Pushing back on endometriosis stigma

I first spoke with Jennifer Cummings-Rabich back in 2018 when she shared her experiences with ovarian cancer and endometriosis.

Today, she's cancer free and speaking out again on a topic that resonates a lot with others who have endometriosis -- not always being heard or believed. When she first came to her gynecologist "practically begging" for a hysterectomy, she was told "it would cause too many problems.“

A year later, she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

“I begged her for a hysterectomy, and she said ‘it will cause too many problems,'” she said. “Well, you know something? Ovarian cancer is a big problem.”

A recent survey from the The Alliance for Endometriosis revealed that 90 percent of people with endometriosis say the pain and other symptoms they experience are disbelieved, dismissed, or ignored by others. In these interactions, doctors, employers, friends, and even family members are the ones often dismissing these symptoms.

I spoke with Cummings-Rabich, Dr. Georgine Lamvu, PhD, CPE, chair of the IPPS Executive Board — a member organization of the Alliance for Endometriosis -- Dr. Jeannette Lager, MPH, associate director of the UCSF Endometriosis Center, and my friend, Diana Falzone, journalist and The Endometriosis Foundation of America ambassador, about what it is like today for people with endometriosis and ways to push back against stigma.

Read the full story here.

(via Healthline)

Via Healthline.com