This week it’s both International Women's Day and Endometriosis Awareness Week. To mark the two events, we're in conversation Sophie Richardson, aka theendospectrum who explains her journey to a diganosis of the condition, which took over 5 years from aged 16 to when she went to University. Sophie underwent surgery due to having severe symptoms putting her in bed for a week during her period. She is passionate about awareness raising and along with her blog she is speaking more frequently within the corporate setting to help more people understand this complicated condition which can take up to 7 years for a diganosis.

What we discussed:

• How despite Endometriosis Awareness and campaigns are increasing over the years there are still lots of misconceptions regarding the issue. it still It affects 10% of women 
• Sophie’s symptoms and experiences prior to her diagnosis, that she’d never heard about it, It took over 5 years to diagnose and she was struggling from 16-18
• Sophie’s struggle to open up her symptoms to her peers - she didn’t know what was her being dramatic and until it caused her to pass out that she realised how severe there were 
• Her symptoms were a month long and she had to have surgery for cysts on her Ovaries 
• Why Sophie is passionately talking about endometriosis, especially in the workplace
• How endometriosis affects Sophie in her day-to-day experience - her skin has suffered for over a decade, despite spending a lot of money on skincare and makeup. 
• Impact on her confidence, people looking at her skin and how it makes her feel unprofessional at work, confidence issues when meant more people 
• Swollen belly and how it can impact your wardrobe at work and how virtual working has helped and why it’s important for employers to understand 
• What is Endometriosis
• Misconceptions around Endometriosis and what it is
• How it can be found everywhere in the body
• The Endometriosis Spectrum is so different for everyone and it can change month by month. For Sophie, it’s in her bowl and in her chest.
• How it impacts internal organs 
• How she’s much better now but previously, she was unable to leave the house for over a week, couldn’t eat or drink 
• How employers need to understand how varied it can be and need to treat it with respect 
• What kind of things do employers need to think about period policy
• Why it's important to have external voices talking about these topics, how to think about time off, being adaptable, open stream of communication 
• Key things for women who have endometriosis in the workplace
• Reasons why Sophie decided to freeze her eggs recently

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