The Reflective Life

In 2023 we asked 22 South, Southeast and East Asian women living in British Columbia, Canada to share their stories of having endometriosis during the Covid-19 pandemic through photography. People found comfort in learning about endometriosis, their own bodies and self-management strategies that could help.

The extra time during Covid-19 helped some to research their experiences and become more prepared.

Sometimes feel like i’m facing something unknown.

With my symptoms worsening and started to affect me at work, I finally reached out to my family doctor who unofficially diagnosed me with endometriosis. The pain was finally acknowledged and I was given more options to help treat and manage my symptoms.

With endometriosis, I prefer to plan my years, months, weeks and even days to come. Due to my busy professional life, sometimes there is no sufficient to plan personal things but Covid allowed some extra time to stay at home, plan out things and my iPhone is now full of notes, to do lists, etc. I feel much better.

A lone encrusted post in the ocean. Creepy crawling feeling when I look at it, reminding me of the first endo photos I saw when I got the diagnosis. Feeling like my organs are encrusted in tiny barnacles, rusted and useless.

These organic tomato looks like the endo in my bod

Covid allowed me extra time to research in detail re my every symptom and side effect and I prepared myself mentally for every worst possibility as a result of endometrosis…… Fortunately, I could conceive naturally and it felt like a miracle when I actually held my baby for the first time.

A doodle made during art therapy class. One advantage I suppose was learning about other methods for handling stress, pain, etc., for things related and unrelated to endo. I do wonder whether it’s all one and the same though…..

There’s a guilt that comes with asking myself “am I doing everything possible to be as healthy as I can be? What did I do this time that may have set off this flare up?”. It’s constantly beating myself up for breaking an anti inflammatory diet, it’s obsessing over trying to be perfect in my diet to mitigate the guilt that comes with feeling terrible some days and having the time during the pandemic to now dive into trends like juicing and mediation.

Pelvic Floor Physiotherapy is another thing that has helped me with my endo symptoms tremendously. The skilled and knowledgeable therapists that I have worked with educated me on both physical and psychological pain responses better equipping me to deal with flair ups. They also have helped me relax and strengthen parts of my body I did not realize were holding on to tension or not working hard enough.