vital-health-institute

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.

Continue reading →

Free Webinar : An Evening with Dr. Andrew Cook

| Bloomin' Uterus
Flyer for webinar with Dr. Andrew Cook

To any of my EndoWarriors, or friends/family who want to learn about Endometriosis, please sign up for this FREE webinar hosted by the Endometriosis Family Support Group via RMC Charitable Foundation.  It will take place on Tuesday, October 25, 2016, at 7:00pm Pacific Standard Time. Dr. Andrew Cook is considered one of the few “excision experts” in California, his office staff are absolutely incredible to talk to, and the Vital Health Institute has been so supportive for our blog’s library.

Continue reading →

Endometriosis & Wine

| Bloomin' Uterus
A spilling glass of red wine

So, we’ve all heard that a glass of wine can be good for you.  Healthy, actually.  Then we’ve all heard that it can be harmful.  Throw in the mix that some of us suffer from Endometriosis…and that many people try to cut alcohol out of their lifestyle to prevent flare-ups and symptoms.  Alcohol is not only harmful to our bodies and livers, but contains a lot of sugar, as well as wreaks havoc on our system.  But I like me some vino!

Cutting out alcohol all together is likely your safest bet if you’re wanting to live cleaner and healthier.  The liver filters out toxins, as well as estrogen, from the body.  As you may have read elsewhere, Endometriosis is an estrogen-fed and reliant disease.  If our livers cannot properly filter out estrogen, we are simply empowering our illness.  Alcohol is also high in sugar…and we’ve previously discussed how sugar may increase your Endometriosis pain and flare-ups.  Studies have shown that alcohol may also increase estrogen levels due to phytoestrogens in alcohol…plant estrogens that  mimic human estrogen (…wait…I didn’t know that. Crap.)

Continue reading →

Peggy, Roy, & The Endo Inn

| Bloomin' Uterus
Husband and wife cutting a cake together
Peggy & Roy cutting their birthday cake –  July 2015

You may have heard about Peggy Santa Maria on CBS-TV, LA or read about her in the Contra Costa Times or various online blogs.  I bumped into the CBS-TV LA link, which was aired on their 5pm news on December 25, 2015, and just had to know more about her.  The e-mail address on their site didn’t work, so I reached out to my friend, Margaret, at The Vital Health Institute, who got us in touch.

If you don’t know about Peggy and her husband Roy, they host The Endo Inn.  The what?  As Roy says, “Stay at the Endo Inn while you have your Endo taken out.”  They have converted their guest bedroom into The Endo Inn, a room where a woman and her guest can stay while she recovers from surgery for her Endometriosis, free of charge and for several weeks, if needed.  This includes access to all of the house for cooking, doing laundry, entailing everything that covers “living,” and The Endo Inn becomes “their home.”  Roy and Peggy have been doing this since January 18, 2000.

More about The Endo Inn shortly…but right now I want to focus on the beautiful people behind it:  Peggy and Roy.  I had the pleasure of speaking with Peggy several days ago, spending over an hour on the phone with this purely delightful woman.

Continue reading →