Endometriosis—the struggle is real. Killer cramps are NOT normal. Periods that last longer than 7 days are NOT normal. Heavy bleeding that soaks through a tampon every 2 hours is NOT normal; pain during sex is NOT normal. Bouts of diarrhea and vomiting that accompany every menstrual cycle are NOT normal. No, no, and no! For many people, this reality is just endometriosis at work.
Sad truth: Many of us are taught to downplay these symptoms. Our pain is diminished by parents, siblings, friends and even health care professionals who convince us that everyone goes through this.
Maybe that is why, according to the Endometriosis Foundation of America, it takes 10 years on average to receive an accurate endometriosis diagnosis. That’s a decade, people! That’s 130 periods of agony, 912 days of someone asking you to take Advil and suck it up. That…is not okay.
Endometriosis is pervasive. It affects 1 in 20 Americans of reproductive age and an estimated 176 million people worldwide. It occurs when tissue similar to the endometrium (the lining of the uterus) is found outside the uterus on other parts of the body.
There are lots of symptoms that can vary among patients. Pelvic pain is most common, as well as pain that coincides with menstruation. Other symptoms include heavy cramps, long-lasting bleeding, nausea or vomiting, pain during sex and, unfortunately, infertility. Some people may even experience symptoms throughout their entire cycle—a real drag.
In addition to these physical symptoms, endometriosis takes a toll on someone’s personal and professional life. Chronic pain can severely affect quality of life day-to-day; medical care can be extremely costly. Furthermore, absenteeism can alter relationships in the workplace and at home.
Despite the intense discomfort, many people do not realize they have endometriosis until they try to get pregnant. And because the disease tends to get progressively worse over time, approximately 30-40% of people who have endometriosis experience fertility challenges.
There is no simple diagnostic test for endometriosis—no blood, urine, or saliva testing can confirm the condition. The only way to verify endometriosis is to undergo a diagnostic laparoscopy with pathology confirmation of biopsy specimens.
On the bright side, many endometriosis symptoms— including infertility—can be addressed after diagnosis. The gold standard for endometriosis treatment is laparoscopic excision surgery. This involves a careful removal of the entire endometrial lesion from wherever it grows.
The first step to getting there is recognizing that your pain is not normal and seeking timely intervention. The earlier endometriosis is detected and treated, the better the results. Tracking your symptoms will make you better informed for your next doctor’s visit, and set you on a path to better (and less painful!) menstrual health.
Can’t stress enough the early diagnosis part. My mum recently had to have a hysterectomy due to endometriosis and the doctors were like “well, if we’d known about this sooner, a much smaller operation would have been fine and we could have kept the uterus”. Get this shit checked early, guys
important info, I didn’t know my symptoms where anything but normal until an OBG asked about my periods.
Ok I’m just really frustrated about this last episode because the doctor used a gun! I don’t care that the time lord can regenerate so he didn’t technically kill anyone the doctor is not a violent man in that way. Also I felt the doctor use to be all about respecting others. He was the doctor so he healed rather than a gun he had a screwdriver so he could fix things and this whole season the doctor hasn’t been like that. Him and Clara and rude to people and don’t seem to care like the others did. I miss the old characters and their compassion.
You’re precisely right. The Doctor up and murdering someone, even someone he knew would get right up again, is wildly out of character.
And he knows it. Everyone in the episode knows it. Clara takes him to town for it. But what is it he says right at the end of Face the Raven? “The Doctor isn’t here anymore. It’s just me.”
This is a major backslide into the thinking of the Time Lord Victorious. The Doctor has been punching a wall and vowing revenge for the last 4.5 billion years. And this is why one of them has got to go. Their association is mutually toxic, and makes them both much worse people. That’s why they were put together in the first place, and why they can’t stay together.
Now, the Doctor has used guns before. He’s committed amazing atrocities. When he was young and stupid he liked to beat up Romans and hit Frenchmen with shovels (which is fantastic. The First Doctor + Blunt Force Trauma is one of my very favorite things). It’s not that he Never Touches Guns. But when he does, it’s always an indication that the stakes have been raised, that he’s at the end of his rope, and that he’s probably making wildly terrible decisions and needs to be called out on them.
Which, to this episode’s credit, he absolutely is.
I’ve loved Moffat’s division of the Doctor, the legend, who never would, and the Doctor, the man, who is deeply flawed and would when pushed. He tries to be the legend, but sometimes he slips to just being he man. It’s terrifying and horrible and complex and wonderful, playing off the Doctor’s cruelest moments from throughout Classic and New Who and explaining them beautifully.
