Tag: endometriosis

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Endometriosis Care Needs More than Conversations

Female presenting patient having a conversation with a doctor (male presenting)

Recently there has been a lot of “noise” around endometriosis.  As a disease that is thought to affect 1 in 10 people assigned female at birth, this should be fairly common.  It’s a painful, debilitating disease, which can impact the lives of those affected from puberty through their lifespan so you might expect a lot of fundraising, talking and attention on research activities. 

Except that’s not the case.  Despite the high prevalence and very real impact of endometriosis on people’s daily lives, it does not receive proportionate attention.

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Why Trans Inclusion in Healthcare is so Important

A NHS cervical screening advert: A masculine presenting person with "I'm doing it for me" written next to his face. It also says "Book your cervical screening appointment. Trans men and non-binary people aged 25-64 are eligible for cervical screening if they have a cervix"

As a trans man who is both disabled and very active within the trans community, I was thrilled to find out the NHS had updated its advice on Cervical Screening to be more inclusive. This included advertising a trans man for booking the tests! Finally, the opportunity for healthcare to become more accommodating and to help dispel some of the stigmas.

Society’s barriers, assumptions, and negative attitudes towards trans people continue to persist greatly in the UK. This spiked especially in 2018 after the Gender Recognition Act consultation in the UK. Fueled especially by the increase of anti-trans groups and gender-critical “feminists” such as Women’s Place, LGB alliance, JK Rowling and Julie Bindel.

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When I Say ‘Endometriosis’ you Hear ‘Infertile’, and I’m Tired of it.

A woman sat on a sofa with her arms crossed looking annoyed at another woman in the foreground

TW: This article contains discussions of reproductive health and fertility.

Seven months ago my consultant made the decision that it was in my best interests to be induced into chemical menopause. In the two years since my initial diagnosis via surgery, endometriosis had returned and spread to my bladder and was showing no signs of slowing down.

With the NHS waiting list for laparoscopy and cystoscopy looking dire, and my inability to finance surgery for excision privately, it seemed there was a ticking time bomb strapped to my organs – and medical menopause was my only feasible option. 

The concept of menopause at twenty years old is bizarre, though I trusted my consultant’s judgement. The injection I am taking, Prostap, has a concoction of side effects, alongside the existing unpleasant symptoms of menopause, but it feels the endurance of these side effects is the lesser of two evils.

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Why I Have Endometriosis but Don’t Identify as an ‘Endosis’ – How we can Make the Community More Inclusive

Yellow ribbon, hearts, pinned to clothesline

Nearly five years after my diagnosis, I was brutally reminded that endometriosis does not conform to the rules. 

“You see this?” My kind but completely unfazed surgeon pointed to the MRI images on display. 

They informed me that where we would usually see more defined spaces between the uterus the left ovary and colon, this wasn’t the case on my scan. My endometriosis had formed plaque that had bound them all together and the disease was now covering most of my sigmoid colon. 

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“I had to hide my condition” – How people with Endometriosis are being treated in the workplace.

Endometriosis Awareness month is here and there’ll be articles appearing around the lack of research about the condition. Awareness is growing every month, with people speaking openly about the treatments that they’ve been through. However, it’s also important to raise awareness of the affect it has on 9-5 lives.

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“How Disabled are you?” Queer Disabled and Looking for a Date

Scrabble tiles spelling out "Love is Love" against a pink background

TW: This article features ableism, disability fetishism, biphobia and transphobia

I was fresh out of an almost 12-year relationship, I’d come out as queer and I was ready to fling myself headfirst into dating again. I hadn’t been on a date since the early 00’s, but how hard was this online dating thing really?

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