March.
Written by Fatima Lathan
Fatima Lathan
As the wind pushes out the last days of winters and ushers in the spring months, there is another great awakening happening: Endometriosis Awareness Month.
Endometriosis Awareness Month is a time where Endo Warriors from across the globe come together to educate people on this inflammatory disease. Endometriosis is a condition where endometrial tissue grows outside of the uterus. Studies show that 1 in 10 women will have endometriosis. Symptoms intense menstrual cycles, painful during sex, bowel, and bladder discomfort as well as pain in your pelvic area. It also has been known to cause infertility.
Each March for the past 4 years, I have proudly worn my yellow and banned together with my Endo sisters online to bring awareness to this disease that effects 2 to 10 percent of American women of childbearing age. This year however, I don’t feel like celebrating. I don’t feel like making post with hashtags. I don’t feel like subscribing to the yearly routine. This year I want to see change.
This year I do not want to discuss how 40% of black women diagnosed with Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) have endometriosis. I don’t want to create a trendy post about how there are fewer studies on black women with endometriosis, that it takes longer for us to be diagnosed. And this year I absolutely refuse to educate the masses on how black women with endometriosis are 50% more likely to struggle with fertility and the majority will do it in silence.
This year I am going to focus on uplifting the women who are on the front lines.
I will uplift Aubruin Rogers, who lost her battle to endometriosis in January because no one took her pain seriously.
I will educate on Fannie Lou Hammer and how she was sterilized without her consent.
I will focus in on how Tia Mowry-Hardict with all her money and fame still struggled with getting a diagnosis and proper education on how to live a life with endometriosis.
I will shout-out my fellow Endo Warriors and infertile Cystas like Endo Black, Broken Brown Egg and Almost Barren who are putting in the work daily to bring awareness to this disease that’s affecting so many of us. Changing our daily routines and life plans to fit our dreams of motherhood.
I will write articles, open and boldly for anyone willing to listen to the stories of emergency room visits that ended with being called a hypochondriac to the lack of education I was given on the changes my body went through after my hysterectomy.
This year I want to see change.
Real.
True.
Honest.
Change.
Endometriosis Awareness Month is supposed to be a month filled with support and bringing awareness to a disease that is going to affect every family. There will always be someone’s sister, mother, daughter, or cousin who will be posed with the possibility that endometriosis could be behind some of the pain they have been enduring for years. It comes in all different shapes, sizes, and colors. It doesn’t discriminate nor does care about your dreams or how you can’t afford IVF, surrogacy or the many procedures or laparoscopy’s that seem to become more and more frequent and expensive with each visit.
This year, I will not treat them like I have done the others. This year, as the wind pushes out winter, I will continue to push for change on a political level. This year I am going to write, email and call anyone that will listen asking for more research on black women with endometriosis. I will educate and prompt anyone with a heavy and painful cycle to make an appointment for further testing. This year I am going to push to be a part of the change that I have been wanting to see.