Author: Bloomin' Uterus

Endometriosis in Rhesus Monkeys

| Bloomin' Uterus
Baby and adult Rhesus monkeys

In the past, I’ve written about Endometriosis being found in two mandrillus sphinx,  a German Shephard and cynomolgus monkeys.  I know when I think of Endometriosis, I have to remind myself that any person, including cis-men can develop it, as well as animals.  A study hit my inbox this morning about monkeys, rhesus macaques, developing Endometriosis.

The 2017 study published in Primate Biology discusses rhesus macaques (aka rhesus monkeys) that were housed at the Biomedical Primate Research Centre in the Netherlands and the New England Primate Research Center in the United States.  Not only did the study discuss the spontaneous development of Endometriosis in these creatures, but it focused on the genetic similarities between humans and these monkeys in the hopes of continuing the studies of finding genetic links to the illness.

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Feel Good Fridays!

| Bloomin' Uterus
Graphic of a globe

Well, it’s been an extremely busy week for me; sorry I haven’t done much blogging. BUT it’s Friday!  Another week is passed.

Today’s quote was provided to me by my Mum, and is from Mahatma Gandhi:

“In a gentle way, you can shake the world.”  

Whether it be helping a friend through a hard time, sparking up a conversation with a stranger, helping out with a non-profit, volunteering at an animal shelter, reaching out to those in need, or even something as grand as writing your Congressman ~ the action doesn’t have to be momentous to make a difference.

Have a wonderful weekend.  And go shake the world a bit…

We have Mugs & Stickers Available!

| Bloomin' Uterus
a mug and sticker with the bloomin' uterus logo

Woohoo!  I got a hankerin’ to do more fundraising!  And as usual, all of the profits are donated to the Endometriosis Foundation of America!  None of this goes in my pocket.  Why should it?

Now’s your chance (well, until July 10, 2017) to purchase your very own Bloomin’ Uterus mug ($10 for an 11 ounce mug) or Bloomin’ Uterus sticker ($6 which is roughly 3″ x 5″…or they have a larger size available, too).  After July 10th, Teespring will end this campaign and send everything off to the printer!

Head on over to our little store.

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Feel Good Fridays!

| Bloomin' Uterus

What a week. So much tragedy in the news: explosions, shootings, fires…so much death and despair.  Well, it’s Friday – so let’s turn end it on a positive note; shall we?  I couldn’t decide on one quote today, so I’m sharing a few with you.

“There is a saying in Tibetan, ‘Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength.’
No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful experience is, if we lose our hope, that’s our real disaster.”
― Dalai Lama XIV

“A person’s tragedy does not make up their entire life. A story carves deep grooves into our brains each time we tell it. But we aren’t one story. We can change our stories. We can write our own.”
― Amy Poehler

“All I could think about as I stood there was that sometimes life gave you a tragedy that burned everything you knew to the ground and changed you completely. But somehow, if you really wanted to, you could learn how to hold your breath as you made your way through the smoke left in its wake and you could keep going. And sometimes, sometimes, you could grow something beautiful from the ashes that were left behind. If you were lucky.”
― Mariana Zapata, Wait for It

I hope you have an incredible weekend.  Spent some time with friends and loved ones.

Blogs I’ve Updated This Week:

C-Sections and Endometriosis – added a new study from the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada who developed a mass in her c-section scar.

Ongoing Research Studies re: Endometriosis – updated new studies (and deleted completed studies) around the globe that YOU may be able to participate in to further research for Endometriosis.

Feel Good Fridays

| Bloomin' Uterus
an analog compass

We made it to FRIDAY! Already? Where’d the week go?

Today’s quote is by Carol Ryrie Brink, who once wrote:

“Life is just a lot of everyday adventures.”

And it is!  Boring adventures, fun adventures, adventurous adventures! But adventures, nonetheless!  If you can’t squeeze a wondrous new adventure in every day – try to at least once a week….or once a month.  Have fun! Learn new things.  Go exploring!  Help a friend.  Read a book.  Step outside your comfort zone…ADVENTURE!!!!

Have a glorious weekend – and may it be filled with some sort of wonder.

❤ Lisa

Blogs I’ve updated this week:

C-Sections & Endometriosis – added a case study of a 37-year-old woman who developed a painful, leaking lump in her cesarean scar, published in the Feb. 2017 edition of Case Reports in Obstetrics & Gynecology

Endometriosis & The Lungs – added a case study of a 20-year-old who woman continued to cough up blood every month when she wasn’t on birth control pills, published in 2017 by The Japanese Society of Internal Medicine.

Endometriosis On Your Skin – added a case study of a 30-year-old woman who developed painful, bleeding bumps in her belly button after stopping Depo Provera, published in the May 2017 edition of Journal of Rare Disorders: Diagnosis & Therapy.

Support Group – updated to reflect our June 22, 2017 support group meeting

Endometriosis & the Appendix

| Bloomin' Uterus
Diagram of the appendix

Here I go again, once more intrigued by Endometriosis growing in odd places inside the body.  Today I’m going to focus on the appendix.  I’ve read that many Warriors have their appendix removed because physicians may confuse Endometriosis pain for the symptoms of appendicitis.  But on Tuesday an article hit my email about Endometriosis growing on the appendix…and I became obsessed.

Please remember: I don’t write this to scare you, or freak you out, or say that all of your right-sided abdominal pain is from Appendix Endo.  Take a deep breath – I like to document these things in case anyone would like to discuss it further with their healthcare providers so they may be aware during surgery.  Appendiceal Endometriosis is considered extremely rare and it is suspected that only 1-3% of all cases of Endometriosis involve the appendix.  But…knowledge is power.

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Review: EndoFEMM Heating Pad

| Bloomin' Uterus
EndoFemm heating pad
Photo courtesy of Pelvic Pain Solutions

Oh man.  If you know me, you know I love my heating pads.  I have an electric one by my bed, a microwaveable one for when I’m watching TV, another microwaveable one for work, and even those ones you stick on your clothes for discreet heat.

Well, in April I received an email from Babette, the President of Pelvic Pain Solutions (and fellow EndoSister), offering me a free sample of their EndoFEMM heating pads.  If I liked it, I agreed I’d share about my experiences.  First off, I thought “free sample” meant I’d be getting like a 3″x3″ square of it so I can take it for a test drive; nope – it was the entire EndoFEMM heating pad in all it’s “Paris Girl” glory!  So, here I am today…which means I obviously liked it.

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