March is Endometriosis Awareness Month!

What IS Endometriosis? Insane growths inside the body that cause pain and scar tissue. Nobody knows the cause. There is no cure. There is no easy test to diagnose it. There is no easy pill to swallow for treatment. And most doctors don’t understand it or follow the gold standard for treatment: well-trained excision surgery.

It can be debilitatingly painful. It can grow on organs all over the body. It can pull those organs out of place or weave them together. Many women have it in their lungs and suffer collapsed lungs every month because of it. It can affect nerves like the sciatic or pudendal nerve, or others. It can cause bowel obstructions, renal blockages, digestion problems, infertility, and more. And that doesn’t even cover the emotional effects of this illness. Suicide is not uncommon in our community.

And what works treatment-wise for one person may not work for the next. It is an Individual disease. Hand-tailored to each person who suffers with it. Each treatment course and response is as individual a journey as our diagnoses.

This illness doesn’t discriminate for age, race, or sex. Mostly women have it, but there are rare cases of men developing Endometriosis. It’s estimated 176 million worldwide have it. That’s 1 in 10. And it can take many years, or even a few decades, before a diagnosis is obtained.

Learn the symptoms. Be aware. Listen. And don’t be afraid to talk about it. With anyone.