A woman who lost her private parts to a rare and incurable condition has opened up about her ordeal.
45-year-old Natasha Owens from England was forced to remove the majority of her vagina after developing a rare and incurable condition known as severe erosive lichen planus back when she was just 30.
Following her diagnosis, the young woman began developing painful ulcers in her private area. By 2017, her condition had worsened and Owens was forced to undergo a hysterectomy following unsuccessful treatment.
Sadly, the lady’s condition continued to deteriorate and in 2019 doctors had to perform a full vasectomy, leaving Owens with almost no vagina left.
While the 45-year-old admitted that she and her supportive husband will no longer be able to have sex, Owens insisted that they are stronger than ever and that the change doesn’t bother them.
“We just get on with it and it doesn’t matter to him or me. He knows it’s not that I don’t want him but because I can’t. I’ve got used to living without a vagina and I won’t let it define me,” she said.
As Owens added, she didn’t get her period when she was a teenager because she already went through menopause at the age of 13.
“As a teenager, I did feel off and different, I felt hot and sweaty a lot and now I know they were hot flushes. I didn’t know what was going on, but it went through my head that I couldn’t have children because I hadn’t got my period,” she recalled.
“I didn’t know anybody else who didn’t ever actually start their period and it wasn’t something that was talked about much.
“That made me feel different at school and looking back at it now, I can see it was early menopause symptoms. I didn’t really deal with it and process it, I just got on with it and things weren’t talked about it.”
It wasn’t until she met her husband, Damien, that Natasha sought medical help only to be told that she was already far past menopause.
“That was a bit of a blow, I didn’t know that it was that horrendous. I had done a bit of processing, but it was the final nail in the coffin when somebody finally says it. It was awful. I’m quite a resilient person and I just got on with it but just to hear it was difficult,” Owens added.
To start their own family, Natasha and Damien went on to adopt two siblings. Shortly after the “magical moment,” however, the mother was diagnosed with erosive lichen planus.
“I was in a lot of pain, and I knew that something wasn’t right. I was very, very sore down below. During sex, I would bleed and tear,” Owens recalled.
“We had a normal sex life before that, so it was a bit strange. I was treated for thrush initially, but it didn’t get better, and the pain wouldn’t stop.
“I had to try different medications, I had a list as long as your arm of different creams but nothing worked. That was a bit of a blow, and it could be uncomfortable, mine was quite severe. I didn’t have sex for 10 years. But we have just got on with it and not made it an issue at all.”
More than a decade after the dire diagnosis, Owens had to undergo a hysterotomy after blood got trapped in her pelvis.
Just over one year after the surgery, doctors were also forced to remove a large part of her vagina after more fluid gathered inside her.
“I’ve had most of my vagina removed so it’s not medically possible to have sex now. The bottom part of my vagina is the only bit intact, but it’s corroded and stuck together,” Owens added.
“Now I have to have an operation to unstick it every 12 months. Going to the toilet can be painful and I can bleed. But it’s just part of my life now.”
Though things may not have gone as planned, Natasha now sees that there’s a silver lining in everything.
“Looking back, I can’t believe I went through menopause so young. But I’ve got the family I wanted and everything I have been through has just made mine and my husband’s relationship stronger,” she concluded.
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