ENDOMETRIOSIS: A LITTLE KNOWN DISEASE FEW PEOPLE CAN PRONOUNCE

A community coming together to fight an invisible disease

East County News Service

February 22, 2019 (San Diego) -- March is Endometriosis Awareness Month.  Bloomin’ Uterus, an El Cajon-based organization, will be hosting two free events in San Diego March 16 and 30 to raise awareness of this disease. Registration is required for both events.

March 16, 2019, 1:00 p.m.: free screening of the EndoWhat? documentary; UCSD UC San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences; HSEC Auditorium; 9500 Gilman Drive; La Jolla, CA 92093 (limited to 250 attendees; 220 seats still available)

March 30, 2019, 11:00 a.m.: fifth annual awareness & support walk; NTC Park at Liberty Station; 2455 Cushing Road, San Diego, CA (limited to 300 attendees; less than 70 spaces available)

Endometriosis is an incurable disease that affects 1 in 10 women, and it is estimated 176 million women worldwide suffer.  Many do not know they have it; others suffer in silence.  Is Endometriosis fatal? No.  That's likely why it's not as well known as cancer or AIDS.  But it is severely debilitating and life-altering.  Due to misdiagnoses and a lack of education in the medical and laymen community, it takes some women over 8 years to be diagnosed.  During that time, women may think they're alone or weak, many lose their jobs due to missed days, or relationships and friendships may be destroyed. 

Symptoms usually consist of chronic pain, inflammation, swelling, internal bleeding, infertility, or adhesions (scar tissue) can adhere organs together.  The only way to diagnose “Endo” is with surgery (there are no tests or scans that can confirm its presence).  Its cause is unknown.  And there is no cure.  It is generally found within the pelvic cavity, grafted onto the uterus or ovaries; however, it can even form on other organs, including the brain, lungs, heart, eyes, skin, liver, pancreas, kidneys, bladder, and bowels, causing severe and possibly life-threatening symptoms.  The treatment can include multiple surgeries to remove the invasive growths, medications to try to suppress the symptoms (such as Lupron Depot), pain medications, and pelvic floor therapy.  Many women seek relief homeopathically or through Eastern Medicine.  Suppression and surgery are not a cure.

Bloomin’ Uterus brings this community coming together: strangers becoming friends, women who thought they were alone and suffering in silence finding their voice, raising money to help fund research to find a cure.  You, your mother, sister, aunt, significant other, neighbor, friend - any of these women may have this disease.  Some may not even know it.

If you would like to register for these events, donate to the fundraising efforts, would like more information regarding the monthly support groups, or would like to learn more about Endometriosis, please visit www.bloominuterus.com or email Lisa Howard at lisa@bloominuterus.com.  

About Bloomin’ Uterus: an online blog, hosts monthly support groups, and annual awareness events in San Diego regarding Endometriosis.  It has brought women with Endometriosis and the families of this community together in a show of support, strength, and solidarity.  What began as a small blog in late 2014, has developed into a family which has raised and donated over $7,000 for the Endometriosis Foundation of America to help educational awareness and research campaigns for a cure.  Together we can do great things.