Hey CC babes, happy Friday!!! As promised, here is part 2 of our series on endometriosis. In this ep, we're chatting with Jessie Borg from Blue Mountains and El Brady from Clermont.

Both these incredible women have started instagram pages to increase awareness of endometriosis rurally. Jessie's Page is Endo In The Country and El's page is Rural Endo - please follow along!

Jessie is a 19-year-old uni student, cane farmer and grazier who was accused of faking illness by her doctors when she experienced excruciating pain in the lead up to her year 12 exams - to the point that she was hospitalised. After ongoing advocacy from her mother, she was referred to a gynaecologist (a male one - which Jessie touches on) and had endometriosis removal surgery within 15 days of that first gyno appointment! One of the main messages that Jessie wants to get out there is that endo is not just cramps. There is an extensive list of symptoms that are caused by endo.

El Brady is a 22-year-old govie at Clermont with stage 4 endo who was a nurse on shift the first time her endometriosis pain resulted in her being flown out by the RFDS. She has suffered pain since she was 12 but was only diagnosed as an adult. El discusses how her endometriosis often caused her to haemorrhage and resulted in anaemia. This lead to doctors prescribing El the pill and encouraging her to skip her period which worsened her haemorrhages. El discusses what has helped keep her pain as minimal as possible and brings up a triggering topic about medical advice promoting that she chooses between have a hysterectomy, having a baby, or going through medical menopause in order to help her endometriosis. El would give up everything to have kids in the future and is now navigating what her fertility journey might look like.

Some of the biggest take homes from both these conversations were that living rurally adds another layer of difficulty with managing endo and endometriosis is in fact hereditary.

If you have a story or question to share (anonymously), feel free to send us a voice note or dm the Cowgirl Channel on Instagram here

Join us on Tiktok

Or join the Facebook group here

If you love the Cowgirl Channel, we want you to shout it from the camp, from the paddock, from the branding cradle, and all the way to the head bale.

See you next Friday!

Love Tons & Bell x