1. What's your worst, funniest, or most awkward period story?

I was having sex with my partner and out of nowhere a massive blood clot passed. White sheets. Absolute carnage.

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

That periods are painful when they really shouldn't be.

3. Have you been diagnosed with a women's health or gut health condition? If so, how did you know something wasn't right, and what was your journey like to get answers?

I’ve been diagnosed with Endometriosis & Adenomyosis and I suspect I also have PCOS.

My journey is a long one like many. At the age of 14/15 I got my period but it was never regular and I also had my first ruptured cyst on my ovaries. It was always painful and the time around my cycle got worse when I got it. I went years with barely any cycle but when I got it, I couldn’t work or do anything.

4. What was your diagnosis experience like?

For a long time doctors told me I had PCOS because of my cysts and never getting my period. I was told from a young age I probably wouldn’t be able to have kids or would definitely have trouble getting pregnant.

I moved to New Zealand at the age of 22 and always struggled with majorly painful period and migraines. It continued to get worse here which led me to see a gyno who looked at my scans and said no you don’t my PCOS because the cyst on your ovaries isn’t in a pearl-like formation it’s more likely you have Endometriosis. First time I heard this term at 25 and wasn't informed of all my options, only that getting pregnant was a great way to help manage/ 'get rid' of endo.

I went years confused as doctors couldn’t help me or give me answers as I couldn’t get insurance due to my pre-existing conditions, and so was put on the public wait list for surgery. In August 2025, I went into the hospital with kidney pain and found out I was pregnant and was most likely having an ectopic pregnancy. Again, didn’t know this was a possibility with someone who had endometriosis. Doctors never took the time to explain, and I always had to do the research myself which always felt overwhelming and took a toll mentally. An ultrasound confirmed the ectopic pregnancy, and I was rushed to Invercargill hospital for surgery. Before going in I ask the surgeons if they could look for Endo as my doctor had suspected it and this could be a way to confirm it. The surgeon told me there wasn’t a high chance of finding Endo in that area. Once again getting dismissed. I went into surgery and woke up to the surgeon telling me I had advanced stage 2 to 3 Endometriosis, and they found it in multiple locations but didn’t remove any of it. So, I am currently waiting for surgery still.

My Endometriosis has been so severe that I can’t work. They suspect it’s grown into my kidneys and appendix because MRIs showed inflammation in those areas, but my bloods show no infection. The last 8 months have probably been the hardest of my life.

5. How has your condition impacted your daily life?

I can't really work anymore. I live in pain most days now. My kidneys flare badly, and I get migraines around my cycle that have caused me to lose my vision, even while driving. I can't drive at the moment because of it.

When they checked my eyes, they found the same kind of inflammation seen in other areas of my body. But my surgeon and doctors told me it's not possible for endo to spread to the eyes.

6. What symptoms made you think something wasn't right?

The super painful periods, and a bone-deep aching pain in my hips. When I had my ectopic surgery, the surgeon told me he wasn't surprised I'd been feeling that hip pain as one of my biggest lesions was sitting right there.

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

I've tried a lot. Right now I use heat relief, THC and CBD, which help with my everyday symptoms. I save the hardcore pain medication for really bad flare-ups.

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

So much. Going through this journey has shown me just how much gets overlooked in women's health and it's why I'm building an app called Sisterhealth.

It's going to be an ecosystem built specifically around women's health and their cycles — with support groups, community pages, daily check-ins, doctor reports, education spaces, monthly doctor talks covering both western and alternative medicine, supplement recommendations backed by studies, and plus much more. I just think we deserve so much more and felt like I needed to be part of making that happen, especially when the waiting and the uncertainty started taking a real toll on my mental health.

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

The little things. Heated blankets and heat pads. Setting up my space for the day. Making sure I try to move for at least 15 minutes. Some days that's everything.

10. What's the best piece of advice you've been given?

Tomorrow can be a better day.

11. If you could go back and tell your younger self one thing about your body or your journey, what would it be?

Don’t ever let another doctor doubt what YOU feel in YOUR BODY.