ENDOMETRIOSIS

There was an excellent programme about endometriosis on SBS last night and it is being repeated today

It has affected my family badly - nearly every woman has had some kind of surgical intervention - my daughter will be having a hysterectomy in a couple of weeks, my grand-daughter has just had surgery to remove some lesions of endo, my sister and an entometerial ablation and I am pretty sure my nieces have a hard time as well though I know little about my extended family

I thought my daughter and grand-daughter had inherited all this from me - bad thought and totally unnecessary - I think our father's mother might have had it - she was always ill and had a lot of surgery though what the issue was - not discussed and

This smacks of today's attitude - I really thought we lived in a more enlightened society but from what I heard on Insight last night no - this is not the case - women still suffer from discrimination from the GP to specialists to the work place and employment prospects

And it really does affect every aspect of a woman's life - I remember having regular periods that started every 4th Thursday afternoon and caused no trouble - then without warning - irregular periods with severe pain and other symptoms and guess what?

It was really hard to get a doctor to listen - I have not been guilty of doctor shopping for medication but back in the 1980s I did search for a sympathetic GP and things happened fairly quickly after a D&C which didn't help to the surgeon who agreed to operate

But yes - a good question - how can any male really know what a woman endures? A sympathetic husband can help his wife and extend that to the women he works with - he would understand that "women's troubles" were real - and I am thankful for those males in my past

But for all the women a male OBGYN sees he still cannot know the devastating effects endometriosis has on women and every aspect of our lives - how destructive it is - how hard it is to get a doctor to listen - misdiagnoses - loss of wages through loss of sick days and holidays - loss of time at school - embarrassing moments in other ways -

Exhaustion!!

I have been through it and as decades have passed I can forget but with my daughter and grand-daughter suffering from endo it has been brought sharply into focus

Okay ladies - have you been on this ride or are you on it at the moment?

I can't really help except undertand - and I do - but this is such a private subject - which should not be the case - so hidden - so taboo - at least we can talk about it here.

Dec