MY LIFE WITH ENDOMETRIOSIS – GAETS
SUNHEALTH CONTINUES CONVERSATION WITH ENDO WARRIOR, KEBONYE GAETSALOE ABOUT DEBILITATING CONDITION OF ENDOMETRIOSIS THAT TAKES OVER THE LIVES OF MANY WOMEN ACROSS THE WORLD. THE CONDITION OCspCoUnRsSoWrsHsEtNudCeEnLtLsSf,oSrUaCHspAoSrt CELLS THAT LINE THE
My last operation, when the endo was exercised, made the biggest change in my health, for the better. However some of the damages done by the Endo were irreversible so I will always have health challenges.
I have to answer this in two folds, before diagnosis and after diagnosis.
The first part entails diagnoses and treatment. Diagnosis is a huge problem. It takes a very long time to diagnose Endo because of the myth that pain is normal with your periods so women just suck it up and when they eventually go to the hospital or clinic they are treated flippantly. This is a myth --- your periods are not supposed to be painful! It took me 23 years to be diagnosed. The medical fraternity need to take women’s pains seriously. This will reduce the years of suffering as well as minimise the damage that comes with late diagnoses of Endo. Infertility being a major side effect.
The only way endostriosis can be diagnosed is through a laparascopic surgery, an expensive procedure, that involves opening three key holes in your stomach for the surgeons to look inside you with cameras. Yes, government hospitals are free but how many of them have specialist gynaecologists and how many of them have the proper equipment to do the surgery? The government needs to stand up for women on this matter. From where I am sitting their attitude is that you are not dying so go to the back of the queue. For those with medical aid the situation is slightly better, but they also run out of funds quickly because of the amount of medication we use. Here I would suggest that we should all be treated under chronic medication scheme like HIV. We need the strong painkillers for life.
The second part is once diagnosed then what? The Gold Standard treatment is Excision. Bring in experts to treat us. Train more gynaes, send more gynaes to train as excision specialists. If you are one of the unlucky ones you may not be able to concieve. This is where we need the government to step in and put in laws that allow us to do IVF, Surrogacy and Adoption easier and affordably.
Lets dispel the taboos and myths around the menstrual cycle so we can talk about it freely within families and give better care to our sisters, wifes and daughters that are suffering. How does a natural process that gives live get so shunned? It just defeats logic. We are all hear because of it.
“Matepe”, “Setshwakga” “Botswa”, those and more are all the description given to me and my endo sisters at some point in our lives. Fortunately for me, as much as my sisters did not understand the seriousness of my situation, they have always indulged me. They have always taken care of me and later on of my kids. I have never had to worry about that.
My advice to Endo Warriors is to educate yourself as much as you can about your condition. Find coping ways that work for you. Try and educate as many people in your sphere of influence as possible, that way it will be easier for them to understand you.
How do I manage pain? Mmm! You don’t want to know that. Lets just leave it at painkillers and heat packs.