In honor of Halloween, I share with you my family's curse.
Dancer Julianne Hough is the latest casualty on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars." Following last Tuesday's live results show, Julianne complained of stomach pains and was taken to Cedars-Sinai Hospital where she was treated and released.
Well, it turns out that Julianne is also the latest casualty of a disease that affects curses over 70 million women worldwide: Endometriosis.
I was diagnosed with "endo" about 25 years ago and have endured numerous surgeries, years of infertility, and bizarre medial treatments (I went through induced menopause twice before the age of 40!). After being told that I would probably never have children, it was quite a surprise when I wound up pregnant at the ripe-old age of 42. Another surgery is most likely in my future... just as soon as I get my medical records together and my family trained to be self-sufficient for a while.
This disease has cursed my maternal line for... well it's impossible to know how long. My mother - after years of being told that her pain couldn't possibly be that bad - was "cured" by a hysterectomy in her 30's, forcing her into early menopause and a lifetime of mood swings and hormone replacement therapy. My grandmother was eventually diagnosed with uterine cancer, but she most likely had Endometriosis. Doctors didn't really know what it was back then.
Beyond my grandmother, it's difficult to know how many of my female ancestors also suffered with this disease. A definitive diagnosis can only be made surgically, and back-in-the-day doctors didn't typically go around poking holes in women when they could much more easily be diagnosed as "crazy," or "it's all in your head."
Though it is not known for certain how or why Endometriosis occurs, one promising theory is that it may be hereditary:
Preliminary study results indicate that patients with relatives who have Endometriosis may be genetically predisposed to developing it themselves. This theory was suggested as early as 1943, with current research underway by OxeGene researchers at the University of Oxford. [1]Which, of course, shifts my concern to my daughter. It breaks my heart to think of her suffering as her grandmother (my mother) and I - and probably countless other female ancestors - have done.
In an effort to bring attention to this "curse" on women, the Endometriosis Research Center is sponsoring a petition to encourage the U.S. Postal Service to create a stamp "honoring the lives of the millions of American women and girls struggling with this disease and to bring about widespread National awareness which will hopefully lead to better recognition of Endometriosis, more effective treatments, and ultimately – one day – a cure."
I urge you to take just a moment out of your day and add your name to this growing list of supporters. In honor of our female ancestors, let's work together to stamp out this curse so that our descendants - present and future - will no longer have to suffer in silence.
Julianne Hough is scheduled for an appendectomy today to remove her endo-covered appendix, something that I went through myself on my birthday back in 1997. I wish her a successful surgery and a speedy recovery.
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[1] OXEGENE is a world-wide research study that aims to find the genes responsible for causing Endometriosis based at the Nuffield Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at the University of Oxford. Print this post
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