A mural by Jaimee Rae McCormack on Tudor Street, Riverside<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\nNiki Dally, one\nof the co-ordinators for the march in Wales, said: \u201cI wanted the EndoMarch\nbecause I had a terrible experience with medical care and was very unwell at\nthe time with endometriosis.<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cAfter joining\na few support groups on Facebook, I realised how bad Wales was and how little\npeople knew about endometriosis. Then there was all the misinformation out\nthere.<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cI found out we\nonly have one endometriosis specialist centre in Wales, which is another big\nreason for the EndoMarch \u2013 to raise awareness of endometriosis, give information\nto the public and meet up with people who understand our pain and struggles,\nbuilding a community and support system all the while learning about\nendometriosis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n
Ms Dally came\nacross the London EndoMarch in 2014 and contacted the organisation\u2019s headquarters\nin America, as well as charity Endometriosis UK, to get permission to start a\nWelsh march.<\/p>\n\n\n
Ms Dally gained\nsponsorship from charity Fair Treatment for the Women of Wales (FTWW) and got a\nsmall team together through a FTWW support group.<\/p>\n\n\n
Karla Edwards,\nanother EndoMarch co-ordinator, said: \u201cMe and Niki have always been a close\nteam from the start, but we decided that if it was going to be successful then\nwe’d need some extra help, and we’ve built our team up slowly &\nsuccessfully.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n
One in 10 women\nof reproductive age in the UK suffer from endometriosis, according to\nEndometriosis UK.<\/p>\n\n\nAmy Richards, 26, was diagnosed with endometriosis in March last year<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\nAmy Richards, 26, of Roath, was diagnosed with the condition a year ago and runs an Instagram account where she talks about the condition.<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a bit of\na minefield when you\u2019re first diagnosed,\u201d Ms Richards said.<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cBecause\nthere\u2019s so little research, I\u2019ve found Instagram so helpful because I\u2019ve learnt\nlots of my coping mechanisms through seeing how other women manage it\nthemselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n
Ms Richards\nsaid she had suffered with painful periods since she was 11 and had tried\nvarious contraceptive pills to alleviate symptoms, coming off the pill at 22.<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cI was sort of\nfobbed off a lot by GPs that I had IBS or anxiety. Anything else I was told I\nhad rather than believing that it was kind of to do with my hormones and\nmenstrual cycle,\u201d Ms Richards said.<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cI got very ill\nafter coming off the pill. I was bleeding two weeks of the month and was in a\nlot of pain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\nEndoMarch will take place on March 28<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\nAfter seeing a\nlocum GP, she was referred to the gynaecology services at Heath Hospital and\nwas diagnosed following scans. <\/p>\n\n\n
In May, Ms\nRichards underwent her first surgery to remove one cyst and will have further\nsurgery in September to cut the tissue away.<\/p>\n\n\n
Ms Richards held\na coffee morning last week for women living with the condition.<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cI wanted to\nget a core group of women together in Wales so we can shout about it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cWe need a\nvoice for Welsh Government to hear us in terms of our healthcare.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n
Heath Hospital\nis the only NHS BSGE (British\nSociety for Gynaecological Endoscopy) accredited centre in\nWales providing endometriosis surgery.<\/p>\n\n\n
Last month, MPs launched an inquiry into the condition, led by the\nAll-party Parliamentary Group into endometriosis.<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cAlthough we\u2019ve\ngot amazing resource here, it\u2019s really scary to think of other women across\nWales. If this is good, what does bad look like?\u201d Ms Richards added.<\/p>\n\n\n
One of the\nwomen who attended the coffee morning was 31-year-old Samantha Thomas from\nCaerphilly, who was diagnosed with endometriosis in November.<\/p>\n\n\nSamantha Thomas, 31, was diagnosed with endometriosis in November 2019<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\nMs Thomas had\nstarted experiencing pain in her lower back in November 2018 and was put on\nanti-biotics after doctors suspected she was suffering from a kidney infection\nor kidney stones.<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cThe pain started\nto get worse, and it wasn\u2019t just in my back it was in my lower pelvis and\naround my ovaries \u2013 a stabbing, burning pain, like being wrapped up in barbed\nwire,\u201d said Ms Thomas.<\/p>\n\n\n
Ms Thomas began\nresearching possible causes and came across endometriosis. She brought it up\nwith her doctor and was diagnosed following a laparoscopy.<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cI was relieved\nmore than anything because of all the symptoms I was having, it definitely\nsounded like endometriosis, so I think it was the final piece of the puzzle to\nget the diagnosis through,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n
Ms Thomas also\nsaid she finds support groups on social media to be helpful.<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve learnt so\nmuch from talking to other women on Instagram or Facebook, and they been really\nnice and supportive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n
The Worldwide\nEndoMarch will start outside the City Hall and continue for nearly two miles\nthrough the city centre to the Radisson Blu Hotel on Bute Terrace.<\/p>\n\n\n
Last year, EndoMarch Cardiff had over 200 participants and is returning for its fifth year.<\/p>\n\n\n
On average, it takes 7.5\nyears from the onset of symptoms to get a diagnosis.<\/p>\n\n\n
It is estimated to cost the UK economy \u00a38.2bn a year in treatment, loss of work and health care costs.<\/p>\n\n\n
EndoMarch, which will take place on March 28, is a worldwide event as part of Endometriosis Awareness Month. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One in 10 women in the UK are estimated to be living with endometriosis – but treatment is less common ONE of the women behind the march raising awareness for endometriosis was inspired to start the event after her “terrible experience” with medical care. Endometriosis is a condition where tissue, similar to the lining of the womb, starts to grow in other places, such as the ovaries and Fallopian tubes. In rare cases it can also affect other parts of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":154,"featured_media":42464,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,439],"tags":[1196,1197,1198,1161,1162,474],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-42420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-longer-reads","category-diary","tag-endomarch","tag-endomarch-cardiff","tag-endomarch-wales","tag-endometriosis","tag-endometriosis-awareness","tag-heath-hospital"],"yoast_head":"\n
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