Awareness

So today I came across a post on another blog that I think bears re-posting.  Since I am living with endometriosis and I didn't even know that a lot of awareness events existed, I can only guess that most of you didn't know either.  I have learned that March is Endometriosis Awareness Month (along with my birthday!), yellow ribbons symbolize support for Endometriosis sufferers and now this.  In fact, here is the main article on the EndoMarch website.  I am pretty excited that someone else thought to describe endometriosis like I did!  (I did NOT write the following two articles.  If you want to read more from them, please see the cited sources).

"Endometriosis: the cancer-like disease you should know about

Want to make a difference in approximately 200,000,000 lives?
Then please join us for the first ever Worldwide Endo March (Million Women March For Endometriosis), scheduled to occur in dozens of capitals around the world on March 13, 2014.

Though you don’t hear much about it in the news, endometriosis is surprisingly common, with at least 1 in 10 women and girls, usually of reproductive age, affected and suffering with crippling pain in the prime of their lives. Yet, often they receive woefully inadequate medical care, including 6-10 years delay in diagnosis, mainly because endometriosis pain has been accepted as normal for centuries. Pre-teens and teenagers are especially susceptible to misdiagnoses.

You may have heard that endometriosis can destroy the uterus, ovaries, and fallopian tubes. But did you know that it also:

• Shares many features with non-fatal cancers?
• Can metastasize much like cancers essentially anywhere in the body?
• Can potentially cause irreversible damage to essentially any organ or structure, such as: the lungs, liver, heart, eyes, kidneys, brain, bladder, bowel, diaphragm, nerves, and muscles?
  
  Your sister, mother, daughter, or even you may have it, yet be given the wrong diagnosis and therefore the wrong treatment, all of which can potentially lead to irreparable damage, infertility, and a life of unspeakable pain.
  And so, that’s why we’re marching – to turn back the tides of centuries of misinformation – and let the world know that endometriosis is a serious disease with severe medical consequences if left untreated."

(Courtesy of http://www.millionwomenmarch2014.org/)

And here is a post to help raise awareness for all of us, courtesy of the blog My Endo Diary.

See below:

"The Endomarch 2014

Thursday 13th March. The day of the Endomarch 2014. Put it in your diary, it's a date to remember! This is the date when Endometriosis Awareness will be shouted from the rooftops. It will take place in many country capitals, including;

• Athens
• Berlin
• Dubai
• Johannesburg
• London
• Mexico City
• Rome
• Stockholm
• Washington D.C ......... AND MANY, MANY MORE! 

This is an internationally coordinated campaign where Endometriosis sufferers, their friends, families and doctors, will all come together to raise awareness. Hopefully the impact of this will make people stop and listen. People will hear our pleas for more awareness and our hear voices when we explain our struggles.

Sound's great right? I will hopefully be attending the Endomarch in London.

Around 176 million women worldwide suffer from Endometriosis. A chronic illness that to many people is invisible. But to those who suffer from it, it can turn their lives upside down. Much more awareness is needed about Endometriosis. The Endomarch will be a perfect opportunity to do just that!

The goals of this march falls within three categories..

• To Empower
• To Educate
• To Effect Change

Come and join us in taking a stand against Endometriosis. Let us educate each other on this awful illness. Promote education within the medical field too. Once this is achieved, we can help change the outcome. How about finding a cure? Better diagnostics? Better treatment?

Anything will be possible... so let's start by marching!

Who's with me??

Click here to find more information from the official Endomarch website."

(Courtesy of http://myendodiaries.blogspot.com/)