Joe Marks

As written by Cory Wenrick, Josh's cousin.

My Dad has something called prostadynia, or another name for it is chronic pelvic pain. It is linked to his prostate, but it is not cancer. It is something that medication can not get rid of, but it is something that will always have to be managed. He has been battling this for about a year now, just right after Kristin's wedding. At first he was being treated for a UTI and then another kind of bacterial infection. It was only until this last spring that we were put on the right track, by a friend of mine who has vulvadynia, the female version of prostadynia. She told me that she goes to a physiotherapist to control the pain. So my friend's doctor referred my parents to a doctor in Evansville. My Dad went to see her for the first time in June and left not feeling any pain for about 1/2 hour. This gave my Mom and Dad some hope that they were on the right track. But the down side to it was the 1:15 minute drive to Evansville. Sitting for long periods of time makes the pain worse. So by the time my Dad would make it to Evansville, his pelvic floor muscles were so tight that the physcial therapy wasn't working. Just recently, he has been seeing a physiotherapist in Jasper that works on female patients with vulvadynia and has agreed to try the same techniques on my Dad. I believe his good days are getting better, but the bad days are still pretty bad. He did go to a chiropractor a couple of times, but no relief. He also has been to an accupuncturist, but no help there eithe. Sandra has been dealing with chronic pain too, I believe she thinks it is Fibroid myalga (sp?). Anyway Sandra suggested to my Dad to see this chiropractor. Apparently he works with people with chronic pelvic pain and something about pelvic floor nerves...which is the problem. So we are hoping that he will continue to get some relief. I believe we are heading out to California on Oct. 17th. The doctor who runs the clinic suffered from prostadynia for 22 years. He is a psychatrist that understands the mental side of this issue. Meaning you can't relax when you are in pain, and relaxing is the way for physcial therapy to work. So, prayer requests...the clinic is expensive and I know my parents worry about if it is the right thing to do. The clinic doesn't guarantee relief, but does state that 70% of the patients do experience some level of relief. Of course, no amount of money can be placed on good health, but I know they feel like if this doesn't work than they wasted a lot of money. It looks like the insurance company is battling with my parents paying for the physical therapy done in Jasper, so they most likely won't be paying for any medical treatment done in California. Pray that if we do make the trip out to California, my Dad has comfort traveling up to Indy to catch the flight, that he can endure the long flight and then the 2 hour drive to the clinic...remember the pain worsens the longer he sits. David and I will be going out with them, pray that my Dad feels well enough to want to see some of California. This is the first time my parents will be in California, and David and I would like to do some sightseeing with them. David and I have been there before, but I would like for my parents to see some things they have always wanted to see.