Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Sanitary Shouldn't Be Scary

Did you know that companies are not required to disclose the ingredients used in sanitary products? Does that make you feel concerned? These are products that you are using on the most delicate part of your body, yet manufacturers are basically allowed to put whatever they want in them. Super-bleached cotton, synthetic materials made with who-knows-what, and fragrances. We've got options, and I'm very interested in exploring them.

I've recently started taking a look at my different options when it comes to sanitary products and menstrual health. This month is my first month using a menstrual cup (Lunette), and so far, I'm very pleased with my choice. There are many girls and women who think that the concept of using a cup is "gross", but I personally feel that if you can't be comfortable with your own body's natural processes, what CAN you be comfortable with? Granted, I've also been living almost half of my life with endometriosis and adenomyosis, so my period is not exactly a stranger to me. Sure, there may be things that are not exactly glamorous, but I have zero desire to feel embarrassed or grossed out by my own body.

My next intended change is to start using Seventh Generation pantyliners as the backup for the Lunette, as opposed to using the chemical shitstorms that are currently in my bathroom closet. Change is hard, especially when you don't know if you will like the new products you are using, but there's a time when you have to evaluate priorities, and potential losses vs. potential gains. I think I've got a lot more I could gain here than what I could lose, how about you?

Saturday, May 27, 2017

Midnight Rant

Last night, in the middle of the night, I woke up. Got up to pee, nothing out of the norm, and went back to bed. Once I was back in bed, I was overcome with a flow of thoughts, and I wrote up a storm on Twitter. I think this storm is important enough to organize into a post.

Hysterectomy. Is. Not. A. Treatment. For. Endometriosis.
"Oh, but Missy, it helps some people!"
Yes, because they also had adenomyosis and just didn't know it. Find me someone who has confirmed endo, and a hysterectomy eradicated their pain - not reduced, eradicated. I'll wait.

It helps some people because it's removing an additional source of pain that they didn't even know they had.
"But I was never diagnosed with adenomyosis after my hysterectomy!"
If your doctor was ignorant enough to give you a hysterectomy for endo, and endo only, I'm not surprised that there was no diagnosis. They probably didn't even know enough to check for adeno.

And for f*cks sake, stop getting mad at me because you don't like the way that I say the truth. We don't live in Candy Land, and there's a lot of you who need to wake the f*ck up. I'm bold, blunt, potty mouthed, and I use "mean" words like "ignorant", but you know what? I'll never lie to you like naive doctors will. I'll never tell you things that lead you down the path of multiple failed surgeries with minimal or no relief. I'll never lead you down the path of an unnecessary hysterectomy and take away your chance of carrying children. I'll never sugar coat things so that you'll stay with me as your doctor just because I'm too proud to admit that I don't actually know much about endometriosis. I am always truthful. I am sorry that the truth of endo isn't pretty. But the sooner you get the fire ignited inside of you, the closer you are to true relief.

"But I can't afford excision/it's too far away!"
Are you telling me that you wouldn't financially FIND A WAY and travel if your significant other or child were very sick? If you have endometriosis, you. are. very. sick. For the love of god, please stop dismissing yourselves, darlings. You matter, too. Stop acting like your pain & suffering isn't as important as someone else's would be. How many women have to take their own lives before you see? Endo may not kill, medically, but it kills. It can suffocate you, remove your will to continue on, eliminate your ability to see the light, make you desperate for the pain to stop.

Please stop putting yourselves anywhere other than top priority. You matter SO MUCH. You deserve relief. You deserve peace. You deserve happiness. You deserve a life. These things are obtainable. They are not easy, but they are not impossible. We need to educate ourselves, and we need to teach our daughters.

I cannot promise that there's a cure in the future, but I wholeheartedly believe that, with much effort, we can drastically change the statistics. Fight with me, loves.