Blog #1

Katie, 19, Wellington, New Zealand

“It is really hard living with Endometriosis, its difficult trying to get people to understand how you feel. I hate how taboo it still is to talk about reproductive health and anything regarding menstruation, but I do have hope that as the prevalence of the disease grows there will be more of a conversation regarding endometriosis.”

Katie had painful periods, nausea, UTI’s and felt faint for about 2 years before being diagnosed at age 17 with severe endometriosis. Initially, she wasn’t given any answers, “just me being dramatic about something that is completely normal.” It took her usual GP’s absence and seeing a different doctor, who finally gave her some insight. “I booked in for a doctors appointment with my normal GP who I’d told many times about my pain, but he was sick that day and I had his replacement female doctor, I explained my symptoms…