The Ladies Lifestyle

Before you can begin to understand why there are specific things that you should not say to women battling infertility, allow me to educate you on the subject matter.  Infertility is a woman's inability to conceive or carry a pregnancy full term. I should note that there are two types of infertility, Primary and Secondary.  Primary Infertility causes a woman to be unable to get pregnant. Secondary Infertility is the inability to get pregnant after being able to conceive at least once.  Now that I have provided a basic definition of infertility, lets move onto the conversational etiquette that is needed when approaching the topic of pregnancy with a woman dealing with  infertility.   Girl, when are you going to have a baby? If you wait any longer, you won't be able have any . Don't assume that because she hasn't had any kids by 35 that its a choice. Humans are so proficient at looking from the outside in and making judgments. Because you ...

 Many of us who suffer due to  Invisible Illnesses are often faced with the possibility of having to resign from our careers. This decision comes from months or years of working while in pain, declines in job performance, and an increase in absences.  To add insult to illness, when you seek Disability Insurance from the state that you have worked for, paid taxes to, and funded the insurance benefits and monetary support for others, you are forced to PROVE that you are "disabled" enough to qualify for money that has been taken from your earnings for years.  It is this Ignored but Controversial dilemma that sparked this post. As I write this post, I am waiting to go before a judge. It has been 3 long years of appointments, tests, questionnaires, digging, and being denied 3 times. My savings, my car, my home, and retirement funds are gone, along with my ability to be employable in a career field.  So then the question becomes, what is more important in determining...

You See Me Not My Pain? What does that mean? When you live with the pain and complications of Invisible Illness, you will find that people will judge you solely based on your appearance. To the eye you look perfectly fine. You don't have any deformities. You aren't in a wheelchair. You can talk, hear, and see BUT you are sick. Sadly, while you look fine externally, internally, you feel like you are being eaten alive by an enemy that you can't see.  You are in pain. You are exhausted. You are a ball of anxiety/depression. Yet, no one can see your struggle because it is COMPLETELY invisible to the naked eye. Most humans, including medical professionals have a difficult time embracing and accepting something that they can't see. By instinct, a person's first impression is commonly based on outward appearances. We live in an instant society, nobody has time for anything, we are all rushing to get here or there.  Getting people to truly SEE you takes time and...

This is going to be a random, probably all over the place post.  2014 was such a challenge for me, physically, mentally, and emotionally. However, I had a long talk with myself and I got fussed at often by My Shae about getting back to writing and vlogging. So, I AM BAAACCCCKKK!!! In 2015, I plan to do much more to help raise awareness for women and their families who battle illnesses and/or malfunctions of the Reproductive organs/areas. There are so many of us suffering but we are not well represented in the media, especially on Youtube.  However, I am going to do my best to remedy this situation and I hope that my efforts will spark an outcry in our community and provide us with more representation in the media.  We need daily visibility not just in March on our AWESOME March for Awareness. Our issues need and deserve more exposure. My first task is to resurrect our yout Periods Should NOT Be Painful Youtube Channel ube channel. Currently, I am working on it, I have add...

Finally its time, the long promised Surgery update and results. On March 27, 2014 I had my second surgery for Endometriosis. The purpose of the surgery was to see how the disease has progressed and what the next plan of action should be. I went into this procedure completely confident in my decision and the expertise of my wonderful doctor. I arrived to the hospital at peace and  ready to get the show on the road. I was delightfully surprised, the Women's Wing of Grady Hospital is really nice. If you know my relationship with Grady, then you understand my shock and awe. My nurses were wonderful and the entire experience was great. I had three procedures, A Hysteroscopy & Endometrial Ablation, A Cystoscopy, and an Abdominal Laparoscope. When all was scoped, burned, and invaded, I was closed up and sent to recovery. According to my family, recovery was a little unnerving. I was told that I had a hard time in recovery, it seems that they could not get the pain under control. I hav...

I know...I know.... I have been MIA. There has been a lot going on in my world, with the most recent being my surgery. I am doing this a little bit backwards but I felt this topic was more pressing that the details of my surgery. I don't think that people realize that recovering from surgery is not just a physical process, it's emotional as well, especially surgeries that involve "female areas." Its because of my own realization of this process that I am writing this piece.  When we think of surgery recovery most people think of foods, comfort, entertainment, meds, childcare, the financial impact, and other life related things. I dare to say, the biggest and most important component is being overlooked. As women, we are emotional creatures and that is a wonderful thing. However, most of us try to suppress and ignore our emotional needs until they boil up and erupt. When it comes to surgery the same applies. Until we and the people around us understand and put measure...

The purpose of this tag is to generate conversation in the Endo Community and to share our experiences with others. This tag will be in two parts. I look forward to the interactions that I hope this activity will create.                                         The Tag Questions 1. How was your Endometriosis diagnosed? 2. How old were you when at the time of diagnosis? 3. What stage is your Endometriosis? 4. What is your current treatment plan? 5. How long have you gone without treatment? How did it effect you? 6. Name one doctor that has had a positive impact on you? 7. How bad is your pain? Do you suffer daily or just at cycle time? 8. One thing you refuse to let Endometriosis steal from you? 9. How has Endometriosis effected your quality of life? 10. What is one lesson that Endome...