This year myself and Ben will be fundraising for endometriosis UK. March is endometriosis awareness month and a perfect opportunity to help raise more awareness for this disease. 

Endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory disease which affects 1 in 10 women. It's when tissue similar to the lining of womb grows elsewhere in the body. There is no known prevention or cause for endometriosis and currently no cure. 

When I was diagnosed in 2014 I had no idea what endometriosis was or how it would impact my life. The last 7 years have been years of pain, lack of understanding and feeling pushed aside from gynaecologists who I put my trust in only to be let down. After 1 failed surgery in 2016, I felt like I was back at square one and it wasn't until 8 months ago that I learned that there were gynaecologists out there that actually specialised in endometriosis. After a long wait due to covid I finally had my appointment in February and planned in for urgent laprascopic surgery to excise the endometriosis. 

I had my operation on the 19th February and in recovery my Dr explained that in his 20 years of experience, mine was the worst case he'd ever seen. What should have taken 45 minutes took 3 hours to remove. I suffer with severe endometriosis which dominates my pelvic area and has infiltrated my bladder. 

Endometriosis UK needs your support to help raise awareness not only in the community but with health care workers, doctors and gynaecologists to understand more about what this is, how detrimental it can be and the pain some of us live in due to being swept under the rug with the stigma that surrounds this. I have tried to be as open as I can with my experience so that people can understand the damage and pain this causes and that this is not 'just bad period pain' this is a serious debilitating disease. 

This year endometriosis UK is trying to also spread awareness in the workplace so that employers understand endometriosis and take it seriously. I'm lucky that my workplace has been fully supportive of me however others aren't so lucky. 

With my recent surgery I won't be able to do anything physical this year and so I'm leaving that to Ben who will be running 5km every day for 10 days! 

I on the other hand will be making some lovely lady candles inspired by endometriosis! To purchase a candle please donate at least £5, if you live local we can deliver,  if not and you need it posting please contact me directly to arrange postage fee (07446907738). These are handmade by me so due to limited supply I can only provide 1 candle per donation. I know these have been quite popular recently so what better way to get your hands on one knowing that 100% of the money will be going to a good cause. (Pics below!) 

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.