If I'm in pain, and I'm finding it hard to deal with, I'll make that known. I used to feel weak and pretty pathetic because of the struggles I deal with for two weeks of every month, but now, I'm really unapologetic. As well as many physical symptoms, there are a range of emotional ones too, and they are life debilitating. I have PMDD, (premenstrual dysphoric disorder), which is a very severe form of PMS. This book is a memoir of Abby Norman, and her battle with endometriosis, and the bitter struggle she has had to get any kind of understanding or even recognition of the disease from Doctors. Many, MANY Doctors and consultants however, don't. When I began reading this book, I felt like I was listening to a friend, offloading her troubles, to a being that totally understands and more importantly, believes, in women's pain.
For me, I fail to see how on Earth that is even remotely possible. According to some of our society, people actually don't want to talk about uteruses, and it is apparently a taboo subject. I initially picked out this book, because it has the word "uterus" in the title. It's time to refute the belief that being a woman is a preexisting condition. Putting her own trials into a broader historical, sociocultural, and political context, Norman shows that women's bodies have long been the battleground of a never-ending war for power, control, medical knowledge, and truth. In Ask Me About My Uterus, Norman describes what it was like to have her pain dismissed, to be told it was all in her head, only to be taken seriously when she was accompanied by a boyfriend who confirmed that her sexual performance was, indeed, compromised. It wasn't until she took matters into her own hands-securing a job in a hospital and educating herself over lunchtime reading in the medical library-that she found an accurate diagnosis of endometriosis.
Unable to get out of bed, much less attend class, Norman dropped out of college and embarked on what would become a years-long journey to discover what was wrong with her. She was repeatedly hospitalized in excruciating pain, but the doctors insisted it was a urinary tract infection and sent her home with antibiotics. In the fall of 2010, Abby Norman's strong dancer's body dropped forty pounds and gray hairs began to sprout from her temples.
For any woman who has experienced illness, chronic pain, or endometriosis comes an inspiring memoir advocating for recognition of women's health issues
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