation?

The callout fee is more than the general consultation fee at a GP’s practice, says Bruce. 

“Usually, a GP’s consultation rate is based on a 15-minute consultation. We set aside about an hour in order to do a home visit.

“This will include travel time and a consultation of usually 30 minutes or more, which is why our fees are more than a ‘normal’ consultation rate.”

It just makes financial sense

Health consultant Johann Serfontein believes that it’s not efficient for GPs to make a living from home visits because medical aid schemes are not willing to pay them enough to do so, but Bruce believes house visits have a place in our country, and strongly supports this call, saying patients should be assisted to live the type of life they want.

“I think Johann Serfontein is right in that this area of work is not being well reimbursed traditionally because it’s being seen possibly as a luxury to have home visits.

“However, importantly, for the right type of patient, medical aids are looking to reimburse better for this sort of work done. I think this is an area of work that’s being looked at, since it does make financial sense to look after a patient at home, rather than have them in hospital. 

“So I believe this area of care is going to be a worthwhile area to be involved in, and it should provide a reasonable income for a dedicated practitioner.”

Patients should be assisted to live the type of life they want, says Bruce.

“Instead of going to the hospital, they could choose to live and be treated at home and be allowed to make choices between things they still want to do in their lives and where and how they should be treated,” says Dr Bruce.

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Zakiyah Ebrahim

Do you rarely express anger at those close to you? Is it difficult for you to reveal negative feelings in your relationships?

New research suggests that might make you more vulnerable to having a stroke.

In a study of women aged 40 to 60, those who suffered from “self-silencing” had an increased risk of having plaque in their carotid arteries.

Repressing one’s feelings when they might threaten relationships or one’s security, and appearing outwardly agreeable “while inner feelings grow angry and resentful is what is meant by self-silencing”, said Dana Jack, a professor of psychology at Western Washington University who has pioneered research on this theory.

Potential for cardiovascular trouble

The study couldn’t prove cause-and effect, but “women who felt less able to talk about their needs or feelings in their intimate relationships had a 14% higher likelihood of showing the most plaque in their carotid artery”, explained lead researcher Karen Jakubowski, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pittsburgh. “Women with no observable plaque turned out to be more able to express themselves in their relationships, compared to the women who had more plaque.”

That additional plaque could potentially lead to heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular trouble, the researchers noted.

Jack wasn’t involved in the new study, but she developed the scale used to help measure self-expression in close relationships.

Should I be more mellow?

“If you are self-silencing, you are disconnecting, but you’re disconnecting not only from the other person but also from yourself,” Jack explained.

“Most often, we reconfirm ourselves through talking to others, through voicing. But with self-silencing, women get really confused about what they really feel. ‘Is there something wrong with me that I feel angry? Should I be more mellow?’ This is what sets up the stress that can lead to physical problems,” she said.

In the self-silencing study, 304 women filled out a questionnaire based on Jack’s scale. They also completed self-reports on demographics, medical history, depression and physical measures such as blood pressure, height and weight.

“Past studies have found that women who report more self-silencing also report more symptoms of depression and anger, both of which have been related to cardiovascular disease,” Jakubowski noted.

“When thinking about why self-silencing is related to plaque, future studies may look at depression, conflict in relationships or sleep problems as linking self-silencing and plaque. Depression and poor sleep are risk factors for carotid plaque,” she said.

Self-silencing in the body

Not everyone, of course, goes on to have a heart attack or stroke. “But women at these ages who do not have other medical issues, such as diabetes, rarely have a cardiovascular event,” Jakubowski said, “and this puts them at higher risk.”

So why worry about this? “Studying the development of plaque may give us a sense of who’s more at risk for later cardiovascular events, when we can do something about it,” Jakubowski noted. “These results suggest the importance of supporting women toward greater self-expression of their feelings and needs in their intimate relationships, which may be important for their cardiovascular health in midlife.”

The findings were to be presented at the North American Menopause Society’s annual meeting, in Chicago. Such research is considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

“This study shows the physical effects of stress, and demonstrates that we really need to be taking into account how self-silencing works in the body,” Jack added.

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