For Empowerment: “Be gentle with yourself; your pain is real, your strength is unmatched”.

Even though we face pain every day, we still find reasons to smile. We keep fighting our illness and work hard to have our condition recognised. Through everything, we stay strong and live with love. This is what every endo warrior goes through.

Endometriosis is not imagined. It is a real condition that affects the pelvis.

Bethany Stahl

Today is Endometriosis Awareness Day. It is a time to recognise the challenges many women face with this condition.

Endometriosis isn’t always recognised as a listed disability under specific laws, but in severe cases, it can qualify if it significantly disrupts one’s ability to work or perform daily activities.12 Nov 2025 https://clintonwomenshealthcare.com/is-endometriosis-a-disability-what-patients-should-know/#:~:text=Endometriosis%20isn’t%20always%20recognized,work%20or%20perform%20daily%20activities.

Is endometriosis considered a disability in New Zealand?

Endometriosis is a long-term condition that can greatly affect daily life. However, most medical professionals and the law in New Zealand do not consider it a disability. 13 Sept 2022 in New Zealand.

Read This If You’re Asking, ‘Is Endometriosis a Disability?’Healthlinehttps://www.healthline.com › health › is-endometriosis-a-…

https://www.insightendometriosis.org.nz/support-for-you?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=12498873780&gbraid=0AAAAABwcGdMO371_5TyezeMgGnww6toup&gclid=Cj0KCQiA5I_NBhDVARIsAOrqIsYtJJYwzxBBypnbFJwe0_dCBV3ZS6njDcdGLg5-WQUslb1cvSt8ErcaAvcgEALw_wcB

https://www.insightendometriosis.org.nz/info-hub?_gl=1*46sczh*_up*MQ..*_gs*MQ..&gclid=Cj0KCQiA5I_NBhDVARIsAOrqIsYtJJYwzxBBypnbFJwe0_dCBV3ZS6njDcdGLg5-WQUslb1cvSt8ErcaAvcgEALw_wcB&gbraid=0AAAAABwcGdMO371_5TyezeMgGnww6toup

You are not alone. I am a deaf endometriosis survivor, and my journey took place between July and October 2000.

This is my story of moving from unbearable pain to recovery after surgery in 2000. Before July that year, my periods were not painful, but they slowly became lighter each month. After spending a month in the USA between June and July, I was asked to teach basic sign language to a group of neurodiverse young adults for a play in October called ‘Snow White and Seven Tall Dwarves’. In mid-July, I started to feel a nagging cramp on one side of my pelvis and stomach. I made an appointment with my GP to talk about it. My GP could not find the cause and sent me to a Radiology Clinic for an ultrasound. During the scan, the nurse asked if I was pregnant or had children, then brought in a specialist to check the results. They decided I needed to see a gynecologist, so my GP referred me. Since they could not find a female gynecologist, I eventually saw a male gynecologist. In August and September, I met with him to discuss the ultrasound results, and we agreed I should have surgery as soon as possible, since I had teaching duties for the play in October. I did not use an interpreter in the same room, but the gynecologist explained everything to me in detail, with pictures and information about the surgery. Laparoscopic surgery is a minimally invasive technique that uses a camera and small instruments inserted through small incisions to perform abdominal or pelvic procedures. It reduces pain, minimises scarring, and allows for a faster recovery than open surgery.

Since I am deaf and cannot use the phone, the gynecologist called the private hospital for me. After two cancelled bookings, I scheduled my surgery for the first week of October and took five days to rest. I found a friend from church to cover my teaching duties for the play. I explained the situation to the neurodiverse students, their support staff, and the organisers. At first, they were disappointed, but they understood and accepted that I would be back in time for the play’s show night. I also received a wedding invitation from a Deaf couple that same month.

The laparoscopic surgery went well. During the operation, the gynecologist and other specialists found more cysts behind the pouch of Douglas and near the bladder. They had my permission before the surgery and made sure to remove everything. The surgery took a long time, and the nurse called my mother in the middle of the night. My mother was relieved to hear I was okay. The next day, I woke up and saw more than two specialists in the room. We talked about the results and what they found. After five days, I was discharged from the private hospital and rested for two weeks: one week at my mother’s place in Ralgan and another week at my home in Silverdale. While I was in the hospital, I received a big Get Well card and flowers from the neurodiverse students. It was a kind gesture, and they missed me. First, I attended my Deaf friends’ wedding. An ex-husband of one of them, who worked for the NZ Deaf Association Hamilton Branch, now called Deaf Aotearoa, took me to the wedding.

On the night of the show at Hamilton Methodist Social Service Hall, the place was packed with a big crowd eager to see the play. Another friend took me to the show because I was not allowed to drive for six weeks. Several weeks later, they gave me the video. I still have it and a Get Well card somewhere here.

In the following years, I was studying for a BA in Arts at the University of Waikato, and my notetaker asked me about this symptom. I replied, “Yes, I have one. Why are you asking me?” The notetaker went through a painful journey, waiting for results and looking for help from networks and books. I loaned her one of my books and gave her a contact website. In the end, she had surgery and went on a Maaori spiritual healing retreat, since she is Maaori.

Endometriosis is represented by the sunflower, a flower which, by its nature, symbolises light and life and is an emblem of hope for all women who live every day with this pathology, which is still “in the shadows” and little known.

The Difference you made

You might not always see how your kindness affects others. Still, somewhere, someone feels a little lighter because you treated them well.

“Today I was reminded how powerful a simple act of kindness can be.

I was moving through my day with a sense of uncertainty, and my thoughts felt unsettled.

Then someone spoke to me with unexpected kindness.

Just a few words.

A warm tone.

A moment of genuine attention.

It lasted only seconds.

Yet I remember feeling my shoulders relax as if something inside me had quietly softened.

On the way home, I kept thinking about it.

How such a small gesture can change the way someone feels.

The truth is, we rarely know what someone else is carrying through the day.

Sometimes a person only needs a moment of kindness to breathe a little easier.

Kindness has a quiet way of touching two hearts at once, the one who receives it and the one who offers it.

And now, as this Friday evening comes to an end, I find myself remembering that moment again.

Perhaps this weekend will bring simple encounters.

A greeting.

A conversation.

A kind word.

And maybe, without even realising it, a small act of kindness from YOU will make someone’s day a little lighter.”

from DM – Daily Motivation by Alice.

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” — William Arthur Ward.

Every Tuesday, as part of my job as a support worker and advocate, I visit two Deaf disabled people. I always bring them fresh vegetables and fruit, and sometimes I share with their neighbour too. One of them is Carole. She has had a pacemaker since before the lockdown and faces other health challenges that make life hard. I’ve known her for almost fourteen years, since I started working with the Deaf community more than thirty years ago. I also worked with a woman named Sian, though that’s not her real name, who had a head injury.

Each season, I bring Carole tangelos, feijoas, short cucumbers, a bouquet of flowers to brighten her day, and some plant cuttings for her garden.

Carole always gives me homemade loaves when I visit or drop things off. It’s her generous way of saying thank you for checking in on her, since she lives alone.

“Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can.” — John Wesley.

One night, there was a serious incident at Sian and Carole’s housing estate involving several neighbours. There were fights, broken windows and cars, shouting, and threats made to a neighbour right in front of Sian and Carole’s apartments. It woke everyone up in the middle of the night. The police and the New Zealand Police Armed Offenders Squad (AOS) arrived and set up a barricade at the top of the main road. The AOS checked each apartment, including Sian’s, because they didn’t hear Carole say there was a deaf lady next door. Sian stayed upstairs to keep herself safe until the AOS knocked on her door to check for intruders. There was a language barrier. One neighbour, who usually didn’t get along with Carole, came to keep her safe. Carole texted me about what happened, but she couldn’t reach Sian because of the language barrier. I visited them in the morning, listened to their stories about that frightening night, and filed reports with the police and my case manager at the disability organisation. I also visited Carole because her blood pressure was high and she was scared to live alone, unable to sleep well for weeks after. Carole trusts me, and she knows how to contact me by text if her sister and her other good neighbour, who lives up the road, are unable to visit sometimes.

It’s not about pity or feeling sorry for people like Carole. When you take time to understand their lives, you see them for who they really are. It’s not about being selfish or refusing to help someone who is struggling or facing health issues with little support. It’s also not about judging people, like those who are homeless, because you can’t know their story just by looking at them.

Through our social service, we give out food parcels with the help of Food Bank Providers from Monday to Friday. We also offer showers, laundry services through Orange Service, a weekly community lunch on Mondays, and referrals to other agencies.

“Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for.” — Unknown Xavier University +2
“When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.” — Maya Angelou.