It was Endometriosis Awareness Month last month and I was hugely honoured to be part of a massive Endometriosis March campaign around the world. It was also incredibly sad to hear from so many women who are struggling so deeply with this condition. I heard so many stories of women having Hysterectomies and countless surgeries and their bodies don’t feel any better off or in some cases, they even feel worse.
I feel that the kind of awareness we should be spreading about Endometriosis involves more than just surgery and hormone treatments as options to deal with the condition. Doctors have a hard time understanding the condition and focus solely on the hormone irregularities of the condition. To me, this is simply dealing with a symptom of Endometriosis, rather than actually getting to any sources of imbalance or where any form of healing can begin.
I wish the awareness included more of the benefits that have been indicated in using natural and holistic approaches for Endometriosis. Awareness about how our diet and our nutrition influences our health, awareness about how exercise influences our health and awareness about hope and possibility with the condition.
So many messages about Endometriosis focus on the limitations of the disease. That there is “no cure” and that we need to just deal with the pain. Messages are about “fighting” and “coping”. To me, the message should be about EMPOWERMENT. Empowering women to overcome the inflammation, reduce their pain and think positively about the condition. Endometriosis actually provides us with a wonderful opportunity to change how we treat ourselves and our bodies. We can finally give it the respect it deserves! This is done by giving it the right foods, thinking the right things and being nurturing and caring towards it.
I once got an email from an Endometriosis Association about my message on my blog. They indicated to me, that I should not give women “false hope”, that I was doing more harm than good by indicating women could do something for themselves and their Endometriosis. This was really concerning to me. I don’t believe there is such a thing as false hope! I believe we can feel better with Endometriosis. Thinking that we are downtrodden, stuck and limited in our choices is far more damaging, in my opinion.
Sometimes it feels like I am fighting for Women’s Liberation with my cause to help women with Endometriosis. I feel like there is a huge disservice towards women and the way the condition is being handled. Women are being chopped up and their bits burnt away far too easily. Their poor bodies are put through so much unnecessary angst and pain. It fills me with such sadness when I hear of cases of women who are only 22 years of age, having Hysterectomies. It is a procedure that seems to be recommended far too easily, without much thought on the emotional or physical consequence of it all.
Receiving Awareness about Endometriosis is incredibly powerful and I feel it is a worthy message that needs to be heard by so many people within our communities and organisations. The condition has been dismissed for too long and it is great to see real acknowledgements of its severity around the world. I just hope, the message carries with it, the power of empowerment to go with it.
Melissa
Why we keep quiet about infertility