1. Let’s start with the classic: What’s your worst, funniest, or most awkward period story?

I was flying to London and I didn’t fully empty my pockets when I went through the body scanner. I had one tampon in my pocket which I had to pull out and put on a tray (on its own) to go through the X-ray machine…….. the security officer who asked me to do this laughed…. 

2. What have you demystified about your female body that you wish you knew when you were younger?

That there is nothing normal about pain with periods that makes life feel very hard and cant be well controlled by pain relief 

3. Have you been diagnosed with a women’s health condition (like endometriosis, PCOS, PMDD, etc.)? If so, how did you know something wasn’t right, and what was your journey like to get answers?

I was diagnosed with deep endometriosis in 2023 at age 30. It was one hell of a ride because I suffered in silence for such a long time. I didn’t even think I could complain until the pain became completely and utterly unbearable because women’s pain is so normalised. I did so much of my normal life in agony. Once I started having pain that was not cyclic I knew there had to be something wrong with me, but the intensity of my cyclic pain could never have been the sign of a normal bodily function, it screamed inflammatory disease pain in hindsight.

4. What was your diagnosis experience like? 

I quickly ended up in the hands of an advanced endometriosis surgery once I asked for help. This was lucky, I have a gynaecologist as a friend and I was told what I needed in a text message after my ultrasound. I went to the GP and she suggested starting with physiotherapy and I said “I would like to be referred to this person”. At my first appointment I was told I had a severe form of endometriosis likely with bowel involvement, but then had a false negative MRI scan which suggested no evidence of deep endometriosis or bowel involvement. I went in for a laparoscopy only to get a diagnosis of endometriosis bowel invasion in the middle of surgery. I had to have a second surgery planned with a colorectal surgeon 9 months later to have a bowel resection. The extent of my disease was hard to detect on MRI even though it was very deep and had invaded through both muscle layers of my rectum, which meant multiple surgeries to clear the disease.

5. How has your condition changed your daily life?

Before having surgery my life was ruled by pain. I searched period pain on my Facebook messenger and found so many instances where I had cancelled plans or told people I was up to not much because I was in too much pain. My daily life is not impacted by this pain anymore and still there are not many days that go by where I don’t think about how relieved I feel about this 

6. What symptoms made you think something wasn’t right with your body?

Pain every day and often associated with bowel activity, before bowel movement. Signs of advanced disease and a body and brain that’s lived with far too much pain for far too long 

7. Have you tried anything that has helped you manage your symptoms?

Physiotherapy has actually been more helpful than I ever imagined. I have learned a lot about the effects of chronic pelvic pain on the pelvic floor. Pain causes muscle spasm which causes more pain. Pain begets pain… understanding how stretch and diaphragm breathe has eased some of my chronic pelvic pain 

8. What’s one thing you wish more people understood about women’s health?

Throughout history women have been thought to be hysterical and dramatic about their suffering but I am here to cry out to anyone and everyone that it’s the exact opposite - women suffer far too much and mostly in silence. We need to do so much more to normalise conversations about women’s reproductive health so that the world understands how much pain and suffering common conditions such as endometriosis cause and how devastating the impacts can be on every part of a woman’s life 

9. If you could tell younger you one thing about your body, what would it be?

The world will sexualise your body and you’ll be made to feel like your suffering has to be hidden because it’s your reproductive organs, but you are a human being who deserves to talk about it, to live freely and without pain 

10. When your body feels hard to live in, how do you take care of yourself?

Talking to some of my closest friends always helps, I have some incredibly caring and intelligent friends who know how to be supportive. I made a friend who also needed a bowel resection for endometriosis and I would have felt very alone through all of this without her. Some people dont understand but she always does. Getting outside for a walk is also helpful, I live in Queensland Australia so the weather is often nice for it.