The Girls I've Been
Page 28
VP: 1-202-559-5366
Text: 1-202-945-9266
Email: hotline@deafdawn.org
deafdawn.org
The NW Network of Bi, Trans, Lesbian and Gay Survivors of Abuse
1-206-568-7777
nwnetwork.org
A note from Tess
In chapter 43, Iris refers to her endometriosis as a “heavy bleeding condition” as a way to get Red Cap to leave her and Nora alone in the bathroom.
While heavy menstrual bleeding is one of the many serious symptoms of endometriosis, I would be remiss if I didn’t clarify that endometriosis is not a condition but a disease that often causes debilitating chronic pain, and Iris is simplifying for effect.
An estimated one in ten cis women have endometriosis—and this statistic does not begin to include all the people who have endometriosis, since it’s not just cis women who have uteruses or who menstruate—and it takes an average of ten years to get a diagnosis because period pain and problems are often not taken seriously or are dismissed as “normal.”
If you would like to know more about endometriosis and how to advocate for yourself medically if you do deal with menstrual pain, please visit endowhat.org.
If you are living with endometriosis like myself, I send you love and strength and all the spoons.
—TS
About the Author
Born in a mountain cabin to a punk-rocker mother, Tess Sharpe grew up in rural California. She lives deep in the backwoods with a pack of dogs and a growing colony of formerly feral cats. She is an author and anthology editor, and has written several award-winning and critically acclaimed books for children, teens and adults.
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