Hello, lovelies. My name is Arti Shah, and welcome to another episode of A Ray of Sunshine, a journey of an endo warrior and everything in between.

In this episode, we discuss medical trauma and endometriosis, basic guidelines, and questions to ask doctors when dealing with this journey of endometriosis and the stages of endometriosis.

Medical trauma refers to a patient's psychological and physiological response to pain. Medical trauma sometimes can be viewed as an acute onset of a disrupted physiological system in which the ongoing threat is internal, and this can be long term or permanent if not dealt with by seeking professional help.

We continue our chat with Katie Boyce, an endometriosis patient, a board-certified patient advocate and chemist, and co-founder of Endo Girls Blog (https://endogirlblog.com/), to learn more about medical trauma and endometriosis.

Disclaimer: The information on this podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

The transcript of the first few minutes of this podcast is presented below:

Hello, lovelies. My name is Arti Shah, and welcome to another episode of A Ray of Sunshine, a journey of an endo warrior and everything in between. Welcome home.

In today's episode, we discuss medical trauma and endometriosis, basic guidelines and questions to ask doctors when dealing with this journey of endometriosis. And the stages of endometriosis and how they're not relevant when it comes to every patient dealing with this condition individually. But I want to dive in a little bit deeper about medical trauma because of endometriosis.

Medical trauma refers to a patient's psychological and physiological response to pain, a traumatic experience in a medical setting, a serious illness, which in this case is battling endometriosis and frightening treatment experiences due to dismissal by certain doctors. Medical traumas sometimes can be viewed as an accurate onset of a disrupted physiological system in which the ongoing threat is internal and we feel it deep within our body, which sometimes exacerbates symptoms of endometriosis. And this can be long term or permanent, if not dealt with by seeking professional help. The symptoms of medical trauma because of this frightening experience when dealing with endometriosis due to some of the doctors, family or society not believing us can be in forms of anxiety, depression, fearfulness, muscle tension, sleep disturbances, emotional numbing, hypervigilance, digestive issues, can give us a lot of flashbacks, intrusive memories, thoughts, or nightmares, and a lot more depending on the mental health of that patient.

I went through many therapy sessions with a professional counselor in order for me to deal with the medical trauma, not only caused by endometriosis, but also other difficult challenges I experience in my life. The coping mechanism tools I was provided in my therapy sessions have helped me, not just as a patient, but has helped me in this advocacy journey for endometriosis.

Hence why it is so important to listen to advocates who have dealt with this side of living with this condition, and who have also known how to deal with the emotional trauma that is so often related to endometriosis. In today's episode, we continue talking to Katie, who is a board certified patient advocate for endometriosis from America.

So looking at your journey, how has or did endometriosis affect you emotionally?

Katie: You know, sometimes I get little flashbacks, you know, what, what I had been through and I don't, I don't, I don't like it. Um, I don't like to sit in those feelings, but sometimes I know, you know, it's okay for me to do that and reflect.

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Hello, lovelies. My name is Arti Shah, and welcome to another episode of A Ray of Sunshine, a journey of an endo warrior and everything in between.

In this episode, we discuss the importance of correcting misinformation around and about endometriosis.

Those living with endometriosis turn to online resources for information and support because unfortunately endometriosis is a very under researched inflammatory condition and is not taught as a condition in itself as a whole. Therefore, it’s so important to make sure you are getting all your information and support from the right sources.

We speak with Katie Boyce, who is not only an endometriosis patient, but also a board-certified patient advocate and chemist, and co-founder of Endo Girls Blog (https://endogirlblog.com/).

Disclaimer: The information on this podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

The transcript of the first few minutes of this podcast is presented below:

Hello, lovelies. My name is Arti Shah, and welcome to another episode of A Ray of Sunshine, a journey of an ender warrior and everything in between. Welcome home.

In today's episode, we discuss the importance of correcting misinformation around and about endometriosis. We also discuss what to do if you're dismissed by doctors and questions to ask the doctors and the importance of advocacy for endometriosis. Those living with endometriosis turn to online resources for information and support because unfortunately, endometriosis is a very under researched inflammatory condition and is not taught as a condition in itself as a whole. Therefore, it's so important to make sure you are getting all your information and support from the right sources available. We have too many pharma driven advocates who push for usage of certain drugs and too much misinformation being circulated by a lot of OB-GYNs, non gynecological doctors and selected media houses. This not only leads to patients getting the wrong treatments, development of other conditions due to the side effects of certain medications, but also leads to have a cause by the society for the patient. In today's episode, I will be talking to Katie, who is a board certified patient advocate for endometriosis from America and we will be talking about the importance of correcting misinformation around and about endometriosis, what to do if you're dismissed by doctors, and the importance of advocacy for endometriosis.

Hi Katie, and welcome to A Ray of Sunshine.

Hi, thank you so much for having me. My name is Katie, I'm from Arizona in the United States.

I. I am an endometriosis patient. I have battled this disease for well over 15 years. My story is very much like others with endometriosis. Going years without a diagnosis, misdiagnosis, being dismissed, before finally finding a surgeon who took me seriously and was able to help me get my life back. Because of that experience, once I started feeling better and recovering from my last surgery, I really got inspired to help other endometriosis patients be able to find the same kind of care that I was able to receive. I went out on this little journey of trying to figure out the best way to do so, and I found that at least here in the United States, we have a board certification for being a patient advocate. So I proceeded with that process. It was pretty lengthy. I definitely had to do a lot of studying. It was much more intense than I had originally realized. Um, it was more than just making cute posts on the internet about endometriosis, you know, So it was a much more broad, advocacy endeavor than just endometriosis itself.

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Hello, lovelies. My name is Arti Shah, and welcome to another episode of A Ray of Sunshine, a journey of an endo warrior and everything in between.

In this episode, we discuss management of endometriosis, diet, and lifestyle changes.

Surgery is not accessible to all due to the financial aspect and because there are only a handful of endometriosis excision specialists in the world.

So, managing this debilitating condition the best way we can, is the only option until we can seek an excision surgery.

The initial challenge is first accepting this condition and then learning how to deal with this new normal. Listen to your body! Making crucial lifestyle changes plays a huge role in managing endometriosis. Following a healthy and anti-inflammatory diet which suits you, exercising the best way you can, strengthening your core and pelvic floor muscles and meditation are a few ways you can manage living with endometriosis.

I took a more holistic approach and found that modalities such as acupuncture for endometriosis and all the other health conditions has had many benefits as they are safe, non-toxic, and support my body to assist natural healing as much as possible.

Disclaimer: The information on this podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

The transcript of the first few minutes of this podcast is presented below:

Hello, lovelies. My name is Arti Shah, and welcome to another episode of A Ray of Sunshine, a journey of an endo warrior and everything in between. Welcome home.

In today's episode, we discuss management of endometriosis, diet, and lifestyle changes. As you know, by now, there is nothing normal about endometriosis or living with this illness. Living with endometriosis is all about creating a new normal because the normal before the diagnosis is thrown out the window. Creating this new normal has a massive impact.

Not only on your physical life, but on your social life, your mental health, your relationships, your education, your career and life as a whole. The Golden standard treatment and the best possible treatment for endometriosis, as discussed in my previous episode, is an excision surgery done by a trained endometriosis excision specialist.

However, this surgery is not accessible to all due to the financial aspect, and because there are only a handful of endometriosis excision specialists in the world. So managing this debilitating condition the best way we can, is the only option. That is, until we seek an excision surgery done by a trained excision endometriosis specialist.

Unfortunately, by this time, the illness has not only worsened, but progressed onto other organs of the body, causing other conditions for most of us. The thing is, even though we have dreams, goals, and aspirations that we want to fulfill, have a successful career, and a beautiful family unit of your own.

It's sometimes stripped away from you because of this demon called endometriosis. For this reason, it's very easy to fall into depression, doubt yourself, feel low and unworthy. But we must channel our mental head space and focus on adjusting this new life with endometriosis. It's really hard, but it's not impossible.

And remember that there is always help, so please seek help, be it professional, or with friends and family who don't judge you based on your illness. The reality is that even though you love getting to be normal and doing normal things, whatever normal is, the truth is you have a condition, and so you need to rest and slow down and listen to your body and how it responds to everything that you need to do.

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