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Endo in a nutshell.... Endometriosis is an a invisible illness where tissue similar to what lines the uterus spreads outside the womb and grows on other parts of the body. This causes debilitaing chronic pain and can lead to infertility. There is no cure. Those living with Endometriosis often suffer in silence because so many people don’t take us seriously, accuse us of over exaggerating, or try to convince us that it’s all in our heads. We are constantly having to justify the severity of our disease, while being faced with judgemental and ignorant comments. I’m sure that if you asked the 176 million or so people living with Endo what they wished people would stop saying, these 10 would all be on the list... #1: "Get a hysterectomy!" Ahh that old chestnut! One of the biggest myths around endometriosis. A hysterectomy is NOT a cure. And also, who are you to tell a woman to just go ahead and rip out her womanhood as though it's as simple as heading to the shops for a loaf of bread? #2: "When are you having babies?" Not that it’s anyone’s business regardless… having babies isn’t always easy nor possible. The woman you just asked that insensitive question to may be having her 5th miscarriage, or may be on her 6th round of IVF. We’ll have babies if and when our bodies allow us. #3: "You don't look sick!" Maybe not all the time... but when we’re sitting on the shower floor, hunched over the toilet, passing out from pain, or laying with our legs in the air in a hospital bed we do. Endo is invisible a lot of the time to those who aren’t going through it, but it’s visible every single second of the day to someone who is. Never judge the severity of a person’s illness by how much of it YOU can see. #4: "It could be worse!" Yeah, it could be worse… but being curled up screaming in a ball off pain because it feels like your insides are being hacked out with a red hot machete, hysterically crying with anxiety because so much of what is wrong with you is completely out of your control, feeling like no one understands you or having to constantly justify your pain, having surgery after surgery for endo to just keep growing back anyway, possible infertility, being so chronically fatigued that you feel like you’ve been hit by a double decker bus 10 minutes after you’ve woken up, spontaneously vomiting / peeing your pants / or bleeding out like you’ve been shot in the uterus is still pretty bad! #5: "If you just exercised more, you wouldn't be so sick all the time!" Ok then, explain why those of us who’ve been highly active for our entire lives still suffer then? You know there’s Olympic athletes who suffer tremendously from Endo too right? Mind blowing! #6: "Are you pregnant?!" No, we’re not growing a human, we probably just ate a crumb. One of the worst symptoms is “Endo belly”. You can go from looking like your everyday body to looking 7 months pregnant in the space of a few minutes. Endo belly is ridiculously uncomfortable and lets be honest, can REALLY mess with your head, not to mention your body confidence, so the last thing we need is someone asking us how long until the baby is due. #7: "Maybe you just need to not think about it so much!" I’m pretty sure all we DO is try to not think about it, but it’s a little hard when there’s a machine gun firing endless rounds of ammunition into your uterus. #8: "It can't be THAT bad!" Yes actually... it really can be. #9: "Stop exaggerating, it's just a bad period!" Feeling like your ovaries are clawing their way out of your abdomoen like that demon girl form The Ring is NOT just a bad period. Endo doesn't only exist for the week during your period, it exists 365 days a year and it will rear its head and try to eat you alive whenever it feels like it, whether you have your period or not. #10: "Toughen up!" This one’s got to be one of the most insulting. Do you know just how much toughness it takes to try and live your life every day with your insides constantly working against you? Do you know how tough you’ve got to be to hold it together through excruciating pain, endless medical appointments where it feels like the entire world is looking up your vagina, or trying to not let the anxiety of what the future may mean for you get the better of you? Do you realise how tough you’ve got to be to spend a night in agony on the bathroom floor & still go to work the following day as though you’re completely fine? Some of the toughest people in this universe would be, without a doubt, those living with Endometrioses. To sum it up... Advocating awareness for Endometriosis can be difficult as sharing personal details about your life can open a door for everyone else to drop comments that can actually be quite offensive and heart breaking. Endometriosis is such an individual fight as it effects every body differently… so we're not asking for anyone to give us all the answers… we're just asking that you’re mindful, make yourself aware, and to remember that sometimes it’s more helpful to ASK someone what they need, instead of automatically giving advice that may only cause more damage.

Life support Seven years ago, in 2012, I was resuscitated twice, then placed on life support. The doctors didn’t believe I would live through the first night in the hospital. My first diagnosis During this time I was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism, that started in my legs and traveled to my lungs. I had several blood clots, not only one. The clotting was so severe, it kept my brain and body from getting enough blood flow and oxygen, causing an extreme anoxic brain injury. Learning again The extent of my brain injury was so severe that I had to re-learn my entire life and went completely blind. After some time, I began therapy, physical, speech and occupational. I learned to walk again, talk, tie my shoes, care for myself. I learned my entire life over again. Continuous warrior Now, my vision is 20/20, it gradually came back as my brain began to heal. Epilepsy warrior Today, I live with epilepsy as a result of my injury. I have absence seizures. No medication has kept them away completely. I still have scarring on my brain. I recently had a Vagus Nerve Stimulator implant surgically put in my body. I’m excited about the next chapter. I am an overcomer and committed to the life I’ve been given.

חוויה מוטורית לכל המשפחה אחר ההצלחה של הפרויקט הקודם בדצמבר 2018 אנו משיקים בימים אלו את האירוע הבא שלנו שיתקיים בספטמבר. יש לנו כבר 12 נהגים צעירים ולהם כבר 12 מכוניות ובסבב הזה אנו רוצים להרחיב את היריעה ולהגיע ל 25 מכוניות, משוכללות יותר, מונגשות יותר ומאפשרות יותר. אז דבר ראשון אנחנו מחפשים ילדים מיוחדים עם מוגבלות, בני 8-14 שלא יכולים לנהוג בקארטינג רגיל, והחלום הגדול שלהם להיות נהגי מירוץ ליום אחד. דבר שני, אנחנו צריכים אתכם. את הכישרון, את הזמן, ואת הלב הגדול שלכם. בואו קחו חלק בדבר המטורף הזה. דבר שלישי, מה לעשות, אין מזה מנוס! אז כל מי שאתן חושבים שיכול לתת חסות כספית, חברו אותו אלינו. דברו איתנו: 0543341134 חגית מרכזת הפרוייקט תכתבו לנו: grutarally@gmail.com

The Elevation comes to life I'm a three time Paralympic Gold Medalist in wheelchair basketball with Team Canada. I'm a lazy amputee who uses a wheelchair instead of prosthetics. Haha, which one sounds better?! The truth is, I've always had a love/hate relationship with prosthetics. I have a lot of scar tissue on my stumps (car accident, 1989) and a comfortable fit has proven elusive. But wheelchairs have given me nothing but love since the beginning. Whether it was keeping up with my friends or playing wheelchair basketball, a chair with wheels was never a sign of weakness to me, but a means of strength, freedom, creativity, and joy. Over 30 years of playing ball, I've been blessed to have played in some of the best sports chairs ever made. (My latest, the Elite by RGK, may be the best one yet. ) I've had great day chairs too, but they've always been a bit more ho-hum. If it's light, it fits well, and the tires have air in them, great. Let's go. That is, until the Elevation by PDG Mobility. The Elevation sprung from the mind and experience of one my best friends and teammates (and fellow gold medallist) Jaimie Borisoff. It was a fascinating privilege to watch him take the concept of a wheelchair that lifts up and down as quickly and effortlessly as an office chair, without sacrificing anything but a little weight, and make it a reality. The chair is now in its second iteration, and the world of mobility is an even more rich and innovative place for it. A new paradigm has come to life. As a T4 paraplegic working in spinal cord research, I doubt that Jaimie was imagining an amputee user when he designed the chair. But even though I have more functional ability than most paras and quads, the most obvious candidates for this chair, it's been a huge blessing to me. Here's my playlist: - reaching the cereal on the top shelf - reaching the pacifier that's fallen on the floor - seeing over and through crowds at concerts - rising up to eye level in conversation with standing folks - elevating to encourage better posture (it's hard to slouch when elevated) - sitting lower to save my shoulders on a hill climb - sitting lower if I'm carrying something on my lap, so that it doesn't slide off And that's just a small sample, which doesn't include many therapeutic benefits that an adjustable seating position provides. I'm amazed at the possibilities this chair opens up. Is it cliche to say that Jaimie has made the world a better place for wheelchair users? Well, it's true. I'm proud of him. Check out elevationbypdg.com.

A Painting with Many Hidden Meanings I describe my medical journey as a 5,000 piece puzzle. It’s been slowly pieced together, and finally the puzzle is completed. I look at this portrait, and it captures so many emotions that have been going through my head. This photo was originally taken on October 31, 2018; I was 8 days post-op from neurosurgery, where my spinal cord was untethered. The painting was completed on February 9, 2019. This photo has many hidden meanings, and tells a powerful story. The Story of a Woman and Her Dog This story focuses on a 27 year old woman, after she meets with her neurosurgeon. She learned the pathology reports from her neurosurgery, confirming she was born with Spina Bifida and Tethered Cord Syndrome. During that appointment, she hears her spinal cord is permanently damaged, and the spasticity is permanent as well. In 107 days, 6 doctors have made it clear she’s ran out of treatment options, except surgery. She has been advised to minimize how much she walks, and discontinue physical therapy and occupational therapy. She is unable to keep her leg braces on for long periods of time. Both legs are resisting the braces from continuous muscle contractions. Think of a charlie horse in the back of your ankles and the arches of your feet. The spasms are so intense, and your ankles and feet are stuck in a pointed position. These braces are to prevent her ankles from getting locked in fixed contractions. Without the braces, she is unable to walk, and her legs get stuck in abnormal fixed positions. She has been told to come to terms, and accept that the wheelchair will be needed more and more. If the spasticity can’t be controlled, she will not be able to walk again. Amputation, reconstructive surgery on her legs, and spine surgery are necessary. She receives apologies from her neurosurgeon; if the Spina Bifida and Tethered Cord Syndrome were treated in childhood, she would not be in the situation she’s in today. She comes home after the appointment, and sits down on the couch. Tears roll down her face, as reality sets in. “OMFG THIS IS REAL…”. Her emotions are waxing and waning. Her dog is sitting next to her, trying to console and comfort her anyway he can. She feels like a failure because the lack of success she has had in her life. She feels insecurities within herself, especially that she didn’t succeed like others her age. In her eyes, this means relationships, working, living independently, furthering career goals. She feels like her life has been broken into fragments. She feels frustrated and annoyed, especially with the inability to change her medical situation; she has to learn that it’s out of her control. She feels so much guilt, even though she is not responsible for any wrongdoing. She feels hesitant about herself. She wonders, ‘am I making the right choices?’, ‘will this ever get better?’ She feels hopeless, and feels like a burden to her family and friends. She is frightened about the situation, and afraid that she will not be able to walk again. She’s anxious that she has run out of treatment options, and will not be able to move past what has happened. She feels like this is a sick nightmare, and she can’t wake up from it. She feels completely defeated. How I interpreut this piece When I look at this piece, I don’t see or feel the emotions she’s feeling. Instead, I see a woman who is thankful. She looks drained, but her body is calm. Her body language shows she’s at peace, and feels free. Her spinal cord isn’t restricted and tethered; she isn’t tied down. She’s elated her voice was finally heard. Her gut instincts were right that something was very wrong with her body. She feels pride knowing her hard work advocating for herself paid off. She refused to give up fighting for her needs, until she got to the proper providers. She has forgiven herself for the anger she felt towards herself, believing that this medical situation was her fault. The anchors on the blanket depict her strength, as she ‘refuse(s) to sink’. She has found a way to succeed in life, and pursue a career: disability advocacy, and using the creative arts to share her story. She’s excited for where the next chapter in her journey of life will take her, and encouraged she can help others with their experiences. She feels fulfilled that she never gave up, after many individuals told her to. She became tough as nails, and refused to take no for an answer; she had no choice but learn to become resilient, which played in her favor. She’s learning and practicing being kind to herself. She has hated herself and felt like a piece of shit for so long, and now she can recognize that she needs to be kind and love herself. The lighter colors in the painting portrays the light at the end of the tunnel. She has been on a very long and dark journey, and finally she is free. If you look closely, her legs range in different light greys. Those grey colors show that she feels proud of her legs. They are deformed, but they are physically there.

How it all started... My name is Ray Sellers (@raysellers_). I was shot 3 times on February 9th, 2016 from an act of violence in the streets of Oakland, CA leaving me a C5-C6 quadriplegic. Adapting was tough very tough. I fell into a deep depression not wanting to do anything, not getting out of bed, no motivation for therapy, etc. I couldn’t see any further than my condition. I was angry pushing away all the love and little help I had around me. My turning point My turning point was when I met a fellow quad in my area. He opened my eyes to the fact that I’m still living and that there is life after an SCI. He connected me with some resources and organizations in our area that helped get me back to living life. I started getting in touch with every foundation and organization I could find and started participating in every activity I could and just putting myself back out there. What keeps me grounded Working out has been a great avenue to help me with depression and staying motivated. Rugby has been another great avenue meeting others that’s fighting and overcoming the same struggle made me a believer that life after an SCI was possible and that I could be independent. My advice My advice to newly injured quads would be to get up every day because there’s huge power in just waking up every day and finding out where the quads are in your area. Reach out to see what they're doing and that’ll hold your interest. I promise things will feel better from there.

accessibility needs an upgrade Show your support and tell the world that accessibility needs an upgrade Too often we come across something that says it’s accessible, but it’s not. Advances in technology should go hand in hand with advances in accessibility. The bare minimum is not okay anymore. To learn more about Upgrade Accessibility, follow the hashtag #upgradeaccessibility on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

All about love, rap, and dreams My name is Frannie Sheinberg. I go by Flava Fran. I’m 24 years old and I have an autism spectrum disorder but that doesn’t stop me from doing what I love. And I love rapping and spreading love. When I was younger, doctors and teachers told my parents I was “different, slow, delayed.” There was very little faith in what I would be able to do. So I made it my goal to prove everyone wrong. Having an autism spectrum disorder has made it very hard for me to communicate with people, but I found an outlet for communication and that is through writing raps. I write and perform raps to express myself and to bring joy to people. I love making people happy and rapping allows me to spread happiness to others in a way that I am comfortable doing so. Im also extremely sensitive to sound, lights and touch so growing up with that extra sensory sensitivity has made my life much more complicated. When I’m feeling upset I can write about it to explain how I feel. I love writing out my emotions and adding lyrics and a beat to it makes it a song! Every time I rap people smile and it makes me happy to make others so happy. Beating the odds Currently, I struggle with a lot of issues that come with being on the spectrum. For example, I have a need for sameness, routine and scheduling. I struggle with change and change is the only constant in life. I don’t like large crowds and I don’t work or move very fast. School has always been harder for me than most people. BUT, I am working hard to achieve all my goals and make my dreams come true. People doubted my ability to attend and graduate from a public high school-but I did it. I also just published my FIRST BOOK. And I started a YouTube series where I perform raps and give advice. I got accepted to college where I became a CHEERLEADER! Something I never thought I’d get to become.It just goes to show that no matter what people tell you- you can do anything you want as long as you try your best, have a positive outlook, and never ever give up!

Who am I? My name is Mor Sapir, 28 years old, from Tel Aviv, Israel. I have been a rock climber for the past four years. I started to climb as a form of rehabilitation after I lost all ten of my fingers as a result of severe frostbite caused by a snowstorm disaster I survived in the Annapurna Ridge in Nepal in October 2014. Climbing - tool for the life In my opinion, climbing is the best tool to succeed in "the jungle of life." By comparing the climbing path to the path of life, I am able to solve certain problems as they come up in each path. We all have a starting point - life. We all have an endpoint -death point. In between, we all have personal difficulties that we did not expect they are going to be so difficult. And if we do not overcome them, we remain stuck. A lot of people can advise you what to do and how to do. But to overcome the obstacle, you must be active and take the plunge. In addition to climbing, I realized that there are difficulties for other people that are not my difficulties at all. And everyone has a deficiency and everyone has their own way of setting their route to the top. And it's just like climbing. Give Me Mor In the future, I want climbing to remain as the main part of my life. As a pioneer, the first man who climbed with less than 10 fingers, I'm aiming to reach every competition and represent the possibility that everyone can climb, no matter what’s their lack. Beyond that, I dream of going to the Olympics and winning every competition that will be there. My dream is that there will be so many fingerless climbers that there will be a category of only fingers amputation. Beyond that, I dream that in every school there will be a climbing wall: from a young age, a child will learn that everyone has his own path with obstacles, and there is no need to copy because there are problems and obstacles in other people's tracks as well and every should face with his obstacles.

The Diagnosis I was 17 weeks pregnant when my husband and I went to an ultrasound to determine the gender of our sweet baby. Up to this point, my pregnancy hadn't been easy, but our sweet baby was healthy and we had made it out of our first trimester so we felt "in the clear". A few days later, as I was teaching my last period of the day, I looked at my phone to see a missed call from my OB. I immediately knew something was wrong. "The ultrasound tech saw a cleft lip and other possible birth defects," the nurse told me over the phone. I can remember holding my breath and fighting back the tears as I scheduled an appointment for a full anatomy scan. I left work early to call my husband. I could hardly get the words out. I was grief stricken. I didn't know anything about clefts, and I had no idea what this meant for my baby girl. In an instant, everything I thought I knew about my pregnancy, my daughter, and becoming a mother, went out the window. Our journey had taken a HARD turn down a road I knew nothing about and felt utterly unprepared for. The Remainder of the Pregnancy I spent the last 12 weeks of my pregnancy in a haze. It still felt like I had been holding my breath since I got that phone call. I prepared myself as best I could and armed myself with as much knowlege about cleft lips and palates as I could. If I could sum about the remainder of my pregnancy in one word, it would be "bitterness". I felt like everyone around me was pregnant with healthy babies. It seemed like they were getting to focus on nurseries and newborn photos and water births. And I was focusing on naseoalveolar molding and NICU visits and interviewing surgeons. In my heart, I was still beyond excited to be a mom and blessed to be given such a precious gift. But I couldn't get past the bitterness and jealousy of the healthy pregnancies and babies around me. July 6th, 2018 The moment they handed my precious Christian Grace to me -- after months of holding my breath -- I finally felt like I could breath again. A wave of calm washed over me. All of my anxiety and fear and bitterness left. She was here. She was beautiful. In an instant, I knew I could be anything for her, do anything for her, and be as strong as she needed me. In the weeks that followed, there were a lot of tears: crying because they confirmed she also had a cleft palate (the roof of her mouth), crying because the cleft palate meant we couldn't breastfeed, crying as we began taping her face, crying the day she was fitted for her NAM device. But just like with anything, it just became part of our family's "everyday life". And after about a month, everything was the way I imagined it before the cleft diagnosis. I was a mommy to a beautiful, healthy baby. She laughed and she cooed and she smiled. I took a million pictures of her, and I loved showing her off. Everything was just as I imagined it, just with weekly doctor appointments and taping her face. Looking Back Here we are, with a 7-month-old beautiful baby girl. She made it through her first surgery in November, and we have another scheduled for this July. While we wouldn't have chosen this path for our daughter, it has its silver linings. Christian's story inspires and encourages others. It brings comfort to families going through the grief and fear of a similar diagnosis. In the beginning, Christian's cleft felt like the center of our universe -- like the sun that everything was centered around. Everything went back to the cleft. But now, the cleft is just one thing out of a billion that make up the uniqueness that is our daughter. She has blonde hair, blue eyes, loves to take baths, hates waiting on her bottle, is obsessed with her puppies, can say "mama", is constantly kicking her legs like she's dancing, and --oh yea-- she has a cleft lip and palate. What was once the center of our universe is now one of the billions of stars that make up who she is. We are beyond blessed she is ours, and I thank God everyday for such a beautiful gift.

The darkest hour At the age of 22 I contracted meningococcal septicaemia. My chances of survival were virtually 0 but to give me the best chance both my hands and legs were amputated. I survived but there were additional complications; I also lost 1 metre of bowel, endured numerous skin grafts, was PEG fed for months, lost the sight in one eye, contracted MRSA , lost my hair and my adrenal glands stopped working. I also lost my job, my home, and it felt like my entire life had fallen apart. I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do. From watching day time TV to starring on daytime TV After spending most of a year in the hospital I finally came home to my parent's house where I had to sleep in their front room. My days were spent watching lots of day time TV. It was whilst watching this that I had an idea. There were loads of people on these programs who had endured illnesses and disability and I felt I had a story to tell. It wasn't long before I had effectively sold my story around the world and my telephone never stopped ringing. Instead of watching day time TV I was now sitting on the sofas talking to Richard and Judy or Lorraine or BBC news. I was also featured in many newspapers and became a regular in many Tabloids. From my TV appearances, I was asked by my local TV station Anglia News if I would like to train with them as a journalist. It was a great opportunity which I grabbed with both hands. From TV reporter to transport campaigner After working for the news for 8 years, and reporting on many stories to do with disability and inequality I decided I wanted to do more to raise the issues faced by disabled people. I, therefore, left to work as a campaigner for a local charity who were concerned with the issues faced by disabled drivers. It was through my work at the charity that I became more aware of the issues faced by Blue Badge holders and I dedicated a lot of time trying to improve this scheme. I also joined the Disabled Person's Transport Advisory Committee which advises the government on the transport needs of disabled people. Setting up my own business Three years ago I decided the time was right for me to strike out on my own. I set up a parking accreditation company called People's Parking which is an inclusive scheme to help everyone find a car park which meets their specific requirements, be they a disabled person, a motorcyclist, an EV driver etc. I also set up a consultancy to enable me to work with a variety of different companies and organisations and help improve access for disabled people. It can be tough running your own business but it is also really rewarding, especially when you see the work you have done making a difference to others.

05/21/2016 On May 21st, 2016, I fell from the 4th floor of a building while working on a construction site breaking my neck. I became a quadriplegic & life changed in an instant. Not just for me, but for my entire family. The initial devastation had me feeling like my life was over, but with time my perspective has changed. "You'll be surprised to know just how far you can come from the point where you thought it was the end." This instills the belief that we should live each day as though it were our last.. live each day with vigor, don’t wait to do something that is important to you, find happiness in each day and don’t stress the small things. Life can throw a curve ball at any given time and change everything. No matter how tough the situation is.. you are tougher!