Why doesn't anyone seem to know about endometriosis? And why, when someone DOES actually know, do they think it's simply bad cramps??? Makes me wanna put my GRRRR face on!!!
My own mother called the disorder "bad cramps". No mom, it's quite a lot more than that. I explained Endometriosis to her in length.
My husband, poor guy, has been here with me every step of the way. I should get him a trophy for The Man Who Can Tolerate The Most TMI and Stick Around. Though he knows every last gorey detail, he's referred to Endometriosis as "cramps" every now and then (only to be called on it).
I'm a personal trainer at a fancy schmancy health club. My personal training manager, who graduated from Stanford with a degree in Exercise Physiology, told everyone I went home early the other day because of a bad migraine. He didn't want anyone to know my personal business unless I was okay with it. He's a very supportive guy. Before I explained Endometriosis to him, he thought of it as, you guessed it. CRAMPS.
It is reported that 10-15 percent of women have endometriosis*, a whopping 1-2 in 10. So, why doesn't anyone know about it? Why, when we tell people about Endometriosis, do they think we just can't handle our cramps?? Why does the world think we should just put our big-girl panties on and deal with it?! I don't want to have to pull out my feminist card, but...
You're all familiar with erectile dysfunction, right? We've all seen the commercials with the eery smile on the middle-aged man's face that simply won't go away. In fact, there are a number of companies that make a good living manufacturing and marketing drugs to help middle-aged men keep Mr. Happy at attention.
Care to take a stab at guessing the percentage of middle-aged men affected by this disorder? Judging by the television, magazine, billboard, newspaper, radio, and blimp (probably) publicity the disorder has received over the last decade, you'd think it were just about every middle-aged man you meet. You'd be wrong. 5-10 percent of men at age 40 suffer (SUFFER) from erectile dysfunction.
That's right, ladies. While we're calling in sick, balled up in the fetal position in the bathroom so we can stay close to the toilet, going through boxes of pads and tampons, taking ibuprofen and refilling our hot water bottles, feeling anemic and lightheaded on top of the incessant throbbing of our abdomens, half-expecting the monster from the Alien movies to come bursting from our guts at any moment....no one knows what we're going through. "Woman troubles," my first doctor called it. "Cramps," says the general population.
And yet....teenagers, women, adolescents, nuns, grandmothers, and even our cats all know about erectile dysfunction.
W. T. F.
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