Unlearn16: Class is in Session - The One Where I Get To Know Endo (And no, that's not a Star Wars reference)

00:00:00.000 class is in session hey you guys doing and welcome to unlearn 16 class is in session today i have an

00:00:09.920 educational podcast but not just for you for me too because i know nothing of what we're going

00:00:15.920 to talk about here so today i'd like to introduce rosanna and katie they are from the endometriosis

00:00:21.760 society they're going to talk about their mission their focus what they're doing in this world and

00:00:28.080 how they're trying to make all of us smarter how you doing guys hi thank you so much for having us

00:00:34.080 here we really appreciate it fantastic do you guys want to give a pitch about what you're doing what

00:00:39.840 who you're doing it for why it's important for sure so um we're here representing the endometriosis

00:00:46.240 network canada um and uh march is endometriosis awareness month so for this month we have launched

00:00:54.800 uh an awareness campaign called no endo and the goal of this campaign is to reduce uh the delay to

00:01:02.480 diagnosis reduce the barriers to the delay to diagnosis because just like what you sort of

00:01:08.800 started with awareness around endometriosis is quite low despite the prevalence so it actually

00:01:14.400 affects one in ten uh women and girls and unmeasured numbers of two-spirit transgender

00:01:20.720 and gender diverse individuals um so that looks like uh almost over 2 million people in canada

00:01:26.640 that live with this disease and the awareness of it and the understanding of it is quite low so

00:01:32.560 the overall goal for our no endo awareness campaign which was uh funded by the sexual

00:01:37.760 health and reproductive fund through health canada uh is to to get that awareness out there to get

00:01:43.200 that education out there not only for folks that are living with this disease but like society in

00:01:48.480 general because really it does have a societal impact and not just an impact uh to the people

00:01:53.360 that are living with this disease as well absolutely i think the only time i've ever

00:01:57.360 heard of endometriosis um to be honest is with somebody like my age or a little bit older and

00:02:03.680 they're talking about their period pains and they're talking about how how hard it is and

00:02:08.400 i've heard a couple of people talk about ablation i know you guys are going to talk about that

00:02:12.960 But I never even contemplated that young people could possibly have this.

00:02:20.240 So when I'm teaching, and I share the story with you, but when I'm teaching young kids

00:02:24.880 and somebody comes up to me and says, oh, my God, you know, my periods, I'm like, listen,

00:02:30.160 listen, Linda, I get you.

00:02:33.100 I get it.

00:02:34.180 Stop using it as this card you're going to play. 0.98

00:02:36.840 And now I'm a real jerk because, and what I should understand, yeah, sure, sometimes 0.98

00:02:42.300 kids play cards to get out of gym or to get out of something. But what I need to understand, 0.98

00:02:48.620 and I really should have, this is just my own ignorance or forced ignorance. I don't know.

00:02:54.580 What I really should understand is that the levels of pain that are associated with menstruation

00:02:59.060 are wide, right? Some people get horrible, horrible pain and some people get absolutely

00:03:07.560 nothing. And whether that horrible pain comes with endometriosis or not, um, is, is important

00:03:15.440 that we acknowledge that it is pain. It's like, we're negating, I'm negating pain of these young

00:03:24.000 individuals just because they're young. And I don't assume that, or just because they're young

00:03:28.560 and I'm like, how bad could it be? Cause it wasn't bad when I was in grade seven. Right.

00:03:33.480 and that's somebody i mean i i think i'm a little bit educated and i've been doing that forever

00:03:39.480 like literally the first conversation we had about this i'm like oh i gotta stop doing that

00:03:45.560 and it's only because we had that conversation yeah but i think that that's like that's part of

00:03:52.600 the this delay to diagnosis is that there's if there's so many so much you know taboo and stigma

00:03:59.080 around the idea of talking about you know menstrual health in general so like that's

00:04:03.560 part of our goal it's like let's break down those barriers let's make it let's create spaces where

00:04:08.360 folks are allowed to or feel freely to express whatever they're feeling and know that they're

00:04:14.440 going to be met with compassion versus you know judgment or dismissal we know with like the endo

00:04:19.480 community there's a stat where it's like um almost 80 of people that are living with endometriosis

00:04:26.920 were met with dismissal and invalidation from their healthcare practitioners and being told

00:04:33.440 that their pain was normal. So, okay. So let's, let's get into this part. So they go into their

00:04:38.780 doctor. They say, I'm having horrible pain. And the doctor on the whole will say, take some Advil.

00:04:47.840 Yeah. Yeah. And even knowing any stats, even knowing that this exists one in 10.

00:04:54.700 yeah i think that's like that's a there's there's so many pieces to this puzzle and part of that

00:05:01.400 piece is if if the first the frontline workers so like for example like like i live with the

00:05:07.320 disease myself right and so the first time that sort of the symptoms were coming up for me i was

00:05:11.500 11 and i went to my gp and i was told you know this is normal it's all in your head take a little

00:05:18.860 bit of advil and that sticks with you right like the impact of that at the age of 11 i didn't get

00:05:25.300 officially diagnosed until i was 27 so for those whole year like a huge chunk of my life i was

00:05:32.220 being invalidated gaslit made to feel like i was crazy like i needed antidepressant like those

00:05:37.840 were these were things that i was being pulled from my house someone that i should trust they

00:05:43.160 said you needed antidepressants yeah because your stomach hurt during your period because it's in my

00:05:48.860 head it's in my head and that and it's it's so devastating to hear that and what what is even

00:05:55.720 more devastating is that this is such a common narrative with the endometriosis community there

00:06:00.180 are so many folks that are going to their you know family physician their gp and explaining

00:06:07.040 their symptoms and being invalidated and not and being made to feel like there's something

00:06:11.580 wrong with them and not that there's actually a name to what's going on you know what were your

00:06:18.200 symptoms and i know i'm assuming the symptoms range i read the list it's long um but what were

00:06:25.260 what were your particular if you don't mind sharing yeah i know for sure um i think with

00:06:31.020 with endometriosis absolutely there's you know a list of common symptoms but again like what you

00:06:35.600 were just speaking to like pain shows up differently for every person right and so

00:06:39.900 what work like what may be worse for me may not be worse for maybe you know something simple for

00:06:46.060 somebody else right and so for for my experience it was like the moment that i got had my first

00:06:51.340 period i was in severe pain i was you know hugging the toilet throwing up like you know

00:06:57.820 like unfortunately my mom experienced the exact same periods and it was sort of like passed down

00:07:04.840 right where she was like this is exactly what i went through and she normalized it she's like

00:07:09.040 suck it up normalize it and not out of the fault of you know oh she didn't know herself it was that

00:07:15.540 she went like she was telling me stories of like you know her grand like my grandma like back home 0.93

00:07:21.540 in ireland this is what grandma had as well and this is what we used this is what they used to do

00:07:25.360 for her and so this is what they did for me and so this is now what i'm going to do for you hot

00:07:28.940 water bottle curl up into a fetal position and that that's sort of like how i had to manage for

00:07:34.640 first few years and there was numerous times where you know we would be going to emerge because it

00:07:40.080 was like this is you know it's probably your appendix and that's sort of how it was like

00:07:44.160 i was going to emerge all the time and being checked out by um you know emergency doctors

00:07:49.680 that were like it's not your appendix and we don't know what to do for you so you went to emerge

00:07:54.800 and they never thought to check your uterus you would have been on your period each and every time

00:08:01.440 yeah they didn't keep a record uh oh this seems to happen and they didn't because i'm assuming

00:08:08.160 the only way to check for this it was what an internal ultrasound so i mean the the sort of

00:08:17.280 like the official way to to receive a diagnosis is through like surgery is through you know removing

00:08:24.560 this issue and having it like for some folks it does show up on the other ultrasound it really

00:08:31.120 again it's such an individual disease like now it sort of looks like you know if you have those like

00:08:37.200 if you have those expert um practitioners on your side like within your healthcare team

00:08:43.920 some of them may be able to pick it up for some folks it does show up on ultrasound but it's so

00:08:48.320 few and far between and it's not really the best guide it's it's you know traditionally it was

00:08:54.160 having these surgeries that would actually like remove the tissue send it off to pathology and

00:08:59.200 then you would get that sort of like pathology report but now there's you know you can kind of

00:09:03.920 do like a checklist of like if you're experiencing all of these symptoms then it more than likely

00:09:10.080 could be that you have endometriosis and you know some folks can manage through hormonal medications

00:09:15.840 but some folks you know can manage through having surgery and having that tissue removed but

00:09:20.240 ultimately i think the sort of hardest part to wrap your mind around is the fact that it's a

00:09:26.560 chronic disease and so some folks can have surgery and they can have relief right so it's yeah and

00:09:35.600 even adding to that sorry so something that i learned so i don't have endometriosis

00:09:41.840 i'm an ally and working within this space again same thing like ignorance i always assumed that

00:09:51.360 it only lived in the uterus or in and around the reproductive organs that's what i just read

00:09:56.480 what the heck do you mean it can go anywhere else in the body yeah can you explain that

00:10:01.280 please because i read that and i went that i could get it in my elbow you got to explain that

00:10:06.320 katie go for it um explain what it is and then explain why the hell it can migrate anywhere 0.54

00:10:14.560 yeah so basically it's it's tissue that is similar to the lining of your uterus that grows

00:10:20.400 elsewhere in your body so it can it can be found in your pelvis you know it's been found in people's

00:10:26.960 diaphragm it's it's now considered a whole body disease traditionally it was thought of as a

00:10:33.680 reproductive disease and so just found in that area but it's not it's a whole body disease

00:10:39.200 this is the way i envisioned it right you have your uterus and i just thought on the inside

00:10:44.880 lining it was like a new cut which is what made your period so incredibly painful is that still

00:10:50.480 true is that what makes your period painful they don't they don't like there's period pain can also

00:10:59.920 be considered like dysmenorrhea i think it's like having those the the chunk of symptoms so for

00:11:04.640 example like wait back up to that big word you just use what's dysmenorrhea dysmenorrhea is

00:11:10.720 basically that word for like painful periods just in and of itself so some folks it's a fancy word

00:11:15.680 for having a pain basically it's another one of those ones where we need like

00:11:22.160 it's another one of those long words um but i think it's it's more so having that like so for

00:11:31.200 example like so okay from from my lived experience right painful period pain with ovulation like

00:11:38.860 two weeks out of every month absolutely the week of my period i was missing school i was at home

00:11:44.320 rolled up in a ball the whole week no pain relief throwing up all day long like passing out like

00:11:51.340 all and this is like i within my group of friends nobody had this within my like cousins nobody had

00:11:58.440 this and so and already i'm feeling so isolated because i feel like something's wrong with me

00:12:03.440 why can't i handle my period i'm seeing my friends that are getting their period and life goes on

00:12:09.040 like it's not like whereas like when when it was hitting me it was like immediately i had to go

00:12:14.860 home if i was at school i needed to leave if i was you know at the movie theater i needed to go

00:12:18.820 there i remember i have vivid memories of like being in grade seven and eight and going to you

00:12:24.100 know birthday parties and having like parents judge the fact that they thought that i was you

00:12:29.620 know maybe drinking and that's the reason why i was throwing up and it was like no i'm throwing

00:12:33.780 up because i have my i don't even know how to explain that to them yeah yeah nobody understands

00:12:38.820 right well wait wait i still don't understand this tissue okay there's this tissue that's uterine

00:12:46.260 tissue right it's similar it's similar to the lining yeah it's so it's similar to the lining

00:12:52.260 and you tested it then they would be able to tell that it's flawed tissue what what do they tell

00:12:59.220 when they take it out they say oh no it's not quite uterine tissue it's something else thus the pain

00:13:05.300 it's basically i mean i'm not a doctor so i can't give you like the full so i wish i was in that

00:13:10.340 sense to give you the full science right the doctor though but this is so this is a part of

00:13:15.860 it right as well is that you actually learn like listening to some folks in the community and

00:13:20.980 listening to the way and the words that they use to describe the pain i'm floored because i'm like

00:13:28.180 you are you you become your own doctor because after so many years of having to be an advocate

00:13:34.020 for yourself because nobody's advocating for katie nobody's advocating for other folks similar to 0.54

00:13:39.540 right so those people have to have to put on this magical hat this magical lab coat and start using

00:13:47.540 these words to make themselves be taken seriously and that to me is so jarring because i have four

00:13:54.580 children four boys four cis boys and i cannot imagine my eldest son who's going to be 16 this

00:14:01.780 year using some of the vernacular that these folks have to use to explain their pain like that's just

00:14:07.060 wild to me it's like why isn't it enough for a youth for a young person to walk into their

00:14:13.700 doctor's office and say i'm in so much pain that that pain is making me throw up or i'm in so much

00:14:20.180 pain that i can't stand up like why do we have to attach the big words so that that doctor then now

00:14:26.820 validates that young person's feelings like that's that's a whole other issue in itself right i think

00:14:32.580 that is the issue yeah i think the fact they don't have names for it they're they're not

00:14:37.700 really describing it they're you know what i mean they're and the reason why you're creating this

00:14:42.260 awareness i'm gonna say part and parcel isn't just about the public it's to motivate the medical

00:14:48.420 community as a whole um and it's also to empower those individuals who are suffering with it i

00:14:55.140 I think it's twofold. Number one, pain, judging pain, internal pain is near impossible.

00:15:04.420 Right? Judging, how do we do that? How do we measure that? Right? The only way you can measure

00:15:11.080 it really is by taking the individual's word for any pain, the individual's word for it. Now,

00:15:17.420 we also know that different people have different levels of pain that they can take. Now, this is

00:15:23.740 where we get into, you know, the difference and the societal difference about the weight we place

00:15:33.960 and we have placed on women and people with uteruses associated diseases and what they should

00:15:40.120 be able to handle and what the rest of the world should be able to handle, right? We've seen those

00:15:47.060 TikToks or social media posts where guys will go and they'll get the thing put around their stomach

00:15:53.220 and they'll, they'll jack it up to see how they can handle menstrual cramps. And they'll get to

00:16:00.720 like, it's a one of 10, they'll get to like a five or a six, and they'll tap out for the most part,

00:16:05.480 right? The amount of pain that people who bear children can handle has to be up here.

00:16:15.360 Right? It has to be up here. Because if it wasn't up here, the human race would die tomorrow, 0.99

00:16:20.660 because we'd be like um no thank you i'm not doing that so since it's up here and since people who

00:16:28.900 could give birth have such a high capacity for pain it's no different than your mom telling you

00:16:34.820 well you just gotta have to you're just gonna take it because that's what we're built for

00:16:39.380 we're built to take that kind of pain and then and then there's the whole why is it that 0.51

00:16:46.180 that illnesses that, you know, obviously impact women aren't getting the funding, the focus,

00:16:53.480 the attention, the respect of other things, right? I think that's the twofold answer there. I think

00:17:02.860 the, and a lot of it comes from how we don't educate the whole population. Like I love it

00:17:08.780 in here. I think somewhere in here, it says, this is for people with uteruses and people who don't

00:17:15.200 have them because you all have to be educated anyways. It's super important, right? So that

00:17:21.460 the whole room understands, no matter who has the uterus or not, the whole room can understand

00:17:27.620 this is a level of pain and chronic illness and all of these things that we need to talk about.

00:17:35.520 We don't just need to push it aside and go, oh, don't talk to me about that. I don't want to

00:17:38.060 know about your period. Get over it. Right? I think that's huge. And I don't know if,

00:17:44.680 I feel like we're getting closer to it. I mean, I haven't helped me teach grade seven and eight

00:17:48.900 health. Um, we're getting closer to it, you know, but it's, it's hard because you're, you're

00:17:57.340 fighting. If you can get a group of people in a room and then try to educate them, you really

00:18:03.080 got to get their attention. I think I told you guys a story where I had a kid in the back of my

00:18:08.080 room playing on his phone. And I was talking about periods and, um, anybody who's already

00:18:13.980 got in their period was kind of bored with my conversation. And some of the guys were sitting

00:18:18.800 in the room and some of them were kind of interested in asking questions and other than

00:18:22.160 were. And somebody said, you know, how long does it last? And I said, I don't know, like four to

00:18:27.000 seven days, depending. And this guy dropped his phone in the middle of my class and

00:18:30.820 they bleed for seven days. How do they not die? And I'm like, see, now I just have to start with

00:18:40.880 that, I think. You've got to start with something like that. You can't do this in school, but those

00:18:48.260 machines to talk about levels of pain is also somewhere to start and try to get... Because I

00:18:56.520 don't think you can have... How in the world can you have empathy for something like that?

00:19:02.340 Yeah, I think. But you just do, right? I think I speak only for myself and thinking back

00:19:10.700 to when I was in high school. And I would like to sit here and say and raise my hand that I'm a very

00:19:17.040 compassionate person. And those who know me well know how incredibly compassionate I am for things

00:19:23.620 and, you know, whether they're healthcare related or not, the level of compassion I can have for

00:19:29.160 people, even though it's not my lived experience. And at 16, I can say looking back, you know,

00:19:34.860 many many years ago that I wish at that time I could tell my 16 year old self now to say hey

00:19:44.240 remember when Julie used to miss school once a month for a whole week never in my 16 year old

00:19:51.920 head did it clue in you know and I was a pretty compassionate 16 year old I like to say did it

00:19:58.860 ever clue in to be like hey you missed school for a week like what happened to me it was like

00:20:04.540 oh she got a period again I wouldn't judge her by any means but there was no like hey do you want

00:20:11.200 my like notes so you can like help catch up because I can tell you for a fact all the teachers

00:20:16.980 that we had because we had almost all the same classes were you miss school and it was about

00:20:22.040 chastising and punishing and like now I'm not going to support you because I think you're

00:20:27.880 missing school once a month for a week because like you want to miss this unit or you don't

00:20:32.220 want to do this assignment or you know whatever the case may be there was never like a hold hold

00:20:37.080 the phone why are you missing class right yeah but like what happened right so it's just like

00:20:46.040 I think even though it's not your lived experience through education through awareness campaigns like

00:20:53.000 the no endo campaign through the hashtag that we're using this is not normal this is life

00:20:57.800 with endometriosis, we can help create that empathy. I live with five men in my house and

00:21:05.220 I would, I'm so outnumbered by testosterone is unreal, you know, and are there times where they're

00:21:11.860 more compassionate than not? Yeah, there are. Are there times where they like, you know, forget that

00:21:17.940 I exist in the space? Sure, of course, you know, but all to say that I would hope my job here in

00:21:26.080 my home living with the community that I live in that I've educated them enough that even though

00:21:33.200 something does not happen to you directly doesn't mean that it's not happening to somebody and it

00:21:38.320 doesn't mean that it's not impacting someone in some way shape or form we are a community we are

00:21:43.580 a village and I will always stand by that so I think that even though we can't know what pain

00:21:50.740 is like for me, to you, to Katie, we can educate and say, people feel pain differently. And it's

00:21:57.620 really important to respect what someone is saying when they say that they're in pain.

00:22:03.680 Do you think as a society, we're really quick to minimize anybody's pain? Unless I can see you in

00:22:13.420 a cast, unless I know that you're in the hospital, do you think that we under, because I know exactly

00:22:20.080 what you're talking about in schools obviously do you think we undervalue a lot of that because we

00:22:26.420 always assume somebody's just playing up on it to sort of get get out of just like you said to get

00:22:32.820 out of something to get you know and then when it comes to period pain because not everybody can

00:22:38.500 experience it there's no there's no shared at least feeling uh somewhat you know do you think

00:22:47.020 that we are very quick to undervalue it because we're like, well, I don't, it's weird. It's,

00:22:54.240 it's almost like we're quick to say to other people, suck it up. I just feel like we are

00:22:59.620 that culture. I just, I don't feel in general that we are very empathetic when it comes to

00:23:09.580 pain period no pun intended um and then it just doubles when we talk about menstrual pain do you

00:23:19.320 know what i mean i don't i don't know why that is i because it's so internal because there's no

00:23:25.200 external measure you know and maybe we're getting a little bit invisible it's not visible but that's

00:23:32.860 what it is right like it's like if i'm walking around with a cast on my arm or if i'm walking

00:23:37.140 around with crutches let me open the door for that but you know do you know like when i talk

00:23:43.620 about like the impact is like it's like every part of your life like if we hear sometimes like folks

00:23:49.780 like um sitting on the bus and being curled over in pain and somebody else yelling at them like

00:23:55.940 give up your seat because you're so young you shouldn't be taking that seat somebody else should

00:24:00.260 be and chastising them in that sense and it's like this person like we don't know what individuals

00:24:06.180 we're living it's very it comes from i think like that invisible piece same with mental health right

00:24:11.160 like no one will ever take mental health as seriously because we can't wear a cast on our

00:24:16.180 brain that says like i'm suffering with anxiety right now i'm suffering with depression right now

00:24:20.440 like it's not and i always i'm so floored working within this space um like you know that the this

00:24:29.200 sort of like wording that we're using of like whether you know endo or not you know someone

00:24:34.740 that has endo yeah yeah and that person may not even know that they have endo because they're not

00:24:40.500 they don't have that awareness they don't have that education around them to understand what it

00:24:44.580 is that they're living through and that no this isn't normal missing school for having for your

00:24:48.900 periods is not normal painful sex is and that's that's another thing too right like that's another

00:24:53.940 symptom with endometriosis is painful sex and so if we can't even talk about what sex looks like

00:25:01.620 what sex is different to everybody else having pain with that like if you don't if you're not

00:25:06.260 in in immersed in spaces where you can there's space made for you to talk about your experience

00:25:12.980 and what you're going through how can we ever understand and learn about this if like for me

00:25:18.340 for years i was going i guess i never talked about it with my friends like my my you know

00:25:23.940 that part of my life my intimacy and so i just held that in like i guess it's normal for me to 0.65

00:25:28.900 to throw up after I have sex. I guess it's normal for me to be curled over in pain like I'm cramping

00:25:33.760 for three days afterwards because I just was intimate with someone. What? Okay, right. Is that

00:25:38.980 because, and I'm going to ask a doctor question again, sorry, but is that because, you know,

00:25:45.640 is that because the uterine tissue that is forming other places is on the vaginal wall,

00:25:52.520 which is causing the pain? Because nobody's having sex in their uterus. I mean, you know,

00:25:58.900 well that that's just the thing right it's that again there needs to be more education and

00:26:02.740 understanding even from there needs to be more research even from the healthcare practitioner

00:26:06.980 side they don't under they don't understand this disease they don't know why it happens

00:26:11.060 and there's no cure for this disease but it affects two million people in this country

00:26:16.340 i'm assuming it's an inflammatory response which is why you throw up which is why you you know go

00:26:23.860 go to the washroom, which is, I'm just guessing, I'm guessing that anything, any tissue or foreign

00:26:31.180 body that's not supposed to be somewhere causes your body to inflame. And as soon as you're

00:26:36.680 causing your body to inflame, there are painful responses to inflammation. I think inflammation

00:26:42.280 is probably one of our biggest problems. And that can cause a whole bunch of different things.

00:26:47.200 And so that's my guess. But yeah, I mean, if you're saying to me they can't even answer that question, then this project that you guys are doing, sure, is to educate young people and people with it and people without and all of that to raise awareness.

00:27:09.400 but the point of raising awareness isn't to give them you know a community is to give them a voice

00:27:14.840 because somebody's not putting in the time where the hell's the research understanding is that's

00:27:23.000 that's like part of part of this whole push is that there's so many pieces to this puzzle right

00:27:29.000 one we have we have the expertise here in canada but the the folks that have that expertise the

00:27:35.800 researchers they're not getting funded for the research here in canada our our uh our surgeons

00:27:41.960 here in canada are fighting their own battles within their hospitals to say i need operating

00:27:48.200 time for my patients and the hospitals are going but this isn't this isn't a debilitating like

00:27:55.640 the hospitals are fighting back going there's no need for this there's patients that there's other

00:28:01.160 diseases that are more important than people living with endometriosis so this is the only

00:28:06.280 this is you only get two days a month to do surgery like you know what i mean like it's it's

00:28:11.080 it's there's so many layers of this well that's my it has to be the biggest that has to be the

00:28:16.440 biggest layer so if okay let's say that somebody thinks that i have endometriosis we've kind of

00:28:21.800 gone through all of those stages i've listed off all the common symptoms and they say that that's

00:28:27.000 about 5.4 years on average yeah what do you mean that's how long it takes you get the surgery

00:28:33.160 so no that's how long yeah go ahead katie no no no go ahead no like that like for an average for

00:28:39.720 some folks it is an average of five years before you even get like a diagnosis sometimes 20 years

00:28:46.040 but then there's a wait time to get like that just because you get that diagnosis there's still it's

00:28:50.840 a lifelong journey right so then there's like sometimes it takes an average of three doctors

00:28:55.640 before you're even like before that before that one doctor where that person actually listens to

00:29:00.920 you and goes like i'm gonna investigate let's send you off to here like and start you on that path

00:29:05.400 like when i from my own lived experience when i finally met my like my surgeon that i'm working

00:29:12.920 with now and i sat in his room for two hours and he just listened and took notes and was compassionate

00:29:20.840 i i cried afterwards because i was like this is what a this is what a doctor's experience

00:29:25.720 is supposed to like there's so much medical trauma that gets added in there of like you

00:29:30.200 don't know who to trust at the end of the day is that a doctor in toronto uh he's in vaughn right

00:29:36.120 now but yeah like a gpa doctor um but that experience right where it's like i was floored

00:29:43.320 that he took the time to listen to me that he was compassionate that he had some and that it also

00:29:48.680 there's again like there's so many layers right for folks that are living with this disease

00:29:53.320 when you are going to these people that you're trusting they're telling you like like just get

00:30:00.360 pregnant and that'll solve your problem well one what if that person that's going in there doesn't

00:30:05.320 want to get pregnant just pause for one second you're having all of this horrific pain you're

00:30:14.040 You're having pain when you have your period, before you have your period, when you have sex. 0.97

00:30:19.120 You're throwing up after having sex. 0.93

00:30:22.300 And you had a doctor, after listening to you say that, look you dead in your face and say, just get pregnant. 1.00

00:30:30.400 It'll fix everything? 1.00

00:30:31.600 Oh, 100%.

00:30:32.960 Yeah.

00:30:34.020 And that's a common narrative.

00:30:35.420 That's not just like exclusive to me.

00:30:37.080 that is a common narrative and it's so damaging for a number of reasons because it also speaks to

00:30:42.540 this old way of thinking that like this is just a disease that affects like fertility and it's like

00:30:49.480 that's one it's so damaging in a number of ways like what about the people that are going there

00:30:53.940 that fertility isn't what they're going in for they don't want to have children that's not a

00:30:58.420 part of what their future plan is you have a choice you don't want children cool but to get

00:31:02.760 rid of this debilitating pain just have one that's what it's like it's such invalidating to that

00:31:08.420 person's experience like the the level of impact like that i think that's another piece to it too

00:31:14.280 right is like these doctors just kind of throw these things out there and then they close the

00:31:18.700 door they move on to somebody else but that individual walks away living with that and that

00:31:24.000 impact of those words for the rest of their life right and are continuously re-traumatized every

00:31:29.900 single time like for folks in this community a lot of times there's so much medical trauma

00:31:36.860 that when it comes to like oh i'm in so much pain i i need to go to the hospital because i don't know

00:31:42.460 what's going on some of them will choose not to go because they don't want to go through and it's

00:31:47.020 like you're putting your own risk like you're putting your own even if it has nothing to do

00:31:51.020 with endo it could be something else completely but it's like having lived through so many of

00:31:54.860 those experiences you're choosing not to take care of your health because you don't want to

00:31:59.740 deal with the battle that's going to come of like how they're going to dismiss you how they're going

00:32:03.740 to call you like i can tell you numerous times for myself and within the community where it's like

00:32:09.500 being being treated as if you were just seeking payment and that's the reason why you're there

00:32:14.220 is because you you just want pain medication instead of like what's the problem what's right

00:32:19.180 here and um i was gonna say i listened that your previous podcast when you were speaking about

00:32:25.660 um the experience with your mom um resonated so much with me when you were like i got so

00:32:31.500 emotional listening to it and i'll do my best not to get emotional now but those hard skills

00:32:36.780 and those soft skills right oh and it's like that's what i'm talking about like even with

00:32:40.780 like my own experience with that doctor that sat with me for two hours and just talked to me and

00:32:46.060 listen to me like that soft skill i i don't care if you don't have the knowledge about endo but

00:32:51.660 if you're going to take the time to sit with me and be compassionate with me and work together

00:32:55.020 with me like a team instead of just telling me like get pregnant take take antidepressants take

00:33:00.940 advil like work together with me like that is life-changing for somebody who's living in

00:33:06.860 debilitating pain and not able to go to school obtain your educational goals work like how many

00:33:13.100 how many times we hear within the community and rosanna can probably speak to this as well like

00:33:17.660 not being able to hold down a job because you're not you don't people think that you're not reliable

00:33:22.300 but really it's that you have no control over your pain and what you feel like in the morning

00:33:27.100 to be completely different from what you feel like at lunchtime i can be totally fine when i wake up

00:33:31.420 in the morning and by two o'clock i'm curled up in a ball with my heating pads my pain medication like

00:33:36.300 you know what i'm saying like it's out of our control and so that's where like when you're

00:33:40.460 speaking about those soft skills like that's i feel like those soft skills are so important

00:33:45.020 for society in general like that compassion piece right yeah well yeah those soft skills

00:33:50.700 and that's what when you start defunding a healthcare system those are the first things

00:33:55.340 to go of course they are because now now you're just now you're just prioritizing well that guy's

00:34:00.220 head's bleeding or this person wants to talk about pain i can't quite assess i got to deal with the

00:34:05.820 the guy's head bleeding. We only have X amount, right? I have X amount of time. I mean, my mom

00:34:10.860 went through everything at Princess Margaret Hospital. Guys, this place is so busy. I can't

00:34:18.640 even describe it. So, so jam-packed, filled with people. And they do a better job, I feel like,

00:34:28.080 at soft skills, Princess Margaret, because they're experts and it's very narrow and it's very

00:34:32.720 specific but but they they do their soft skills quick they have to do it quick because there's

00:34:39.760 a lineup and so when you're talking about something that a doctor doesn't understand

00:34:43.840 and we all know great doctors who don't mind not knowing and other doctors who are like well if i

00:34:48.340 don't understand it it doesn't exist there's some problems too right um but to be able to sit down

00:34:54.780 and have that conversation, we're asking, you're asking a lot of a person that doesn't necessarily

00:35:06.340 put a lot of stock in critical thinking outside of what they've learned.

00:35:12.140 And I don't mean to be disrespectful to the medical community. It's just that

00:35:15.380 I grew up in hospitals. My mom was a nurse forever. Western medicine is very, we know what

00:35:22.320 we know, here are the studies, here are the treatments. If you're coming up with something

00:35:25.960 new, you know what I mean? I'm going to try to put it into a box I've already studied.

00:35:31.460 I've already learned. And it's just the way their brain works, I'm assuming, because they have a lot

00:35:36.020 of balls in the air. But there is the flaw as well. And then it comes right back down to what

00:35:41.120 gets research, what gets focus, what gets attention, right? And all sorts of implications

00:35:49.140 about which diseases get cures and why and are there biases and of course there are we pretend

00:35:57.160 there's no bias in the medical stop it of course there is of course there's bias in what people

00:36:03.920 choose to study in what gets funding now what i don't understand is in this country we have a one

00:36:11.640 in five so we have a one-fifth couples who are infertile right can't get pregnant trying to get

00:36:17.500 pregnant can't get pregnant um and endometriosis is a reason for not being if you want one not

00:36:26.480 being able to get pregnant and if you're a smart government or you're a smart country and you're 0.82

00:36:32.740 looking into solving problems that actually are costing a lot of money and by the way costing us

00:36:39.240 growth in our population you would think this might be at the top of the list but they're so 0.86

00:36:45.900 quick to deny the pain of people with a uterus so quick to dismiss it right and then my mind goes to 0.77

00:36:53.680 the way women present with heart attacks right what how the hell am i this old and i only realized 0.99

00:37:01.840 or i've only found out that most women are having a heart attack get pain in their back what

00:37:07.080 what and i think i learned it from from gray's anatomy

00:37:12.900 i'm not joking i saw it happen and then i looked it up i'm like oh my god like such a huge

00:37:22.040 percentage and this is about sustaining forget your your they're in you know whatever kind of

00:37:29.740 inbred or or bias they have this this is about sustaining a population not having our people

00:37:37.960 die, right? This isn't about anything frivolous and we're still not being equitable with the way

00:37:46.280 that we research these important things. So, okay, let's say, I just want to get an idea of what this

00:37:53.360 surgery looks like. So let's say you get diagnosed, you go through the 18 years, I'm sorry, five years

00:37:58.680 of forced doctor's visits, you finally convince somebody or you get the good doctor as you did

00:38:05.840 to sit down what does the surgery look like is it laparoscopic yeah okay so a laparoscopic surgery

00:38:14.240 they go in the belly button that kind of thing they go in with a camera or they just go in

00:38:18.800 and they grab a piece of the um they grab a piece of the tissue that's uterine tissue but not uterine

00:38:26.800 tissue i feel like i'm on a sci-fi show show how the hell you distinguish between the two

00:38:31.760 they grab a piece of that tissue and they what biopsy it so they so essentially

00:38:39.280 again it's every the disease is so complex right and so it affects each individual so differently

00:38:44.960 but ultimately with um excision surgery it's they're going in through a laparoscopy um

00:38:53.120 sometimes it's three incisions sometimes it's two like one in the belly button one

00:38:57.520 lower left side pelvis i think it just depends on the surgeon and sort of like what your case is

00:39:03.920 um but they will you know look through your your body and and look for endometriosis growth and

00:39:10.800 again i i have to emphasize like it's such a complex disease so it looks it can it can show

00:39:16.640 up differently it can show up as cysts it can show up as nodules it can show like there's even

00:39:22.320 different ways that it shows up so even you can like i experienced this myself with my first

00:39:27.040 surgery where um when i came out of that surgery the doctor was like totally fine we didn't find

00:39:33.120 anything back at square one and then my mental health took a huge tank because it was like i

00:39:37.280 thought i had an answer to what was going on i don't have an answer i'm back at square one right

00:39:41.120 so even then it's like you have to make sure that your your surgeon has that skill to even

00:39:46.560 understand endo and all the different ways that it can show up in a person's system so

00:39:51.440 for most people when the surgeon finds the endo they'll excise it that's the sort of gold standard

00:39:59.280 of care which is that instead of like take it all out they take the whole tissue out and then it

00:40:05.120 gets sent off for pathology and then it'll come back with like endometriosis cells in it essentially

00:40:11.200 and when they come back with endo cells because i know a friend of mine who had an ablation

00:40:15.920 what what does that mean so basically that's like you're if you think about like there's like a few

00:40:22.920 different theories out there but the one that i'm thinking of is like an iceberg theory right so if

00:40:26.940 you think about an iceberg right you just see an iceberg that's above the water but then there's

00:40:30.580 like a huge chunk of it that's underneath the water that you can't see right so an ablation

00:40:35.260 surgery ablation would basically just burn the top of it so like get rid of that top but that's

00:40:41.340 the endo is still growing underneath, right?

00:40:45.140 So, incision takes the whole iceberg and removes it

00:40:49.360 versus just that top layer where it's still growing underneath.

00:40:53.180 Okay.

00:40:53.680 And both of those surgeries, I'm assuming, affect and impact fertility.

00:40:59.940 I think it really...

00:41:00.980 So, there's sort of like myths and unknowns about endometriosis again

00:41:06.520 when it comes to this because it doesn't affect everybody's fertility.

00:41:09.780 I think the hopes is that, um, we want to get that delay, that diagnosis, the delay to diagnosis

00:41:16.540 down. So that way it doesn't impact people's, people's fertility, because if this is showing

00:41:21.020 up for some people at the age of, you know, 10, 11, and you're waiting until you're 30 years old

00:41:26.940 to finally have your first surgery, like, sure, absolutely. That can impact your fertility and it

00:41:32.300 does impact some people's fertility, but there's also the flip side of that where you can get

00:41:36.600 pregnant with endometriosis and then you're living a life managing endo and taking care of a family

00:41:43.860 at the same time right so i think the hope is that we want to reduce this delay to to diagnosis so

00:41:51.360 that way the disease doesn't continue to grow out of control for all of those years and impact

00:41:56.320 people's fertility is there any other treatment outside of surgery there's you know there's

00:42:05.420 hormonal treatments so you can do that a hormone that a hormone may be imbalanced or a specific

00:42:10.640 hormone in your system causes this tissue growth they think there's theories that like it's like

00:42:16.980 like that it grows off of estrogen basically it's very much like an estrogen dominant disease so

00:42:23.220 there's like you know different different ways to manage it and some of it is hormonal management so

00:42:27.920 some folks that's the other thing too right like some people really want surgery and some people

00:42:33.140 don't want surgery that's not something that they're comfortable with and so they'll go the

00:42:36.500 medical management route and that looks like you know being put into menopause for some people

00:42:40.880 that looks like different types of hormonal medications to sort of like try and balance

00:42:45.040 and control your hormones to stop your period so that way you know if your period is the main sort

00:42:51.340 of culprit so to speak of like your pain if you can stop having a period you're not fixing the

00:42:56.740 endometriosis you're just fixing the primary driver for a band-aid yeah it's a band-aid

00:43:03.720 solution does anybody else feel like this is very cancer adjacent it is and that's that's the that's

00:43:10.800 the most frustrating part is is that they what they like what we hear is that like well no like

00:43:18.300 endometriosis like cancer is way more prevalent in society than endometriosis so that's why you

00:43:23.300 know obviously cancer folks are getting their treatments the research the funding all of that

00:43:27.360 is there right and that's not discrediting obviously cancer impacts so many people and it's

00:43:31.360 a devastating disease but the but the prevalence of endo and the way that um endo affects your

00:43:37.460 system is very similar to cancer but because it doesn't have that label of cancer it doesn't get

00:43:43.600 that same amount of care research disease and you know we hear like well you know people aren't

00:43:49.400 dying from endo but that is not true because the mental health impact of living with endometriosis

00:43:55.020 and not having pain relief not having answers not having support folks are taking their lives

00:43:59.340 people are taking their lives because they can't they can't they can't go on living in the way

00:44:05.520 that they're living i take a guess there's also some you talked earlier about about um pain like

00:44:13.340 looking for pain meds i would guess there's probably some addiction roads that get followed

00:44:17.860 down on this path because you're trying to take the right pain med to take away the pain. And then

00:44:22.760 all of a sudden we all know how opioids work. You're in that category of pain med. When I say

00:44:27.740 cancer adjacent, what I mean is you have tissue cells that aren't quite what it's supposed to be

00:44:35.840 causing incredible pain and spreading throughout the body. My point there is it's, it's not to

00:44:43.540 necessarily say, Oh, it's just as bad as cancer. It's less than cancer or anything like that is

00:44:47.440 to say that it seems as though it's a similar line of research to talk about why we have cells

00:44:55.840 in the body that aren't doing what they're supposed to be doing and that are causing pain,

00:45:00.900 discomfort, and to some degree, the body not actually working the way that it's supposed to

00:45:07.000 work. And we didn't even talk about what happens, like, where else does this tissue go?

00:45:12.380 and what else does it cause like you're talking about uterine pain and you're talking about period

00:45:18.480 pain but what if i have endometriosis cells on my heart well that's that's just the thing right

00:45:25.420 like that like it's been found in the diaphragm now like that's why it's been found on the spleen

00:45:29.980 it's been it can it can affect your bowels it can affect your blood like it's like a systemic

00:45:34.460 disease right it can be anywhere at this point and that's why again it's like mind-blowing

00:45:42.240 that they don't understand why this disease is happening they don't have answers for that they

00:45:46.240 don't have like oh there's no cure and so there needs to be more research there needs to be more

00:45:51.440 education and understanding on the healthcare practitioner side uh that's why we're calling

00:45:56.560 for this national oxygen plan because there needs to be government and policy makers and decision

00:46:01.600 makers that are really taking this seriously and trying to put a plan together because this is a

00:46:06.000 crisis in canada and you know i i live in ontario and i know my experience with the healthcare

00:46:13.120 system in ontario but what about the folks that are living in northern parts of the country

00:46:17.120 where they have to drive six hours we're we're a doctor in in indigenous communities where

00:46:22.000 where healthcare only comes to the community twice a month you know what i mean like there

00:46:26.720 are people that are living in the pill debilitating pain and probably have no idea what it is that's

00:46:31.360 going on what about them like where where is the hope and where is the the the push to you know

00:46:39.040 help help them as well well where i you know i start to think and the only thing we can do is

00:46:45.440 guess if they're not going to do the research i mean i don't i don't love being google health i

00:46:49.760 don't i don't love being that but if you're not going to give us a choice for the love of god

00:46:53.920 right because in my head if you get endometriosis tissue on your heart i would put money on the

00:47:01.440 fact your heart's not working the way it's supposed to work then you have a heart attack

00:47:06.080 or then you have a stroke because you've thrown a clot and no who is they're just going to say oh

00:47:11.440 she had a heart attack we don't know where it came from oh she threw a clot well the clots what killed

00:47:15.680 her nobody's going back and scraping the heart lining and finding out oh well there was endometriosis

00:47:22.240 tissue there. That's what caused the misfiring of something in their heart. So I would put money on

00:47:28.480 the fact that there's probably not just death because of somebody taking their life or not

00:47:34.800 just death because of, you know, addiction issues. I would put money on the fact that people have

00:47:41.100 thrown clots, that people have had heart attacks, that people have had cirrhosis. I would also put

00:47:47.520 money on the fact that when you have unchecked cell growth anywhere, you have an irritant

00:47:53.640 anywhere in your body. Want to know what comes after that? Cancer. That's what happens after

00:48:01.760 that. So now we have a precondition, right? That could possibly, possibly be leading into

00:48:10.240 something you know more even more uh systemic and life-altering if that's even possible and

00:48:18.760 nobody's test there's no way you would ever test for that i don't think if they're not looking for

00:48:25.280 it then they're not testing for it right having an irritant in your body is the first reason

00:48:30.480 everybody will say this is the first reason your body those unchecked cancer is because we all have

00:48:35.760 cells in our body people think that you like you know cancer just something that all of a sudden

00:48:40.860 no no we all have the ability for those cells to misfire and if if something like endometriosis

00:48:47.500 is other places or just in your uterus we all know the rates of cervical cancer uterine cancer

00:48:55.200 right all of those spread quite quickly i would love to know the connection that nobody's making

00:49:04.200 between this as a precursor to that doesn't that make sense yeah and for research

00:49:12.900 you know what i mean we need that funding we need that funding for research we need that funding

00:49:18.780 for more education for more understanding of just like you're talking about what are the other

00:49:23.620 pieces to this puzzle that we don't even understand right now that we don't even know about

00:49:27.400 and we need people to make noise right right so we need people to make noise so we start you know

00:49:33.440 like who are the the not easier but who are the little bit more malleable minds are young people

00:49:40.320 so we created this work we created what you need to know period right you have a copy of that

00:49:46.000 so let's start in schools let's bring this into the school curriculum let's talk about it let's

00:49:51.520 educate all people all genders boys girls gender diverse trans folks let's educate those students

00:50:00.320 to say that person next to you you haven't seen them in a week ask them what happened

00:50:07.040 and then that pattern repeats the next month that same person's missed school again ask them what

00:50:12.480 happened beyond the school level then you go you know your first part-time job right and it's like

00:50:19.200 oh you know so and so person only worked here for like four months but i have their number

00:50:25.280 like why did they get fired did they lose their job because you know once a month they had to miss

00:50:30.880 they had to miss work it wasn't a choice i'm sure that there were times when katie was a young you

00:50:37.200 know teenager and wanted to go to work and she wanted to she wanted to feel like she was a part

00:50:43.680 of something and and that she was more than just her pain right so let's make noise let's start

00:50:49.760 with our young people get our young people making noise and then let's move that up the scale right

00:50:54.560 let's tackle the politicians tackle the policy makers speak to the doctors other health care

00:51:00.400 providers will that take a lot of time yes does it take effort absolutely but there's hope in that

00:51:06.400 and we have to do that because if we don't do that then we know what happens the statistics

00:51:11.440 are there and they're just going to get worse yeah do you guys think that maybe um since we're

00:51:17.360 we're talking i mean we're taking guesses obviously that it's hormonal okay that there's a tie to

00:51:24.080 estrogen do we think that over the course of the last you know 30 years that um it's maybe connected

00:51:32.720 to the kinds of food we eat or we i mean in ireland who is dealing with it with a you know

00:51:40.340 whatever do we think that people just dealt back then and never talked about it it's really hard

00:51:47.300 to know right because yeah once you say this is a thing and then you have people saying oh my god

00:51:52.940 and the numbers go way up, people are like, oh, look, there's so many more people nowadays. So

00:51:58.020 they relate it to something else when in actuality, just people of past generations just shut the heck

00:52:03.100 up. Well, hysteria, right? Yeah. That's what it was labeled that it was traditionally thought of

00:52:08.820 as a reproductive disease. And it's like hysteria. And I think there's two pieces to that, right? 1.00

00:52:14.260 We know that there's a genetic factor. So absolutely. Do I think that my mom had endo?

00:52:19.260 100% do I think that my grandma had endo 100% but did my grandma grow up in a culture that 0.98

00:52:25.260 understood that where she would even be allowed to talk to her doctor about her period like

00:52:30.380 you know what I mean like creating space to just have those conversations and then the other pieces

00:52:34.640 we know that there is an environmental factor to it so yeah absolutely there could be the fact that

00:52:39.600 there's more of these chemicals in our foods that are you know or whatever is in the air like there's

00:52:44.740 that environmental but again it's that the only way we're going to get these true answers and the

00:52:50.220 evidence is to have that funding for the research and for the education and for understanding the

00:52:54.640 disease right but there is there is absolutely we know that there's a genetic component and we also

00:53:00.160 know that there's an environmental component as well okay that does make sense guys this has been

00:53:06.860 i feel i learned at least four new words is there anything is there anything is there anything else

00:53:14.160 you guys want to add that i missed or that's incredibly important or if you want to direct

00:53:18.940 people to a website or a social media site or you know obviously their mpp whatever

00:53:25.680 um i would just say i would just say from like an educator perspective like i think that educators

00:53:35.620 can be huge huge allies for people living with endometriosis i think that educators oftentimes

00:53:41.560 spend more time with the kids than than sometimes people's parents right and so if educators can

00:53:48.520 learn about this and be able to pick up on those symptoms and be able to be an ally and part of

00:53:53.800 somebody's journey of hey let's talk to your parents about this or hey let's talk to you know

00:53:57.980 if the school has a school nurse whatever that looks like let me be your sort of sounding board

00:54:02.600 or your guide to help you down this path that's that's a people living with endometriosis need

00:54:08.860 as many people on their side to advocate for them because the burden falls on the person living with

00:54:13.580 this disease to speak up for themselves. And it's sometimes too much. So I think educators have a

00:54:19.840 huge opportunity to learn about this and to be a part of this change and to be a part of this

00:54:24.360 movement. Well, I think in a very simple, and I know you guys are trying to get this into like

00:54:31.040 the TDSB and the York board and the Durham board and all that. The very simple road to me

00:54:37.120 is just saying, okay, it's part of the curriculum. Here you go. And I mean, that can very easily,

00:54:44.300 in my opinion, that should happen on a ministry level, meaning in Ontario, they set

00:54:50.480 educational curriculum, right? So it would make sense that, you know, the ministry would say,

00:54:59.060 okay, this is going to be now part and parcel of the grades seven and eight health curriculum.

00:55:07.120 simple easy just to talk about it just to just to focus that point there i don't see how that's a

00:55:14.060 problem right i feel like that that's the the easiest first step i want to know reaching out

00:55:22.280 to the ministry of education how they could be like no no we're not going to talk about this

00:55:26.360 that's our hope is that we can have this in schools across canada i mean that is the that's

00:55:33.180 the dream. That's the goal. And here's the organizational issue. Every province runs its

00:55:39.940 own educational system. So we have no nationwide education. So you would have to go to the Ministry

00:55:44.360 of Education in all of our provinces and territories and just say, here you go. This is it.

00:55:51.480 Just put it in the curriculum. There's zero reason why you can't spend X amount of time

00:56:00.700 in every health course that's ever taught talking about this. There's no reason. I don't see any

00:56:07.980 pushback from that. I'd like to hear that, to be honest. What's the pushback? Is the pushback

00:56:17.760 they're still going to say, oh, honey, it's all in your head? I mean, I'd love somebody from the

00:56:24.160 Ministry of Education to say to me if I gave this to them oh honey it's all in their head

00:56:30.740 is that what they're saying so let's put that right there so next step I'm gonna find somebody

00:56:36.680 from the Ministry of Education in Ontario I'm gonna go find them I'm gonna hand this to them

00:56:42.180 that's my new goal thank you but that's what we need right we need educated educated champions

00:56:48.680 to to get that word out there as well to say like let's get this in our schools let's teach this it's

00:56:53.540 the best part is is it's a free resource it's scalable we wrote it with like plain language

00:56:59.940 so it's accessible you know there's real lived experience stories in there from from so many

00:57:05.140 different cultural backgrounds because let's be real there's so many taboos and stigmas around

00:57:09.340 menstrual health right so let's break down those stigmas let's create space for these conversations

00:57:13.840 so that way for our future generations it isn't something to be scared about to talk about it's

00:57:19.520 just like, oh, I have a headache, oh, you know, I'm cramping, like, it's just, it just becomes part

00:57:24.200 of our natural language, our natural checking in with one another. So we need those educator

00:57:28.740 champions to bring these to their school boards, to bring these, to bring these within their

00:57:32.800 classrooms, to bring their colleagues with them on this journey to say, let's join together and 1.00

00:57:37.060 let's fight this, let's get this word out there and let's break down these tabloos and stigmas 0.95

00:57:40.660 and get, you know, the education, the awareness, and ultimately the funding and the policy and

00:57:46.320 decision makers to really understand that, like, this is a national crisis in our country.

00:57:52.340 Absolutely. And for those folks who are listening, just to your point,

00:57:56.160 you can visit noendo.ca. It will... That's noendo. See, I thought that's a really smart

00:58:02.660 way, but it's no, K-N-O. K-N-O-W. Not no, like, I don't want it. That's fair. But this is like, 1.00

00:58:11.440 know as in become educated about i like that and then you'll be able to download not only the

00:58:17.500 workbook but the number of resources as well that um we've developed over the last year um there's

00:58:23.340 some great you know ads as well that we've developed that really kind of give you that for

00:58:28.500 those visual learners that visual aid of like what this might look like like your co-worker

00:58:33.780 someone in school you know maybe even at a sporting event like so we definitely encourage

00:58:39.460 folks to visit noendo.ca um if you're interested in learning more as well as you know again

00:58:45.760 contacting your local mpp and please please please tell us if you can get someone from

00:58:50.600 the ministry of education i'll be i will drive to where you are i will leave i already i think

00:58:57.720 i already know the ministry of education is like this secret organization that nobody really knows

00:59:03.320 who's in it. Like I feel like, and I got one person that I, that I now know. Um, actually we

00:59:09.760 went to high school together. I just found out she works there. So that'll be the phone call I'm

00:59:12.940 going to make. Thank you. Um, and then we'll go from there. Um, all of those links that you just

00:59:18.280 said, just so everybody that's listening or watching, I will put in the text. So you guys

00:59:23.340 can go to the text and the description of this video. If you're watching the video, if you're

00:59:27.300 just listening to it and I'll put all of the links in there so that you guys can easily navigate that

00:59:32.840 and go find out and go do your own research

00:59:35.060 and all of those kinds of things.

00:59:37.240 And then reach out to your own MPP.

00:59:40.080 And if you can find a ministry person,

00:59:42.540 just knock at their door.

00:59:45.080 Well, thank you guys so much.

00:59:46.700 I really appreciate the education.

00:59:49.220 I'll be including this.

00:59:50.560 So that's a no-brainer for me.

00:59:52.180 That's easy.

00:59:53.540 I'll be including this.

00:59:55.340 And if you guys ever want to come back on here,

00:59:58.240 you tell me, you call me.

01:00:00.020 We'll do a whole other one.

01:00:02.140 Thank you.

01:00:02.700 thank you for this opportunity thank you for sharing thank you for fighting for this

01:00:07.520 and uh i look forward to seeing what you guys are going to accomplish

01:00:10.580 thank you have a great day guys and for everybody listening i'll see you next week same bat time

01:00:15.700 same bat channel dismissed

Unlearn16: Class is in Session - March 26, 2024

The One Where I Get To Know Endo (And no, that's not a Star Wars reference)

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