Alone in the Crowd - Living Well with Endometriosis

Chernobyl survivor Ania was eight; the nuclear disaster became more than just a metaphor for her that mirrored her pain. It became her reason to discover the cause for her suffering, drove her to America, and helped her find her cure. Now she shares her story with the 175 million women who suffer globally from this disease. In her own words, "I was enjoying life to the fullest. I felt like I had it all - zeal, zest, education, dreams, travel; there was nothing I couldn't do, nothing I couldn't go after. Then my world came crashing down. Pain. Depression. Misery. These were my constant companions. What was happening to my beautiful life? Then I heard a word that brought everything into focus: E-N-D-O-M-E-T-R-I-O-S-I-S. Ania continues, "If you have been diagnosed with this debilitating disease, then you know the blackness and heartache that endometriosis creates in your life. But if you are struggling to find the cause of anguishing symptoms that doctors cannot find a source for, then it is possible you have undiagnosed "endo". It is an incredibly painful and, at times, incapacitating disease that affects over six million women and girls in the USA, and millions more worldwide. But endometriosis is not just a health condition that women struggle with. It is a social, psychological, and economical problem of global proportions. Whenever I speak to people about this disease, they look at me with eyes as big as quarters, wondering if they have heard of it, or trying to figure out what it is, exactly. Since I have done so much research, gone through countless tests, developed various holistic and medical methods of dealing with the disease, and created delicious and healthy recipes that help my body cope, I felt I could no longer "stay in the closet" just because "endo" was a taboo subject or something people were not comfortable to talk about."