Hi Everyone!
I am so excited to be doing this blog post. The reason why is because this Saturday I went to an Endometriosis Conference in Boston at Children's Hospital. To be honest I was quite nervous to go. I did not go last year because I was sick but I honestly had no idea what to expect.
Now my mom and I got there late (of course!) so we came in when Dr. Laufer (Head Gynecologist at Children's also an expert in Endometriosis) was talking about the different stages of Endometriosis and all different medications and much more.
Then another doctor came up, her name was Dr. Missmer and she talked about the Women's Health Study. They are researching how Endometriosis spreads and how to try to find a cure.
Then there were three groups discussions that you could go to. One was for teens with Endometriosis ages 16-22. The second group was teens with Endometriosis 15 and younger. The last group was for parents of daughters who have Endometriosis.
This group discussion was probably the biggest thing I was nervous about. I don't know why but I was nervous on what would the other girls say and their different experiences. At first it was kind of awkward but after a few minutes, everyone wanted to talk and share their experiences.
I think that was so comforting just hearing that I am not alone with this awful disease. That there are girls like me who suffer with school, social life, and everything in between. It was interesting hearing the stories about the girls who are in college as well.
I also really liked how we shared what makes us feel better and different things we do to distract us from the pain.
The discussion was only an hour which went by so quickly. But it was worth every minute hearing from all the different girls.
After the discussion we had a choice on whether to attend a presentation of Acupuncture or Yoga and Mediation. My mom and I went to Acupuncture because we love Acupuncture and we wanted to see what the acupuncturist had to say about Endometriosis. (Personally, I love my acupuncturist better....shhh)
Then my mom and I went to Boloco where we had lunch with one of the girls I had met in the discussion group. Her name is Jenna. Hi Jenna!!! And we got to talk one to one about our stories and it was really fun but sad at the same time that for a long time we felt alone but now we found each other! :)
After lunch there were two presentations. One was about diet and the other was about coping with pain. I thought both of these presentations were great and very informative.
And that was the conference! I think anyone who has this disease needs to go to this conference. There were people there from all over the country. I just think it was really comforting just being able to see that I am not alone and that other girls are suffering just like me.
I just want to thank Dr. Laufer for everything he has done for me and my family. Also, for all the girls that he has helped.
I thought that some of you might be interested in hearing about this and maybe be interested in going next year. :)
Here is a website, that gives you information about Endometriosis as well as an online chat for teenagers. I have not done the online chat but it might help some of you.
http://www.youngwomenshealth.org/endo_conf.html
I hope you have a wonderful day/night!
Carpe Diem,
Sophia
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