SHARING YOUR ENDO STORIES: Part 3 Hannah

“Hi, I’m Hannah and I’m 20 years old! When I was 11 years old I got my first period. I was so excited to tell my mom that I was “finally was a woman”, not knowing what was coming next. All throughout middle school I was handling everything fine and had no issues. When I began high-school I started to have the worst pain of my life when my periods would come. I would stay home from school curled up in bed crying with my heating pad on the highest setting. Sometimes I would become physically ill and vomit, while also almost passing out. I did not start birth control until the summer before my freshman year of college, therefore battling endometriosis on its own for 4 years. My doctors always told me it was “bad periods that I needed to learn to power through.” I just knew this wasn’t right.  Once I started on the pill things were okay, but I was still held back from living a normal life. Next, we tried the implant Nexplanon. This was a big fail. I ended up having my period for 4 months straight, terrible! I had that removed. Finally a year ago in May, I was referred to a surgeon. I had my referral and a week later he was ready for surgery. Of course, endometriosis was found. An IUD was put in place and I was started on Orilissa, putting me into medically induced menopause. I am currently in the best place I have been in years. I no longer have chronic pain every day and I am able to do everything I enjoy without worrying if I will need to go home and relax from all the pain. Of course, I always have concerns about my future and starting a family, but one day at a time I feel stronger and better than ever. If you or anyone you know is struggling please do not hesitate to reach out! I am always willing to talk! I am currently in nursing school while forever battling endometriosis, so I have some extra knowledge and would be delighted to help anyone in any way I can!” - Hannah

Instagram: @hannah.cassidyy

Thank you so much for sharing your story, Hannah! Your future patients are so lucky to have your special knowledge of Endometriosis! 

SHARING YOUR ENDO STORIES: Part 1 Amrita

“From the time I got my period at the age of 12, everything was normal. I’d have regular periods with hardly any pain or discomfort but life was normal. In June of 2011 at the age of 19, I started experiencing extremely irregular, heavy periods. Over the next few months, they became even more irregular. I experienced sometimes 3 weeks of continuous bleeding and excruciating pain followed by a few days of relief and then it would begin all over again. After the 3rd time in less than a month, I approached my mom who is a nurse, and told her what was happening to me. She suggested we go to my family doctor. From there began 7 years of frequent visits to the doctor with the same complaints- excessive bleeding and debilitating pain. Countless ultrasounds and scans later, not a single thing showed up beside a few cysts here and there. She tried multiple different forms of birth control in an effort to stop the bleeding and give my body a chance to rest. With all the different changes also came many side effects. Dizziness, fatigue, fainting spells, nausea, hair loss..you name it. 7 years of speculations later, we decided to get a second opinion in the fall of 2017 when my illness was getting to an all-time low. I spent countless days calling out of work and laying in bed. After 3 months off of work and multiple ER trips with the same result, “everything looks good. Maybe just a rupture” MRI, CT, and ultrasound scans. My new doctor suggested a laparoscopy. In March of 2018, I had my first laparoscopy where they found endometriosis as well as a deviated septum. I had about a year of relief before things started going downhill again at the beginning of this year. Two trips to the ER later only more excruciating pain than ever before. I was prescribed Orissa but after doing my research have since stopped. I’ve now been bedridden for weeks at a time between Feb and present-day and awaiting my second laparoscopic procedure. I currently have lost muscle strength in both of my legs from being bedridden and am struggling to live even simple quarantine life with severe bleeding, back, and muscle pain. Life has and will never be the same before endometriosis took over and affected my ability to do the most mundane tasks. don’t stop asking questions and demanding answers. Only you know how you feel.” - Amrita 

Instagram: @ritzvn

Thank you so much for sharing your story, Amrita! You are so inspiring to the Endo community! Please feel free to reach out to me on my Instagram (@endoisnottheendblog) if you want to share YOUR Endo story on my platform! 

HOW TO HELP: Full List of BLM Resources (SHARE!)

This week I decided to take a break from the endo content because there are more important things going on. I have seen a lot of different links and other content across all social media on how to help the Black Lives Matter movement and I thought it would be nice to have them all in one place. This is a world issue and it takes people from all backgrounds fighting for the common goal to make a difference. I strongly encourage you to share this post and do what you can to help the BLM movement. If you don't have the ability to give money, there are so many other ways to help! There are many things we all can do and if we all choose things off this list, we can start to make a difference.

ALL BLM RESOURCES: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/?fbclid=IwAR0Sw4sPWpxDI3tORdHjznp_mLD5kJivrZVnXcPo70bVbd-PH3Vb_FjYPR0

CAMPAIGN ZERO: https://www.joincampaignzero.org/?fbclid=IwAR0u57xhD7nN0c4MIIVadqbDVx_ouQL0qvQNMrKYLsj0T_5Sd8_g1AvTH-g

SCAFFOLDED ANTI-RACIST RESOURCES: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PrAq4iBNb4nVIcTsLcNlW8zjaQXBLkWayL8EaPlh0bc/mobilebasic?fbclid=IwAR3y0s7vXEjsX0MNjXs_q4cGR_wk7tGHFsfY7kt6uUAE2-UU89JtAw2dB-k

NATIONAL RESOURCES LIST: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CjZMORRVuv-I-qo4B0YfmOTqIOa3GUS207t5iuLZmyA/mobilebasic?fbclid=IwAR2R_7rstuCBml_kRn_wu0jfR-IZaENUngAJb77Y298Sxm1urxo8litO5uQ

DONATIONS:

ALCU: https://www.aclu.org/?fbclid=IwAR0Qt_m4TInwjQmlhAhz49AC4LuwHzHyF2ahl3n7Sw1HC1Xq-ZRW4LH3Er4

RECLAIM THE BLOCK: https://secure.everyaction.com/zae4prEeKESHBy0MKXTIcQ2?fbclid=IwAR0HlslX9-mhz47ZxtE6z2I1-L6_bm2dDxV8SptntbI1yha2xV0EpsDMw1I

RUN WITH MAUD (AHMAUD ARBERY): https://www.runwithmaud.com

JUSTICE FOR BREONNA: https://www.gofundme.com/f/9v4q2-justice-for-breonna-taylor?fbclid=IwAR28k8mUryon4PWg3-I77G9IuNlI-aTnS_Kq_sEqdNgmF6ocYvMgw6tAuEY

THE BAIL PROJECT: https://bailproject.org/?fbclid=IwAR0geSABqyKGMaLzBxMF3VZUlHZxQ5JnLLroUnTh_fbSfjcMlkF-Hh2HaUI

CAMPAIGN ZERO: https://www.joincampaignzero.org/?fbclid=IwAR0B4LSaT_iUvyla09kepeXWBT0eKAIfnE_yCZX3LY9TnTrbhs-ubU2dgG4#vision

PROTESTS: If you are interested in protesting, you can easily search protests near you on social media or the internet.

BOSTON ACTIVIST CALENDAR: https://www.facebook.com/ActivistCalendar/?__tn__=%2CdK-R-R&eid=ARBCxavm9SAy_dLY7pPYnpwwndUZVIKZUW-WHLF12pxWmjr2OSRevZsqtSY82uGZyuoOnpHxg3w7FYPq&fref=mentions

SIGNING PETITIONS:

JUSTICE FOR GEORGE FLOYD: https://www.change.org/p/mayor-jacob-frey-justice-for-george-floyd?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_22414602_en-US%3Av7&recruiter=1055411747&recruited_by_id=dffbe860-6980-11ea-8949-dfbf4a525933&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial

JUSTICE FOR BREONNA TAYLOR: https://www.change.org/p/andy-beshear-justice-for-breonna-taylor?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_22077589_en-US%3Av4&recruiter=1055411747&recruited_by_id=dffbe860-6980-11ea-8949-dfbf4a525933&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial

JUSTICE FOR AHMAUD ARBERY: https://www.change.org/p/liberty-county-distric-attorney-justice-for-ahmaud-arbery?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_21863962_en-GB%3Av1&recruiter=1055411747&recruited_by_id=dffbe860-6980-11ea-8949-dfbf4a525933&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial

HANDS UP ACT: https://www.change.org/p/us-senate-hands-up-act?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_14077526_en-US%3Av2&recruiter=1055411747&recruited_by_id=dffbe860-6980-11ea-8949-dfbf4a525933&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial

EDUCATING OUR CHILDREN ON RACISM THROUGH THE SCHOOL SYSTEM: https://www.change.org/p/board-of-education-educating-our-children-to-understanding-racism?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_22511331_en-US%3Av8&recruiter=1055411747&recruited_by_id=dffbe860-6980-11ea-8949-dfbf4a525933&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial

CHARGE MINNEAPOLIS POLICE OFFICERS WITH MURDER: https://www.change.org/p/change-org-the-minneapolis-police-officers-to-be-charged-for-murder-after-killing-innocent-black-man?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_22409600_en-US%3Av3&recruiter=1055411747&recruited_by_id=dffbe860-6980-11ea-8949-dfbf4a525933&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial

RENAME GEORGE S. BENSON AUDITORIUM: https://www.change.org/p/harding-university-rename-the-george-s-benson-auditorium?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_22567074_en-US%3Av7&recruiter=1055411747&recruited_by_id=dffbe860-6980-11ea-8949-dfbf4a525933&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&pt=AVBldGl0aW9uAKJYWAEAAAAAXtk%2Fz99S2iUzMGFhOGNlMw%3D%3D

CONGRESSIONAL AND LEGAL CONDEMNATION OF POLICE BRUTALITY: https://www.change.org/p/congress-the-senate-police-brutality?recruiter=1055411747&recruited_by_id=dffbe860-6980-11ea-8949-dfbf4a525933&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&pt=AVBldGl0aW9uAPLyVwEAAAAAXtlANasRxuhlOGZhNjdhNQ%3D%3D

READING LIST TO EDUCATE OURSELVES:

• Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh (https://www.racialequitytools.org/resourcefiles/mcintosh.pdf)
• Freedom Is A Constant Struggle by Angela Davis
• Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
• The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin (READ ANY AND ALL JAMES BALDWIN!!!!)
• Citizen by Claudia Rankine
• Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill Collins
• Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad
• Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon
• I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
• White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
• The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein
• Beloved by Toni Morrison
• So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo 
• Road Map for Revolutionaries by Elisa Camahort Page, Carolyn Gerin, and Jamia Wilson 
• The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration In The Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
• Between The World And Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
• Americanah - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 
• Your Silence Will Not Protect You by Audre Lorde
• Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward
• They Can’t Kill Us All: Ferguson, Baltimore, And A New Era In America’s Racial Justice Movement by Wesley Lowery
• Beloved by Toni Morrison
• When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir
• Book by Asha Bandele and Patrisse Cullors
• Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
• Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix of the National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning by Jason Reynolds, Ibram X. Kendi
• This Book Is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action, and Do The Work by Tiffany Jewell
• The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X
• How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
• The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race by Jesmyn Ward
• White Rage by Carol Anderson
• Conversations in Black: On Politics, Power and Leadership by Ed Gordon 
• An African American and Latinx History of the United States by Paul Ortiz 
• Chokehold: Policing Black Men by Paul Butler 
• What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker: A Memoir in Essays by Damon Young
• Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria by Beverly Tatum
• I’m Still Here by Austin Channing Brown
• Whistling Vivaldi by Claude Steel
• White Awake by Daniel Hill

WATCH LIST TO EDUCATE OURSELVES:

• When They See Us - Netflix
• 13th - Netflix (I had to watch this for my sociology class and highly recommend it!)
• See You Yesterday - Netflix
• American Son - Netflix
• Dear White People - Netflix
• If Beale Street Could Talk - Hulu
• The Hate U Give - Hulu
• Little Fire Everywhere - Hulu
• Just Mercy - Amazon Prime (Streaming for free thru June)
• Black Power Mixtape
• Clemency
• Fruitvale Station
• I Am Not Your Negro - Kanopy & Prime Video
• Selma
• Green Book
• Hidden Figures
• Lee Daniels: The Butler
• Mudbound
• Fences
• The Color Purple
• 12 Years a Slave
• 42
• Blackkklansmen
• Moonlight (HAPPY PRIDE MONTH Y'ALL)
• The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson (HAPPY PRIDE MONTH Y'ALL) 
• Us
• Get Out

TUNE IN LIST TO EDUCATE OURSELVES:

• 1619 - NYT, Spotify
• About Race - https://www.showaboutrace.com/
• Seeing White - Spotify
• Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast - Spotify
• Code Switch - Spotify, NPR
• The Diversity Gap - Spotify
• Intersectionality Matters - Spotify
• Pod for the Cause - Spotify, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
• Pod Save The People - Spotify

ORGANIZATIONS TO FOLLOW AND BLACK VOICES TO TUNE INTO: 

NAACP: https://www.naacp.org/?fbclid=IwAR1BxC_7u-BhZwGivJ5awS8vUrzdPoCDE5btuYllfa0rPGcPAKMVg5UmBHU

THE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE ON CIVIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS: https://civilrights.org/?fbclid=IwAR1j1mtO4cL6jSFiHbThv2J9c6lK82TH9UdjtAQxH4KtpsUFRfOpPIfz4CU

COLOR OF CHANGE: https://colorofchange.org/?fbclid=IwAR14dvivsvE0kcUupeGwczedaU7hjZlkZvYHPjehAp8I2CBFMGK3JqMFoxQ

EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: https://eji.org/?fbclid=IwAR1btNd_1J_fM-j7RK1zzZe4xwdEiSvBRtH0QcTQrYpJyoC8SWUO72-fudM

UNITED WE DREAM: https://unitedwedream.org/?fbclid=IwAR0HwyrDafgH2GgmRCMf6X5O4d7ONzxhDiirSamMjb6btNkeTP9lLiaRJ9Y

SHOWING UP FOR RACIAL JUSTICE: https://www.instagram.com/showingupforracialjustice/?hl=en&fbclid=IwAR2h20rK-C7CTKVhx7Y8Y2mALpfO8i2enlgmRhFNWiz3aAxl84bQFCsaQho

VOICES:
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CA6uC66gF_q/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&fbclid=IwAR2HLTj2odgBw5sp3HaOAmVoVpHj01NU-wHkgcVeS65MSAdPtRcGO9kq_W4

https://www.bet.com/news/national/2020/03/12/future-40-kenidra-woods-menta-health-warrior.html?fbclid=IwAR1CtI_nNftum_ESdqTkFtaCWPlFGz1QYfI5TmW0cS9IZClg2dticF-0D2E

MAKING PHONE CALLS/TEXTING/SENDING EMAILS:

TEXT:

• FLOYD to 55-156
• JUSTICE to 668366
• ENOUGH to 55156

CALL:

• Leave a message for Louisville Mayor and demand Justice for Breonna Taylor - (502)574-2003
• This link provides step-by-step information on how to contact your local government to discuss racial justice in your area and to help you express to your Reps what you want to see and what legislation they should be pushing for and introducing: https://www.vice.com/…/basic-guide-to-finding-and-calling-y… 

EMAIL: 

• Email your local superintendent and principals to see what sort of racial justice curriculum is in place in your local school and have a conversation about how that can change to be more inclusive and helpful.

There are so many ways to help the Black Lives Matter movement and it is up to all of us to do our part to create a safe, just, and compasstionate country. DON'T WAIT, DO YOUR PART TODAY!!