Ask Me About My Uterus: A Quest to Make Doctors Believe in Women's Pain

by Abby Norman

Hardcover, 2018

Status

Available

Genres

Publication

Bold Type Books (2018), 288 pages

Description

For any woman who has experienced illness, chronic pain, or endometriosis comes an inspiring memoir advocating for recognition of women's health issues In the fall of 2010, Abby Norman's strong dancer's body dropped forty pounds and gray hairs began to sprout from her temples. She was repeatedly hospitalized in excruciating pain, but the doctors insisted it was a urinary tract infection and sent her home with antibiotics. Unable to get out of bed, much less attend class, Norman dropped out of college and embarked on what would become a years-long journey to discover what was wrong with her. It wasn't until she took matters into her own hands--securing a job in a hospital and educating herself over lunchtime reading in the medical library--that she found an accurate diagnosis of endometriosis. In Ask Me About My Uterus, Norman describes what it was like to have her pain dismissed, to be told it was all in her head, only to be taken seriously when she was accompanied by a boyfriend who confirmed that her sexual performance was, indeed, compromised. Putting her own trials into a broader historical, sociocultural, and political context, Norman shows that women's bodies have long been the battleground of a never-ending war for power, control, medical knowledge, and truth. It's time to refute the belief that being a woman is a preexisting condition.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member lahochstetler

If you want a tale of just how bad endometriosis can get, and what it can do to your life, look no further than Abby Norman. During her first semester of college Norman collapsed in the shower in terrible pain. Her life would never be the same again. What follows is Norman's account of her efforts

to get diagnosis and treatment. Her narrative is interspersed with discussions of endometriosis research. There is some, though not nearly the amount one might expect, given the number of people who suffer from the condition. It turns out that doctors don't really seem to know what causes endometriosis. Endometrial cells have even been discovered in fetuses. Most medical research seems to focus on preserving fertility, with little attention to the other miseries the condition creates. It certainly has affected Norman's life. She was never able to return to college. Endometriosis has made performing her job difficult. In a different world Norman might have gone to medical school. She might have been a professional actress or dancer. Endometriosis prevented these things. This book is also a memoir of Norman's life before endometriosis. And there was nothing low-key about Norman's childhood. Raised by an abusive, anorexic mother and grandmother, Norman was repeatedly starved, not just because of poverty, but because of her mother's mental illness. Norman was emancipated by sixteen. She had to find her own way to and funding for college. For all of the trauma that Norman has endured, she is clearly very smart, and an engaging writer. Hopefully this book will bring more attention to the problems endometriosis creates. At the very least, hopefully there will be fewer suggestions that women suffering from endometriosis are not hysterical, full of psychosomatic malaise, or similar.

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LibraryThing member JessicaReadsThings

Very important book about normalizing women's pain.

Based on an advanced copy provided by NetGalley.

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