On March 25, 2015, from 6pm – 7:30pm, Sharp Hospital (San Diego, CA) will be offering a free seminar regarding gynecological issues (including Endometriosis) and advances in robotic surgery. There will even be a Q&A session with Sharp’s physicians! There is also a seminar on March 26th, but I will not be able to attend that evening.
I will be attending. I know many of you are not in my local area, but wanted to see if you had any questions that you would like me to ask! Just drop a comment below and I’ll make sure and ask!
Today’s Feel Good Quote is by photographer and poet, Jaeda DeWalt:
“Healing is more about accepting the pain and finding a way to peacefully co-exist with it. In the sea of life, pain is a tide that will ebb and weave, continually.
We need to learn how to let it wash over us, without drowning in it. Our life doesn’t have to end where the pain begins, but rather, it is where we start to mend.”
For any of my friends, family, EndoWarriors, or even strangers, who may be enduring some pain right now, whether it be mental or physical, may you find a way to allow it to pass through you. Push through. Endure. Come out of it glowing and ready to move forward, before the next wave. Live.
Many of you have read my blog entry Stress Levels May Affect Endo. In that blog, I mention Dr. Caroline Appleyard, her colleagues, and their research. Dr. Appleyard and Dr. Flores Caldera have agreed to answer some questions I’ve posed to them. Both doctors are incredibly busy; however, have still managed the time to answer these questions!
I’m one of the lucky ones: I’ve never had to to go the Emergency Room because of my Endo pain. Before my surgery, I’d always just sucked it up, endured, lumped into a ball, hugging my heating pad, crying. Never had I thought to go to the ER; I figured it was normal period cramps.
But many of my fellow EndoWarriors routinely do. Their uncontrolled pain is so horrible that they take the trip to the ER, fill out the forms, pay the co-pay, wait for hours, and are poked, prodded, and screened…some may receive the help they seek. But others are denied relief and are accused of being a pill-popping addict, a junky, a liar. Others are screened for STDs or yeast infections. Others subjected to embarrassing pelvic exams. This is unfortunate and outrageous.
So, I’ve read time and time again that people with Endometriosis should avoid red meat. I’ve altered my diet to avoid it as much as possible. And have even written about it in small quantities in previous blogs.
But today I want to delve deeper into why: why no read meat? What does it do? And I want proof; not just theories! Let the research begin!
Some studies suggest that frequent consumption of red meat and ham increases the risk of developing Endometriosis. An Italian study published in 2003 found that there may be a link between diet and Endometriosis. It also found that women who ate red meat seven or more times per week increased their risk of Endometriosis by 80-100%. Women who ate ham three or more times per week were 80% more likely to have Endometriosis than women who ate less. In comparison, women who ate vegetables and fish were 40% less likely of having Endometriosis. This study was actually the combined data of two separate studies conducted on 504 women, and it reviewed their eating habits, lifestyles, and separated the women into two groups: who did or did not have Endometriosis.
Even in this age of modern science and medicine, there is no cure. The only “Golden Standard” medical treatment of Endometriosis is the surgical excision of the implants and adhesions that grow and fester inside of our bodies. There are suppressant treatments of hormones and other drugs. And there are a lot of dietary, supplemental, and Eastern Medicine choices out there to help ease the symptoms. But for many women surgery, hormones, supplements, Western Medicine, and Eastern Medicine have all failed to ease their pain and suffering. Many women claim they’ve cured their Endometriosis through diet, supplement, and metaphysical means.
Scientifically and medicinally: no, there is no cure.
There are plenty of ongoing research studies out there, though. So perhaps in our lifetime there will be a cure. In the meantime, continue to fight to raise awareness, raise funds, and fight.
Yours, Lisa
~ Again, I am a layman. I do not hold any college degrees, nor mastery of knowledge. Please take what I say with a grain of salt. If curious, do your own research 😉 Validate my writings. Or challenge them. And ALWAYS feel free to consult with your physician. Always. Yours ~ Lisa
I’ve been asked to create an info page for our upcoming 2015 Endometriosis Awareness Walk that’s NOT on Facebook; that way friends and family who are attending, and do not have Facebook, can have access to all of the walk’s pertinent info, etc.
I had grown up thinking my pain was normal. And only learned after my surgery that I have a disease and it wasn’t normal.
But what does that mean for me physically? What’s changed?
Whether it be from my excision surgery and D&C, my change in diet, the 6 months of Lupron Depot injections, my new birth control pills, or a combination of them all: I won’t know. All I know is things have been very different. Please be advised this blog may be a little bit of TMI…
Bloomin' Uterus 