We think of grief as our response to a loved one's death. But we experience grief about our health issues, too.

Many women experiencing pelvic organ prolapse (cystocele, rectocele, uterine prolapse) feel grief over changes in their body, or over new challenges in doing activities they used to enjoy. 

With prolapse, the five stages of grief often look like this:

Denial: This can't be happening.

Bargaining: There must be a way to make this go away for good.

Anger: I don't deserve this, argh!

Sadness: I liked my body better before this happened.

Acceptance: This is the way I am now, and I'm caring for myself as lovingly as I can.

Just as with the grief over a lost loved one, the stages don't progress in an orderly fashion from one to the next. Grief can be more like a soup of emotion in which we experience all five stages in one day, or one hour. Not everyone makes it to acceptance. And those who do experience times of acceptance may find themselves revisiting the four other stages at surprising, or seemingly random, times.

Healing from a health crisis — prolapse or anything else — is an emotional journey as well as a physical one. And allowing plenty of room for our feelings about our health is one of the most important steps we can take.

If you’re feeling upset about prolapse, be aware that… 

• What you're feeling might be grief.
• Grief is a perfectly normal response to this issue (or to any health issue that affects your quality of life).
• Those feelings are common.
• You are not alone.