Endometriosis and Infertility Awareness Videos 2015

Hello valued endometriosis community members! I am putting together three separate videos for Endometriosis and Infertility Awareness. Two of the videos will explore the effects that endometriosis and/or infertility have on mental health. One of the videos is entitled “think endometriosis” and will talk about the effects that misdiagnosis and mistreatment have on the patient, the quality of life and their fertility.

These videos are for education purposes and also to help other patient feel less alone. Infertility and endometriosis have a profound impact on mental health.  Anxiety and depression are a common side effect of struggling with these diseases. Yet, it is not often talked about or it is ignored. Trauma and grief are also a big part of the lives of women suffering from these illnesses, yet women don’t always know they are experiencing these things.  It is time to shed some light on these issues to help patients understand what they are feeling. Mental health care providers need to be sensitive and aware of these patient needs so that they are not dismissive. Doctors need to not only treat the physical needs of each patient but ask the patient how their emotional health is and give them resources for extra support.

My “Think Endometriosis” video is directly aimed at educating the medical community at large. So often the patient’s journey to seeing an excision specialist is a harrowing one filled with well meaning, but uneducated doctors that do more harm than good. I first started going to a gastroenterologist at the age or 19. Had he diagnosed me, I would have had far less surgeries, far less pain and would have made better choices regarding my fertility. I have talked with women who have gone to the top reproductive endocrinologists that this country has to offer and yet their advanced endometriosis was missed and their treatments unsuccessful and written off as unexplained.

It’s time to bring these horror stories to the forefront in hopes that doctors educate themselves and change the way they treat endometriosis patients and think about endometriosis. Most often women do not have the energy to confront the doctors that are not giving them the treatment that they need or those who have mistreated them. They simply move on to someone who can help them and not look back.  Hopefully sharing these stories will help patients who suspect endometriosis not have to go through the cycle of trauma that other patients have endured before them. Maybe even well meaning doctors who may see this video will change their ways.

When: Saturday March 7^th from 10am -2 pm . I will have brunch available in the conference room for patients to socialize and will assign half an hour increments where I will take each patient into another room and record them.

Where: Maria Droste Counseling Services 33rd and Madison http://mdcsnyc.org/

What: I will ask patients a series of questions regarding their journey to diagnosis. I will ask patients to open up about the emotional toll endometriosis/infertility has taken on their lives, their relationships, the way they view themselves and their overall mental health.

I am going to post the video on my youtube channel and share over social media. I will also present it at a lecture I am doing at Fairfield University.

If you are able to attend or have any questions, please send me an email caseyberna@gmail.com .  I may be able to also do some skype interviews. I am working on that possibility.