Yellow as a symbol of hope

"Is she talking about Endometriosis?"

That was my thought when I first heard Shannon Hannawald present before the Caroline County Commissioners, proclaiming March as Endometriosis Awareness month.

I could not believe it. Someone was putting those words out in the open, talking about a disease that affects 89 million women globally, but one that was rarely talked about outside of ob-gyn offices.

Or so I thought.

But here was this woman, Shannon, nervously reading her story about the ravages of a disease that changed her life. It affected her overall health, her reproductive health, her sanity, and yet she had the courage to take up the cause to let more people know about it. Not only talk about it, but start the Endo Warriors of the Eastern Shore.

Warriors -- that is an apt term, but one I did not use to describe myself. 

Endometriosis is the disease that defined me not just as a woman, but as a person. Funnily enough, I never thought of myself as a "survivor" or "warrior" because after all, the disease wasn't cancer or heart disease - the really serious diseases. No, it was just a disease that had destroyed major organs that I had to have surgically removed in order to have any quality of life. It was a disease that, for me, removed any chance of having children, that caused me to be anemic, and had life long health implications. 

It was not until I heard Shannon describing her story at a public forum that I realized that Endometriosis is one of the serious diseases. 

Here are statistics that Shannon shared with Caroline County Commissioners in their proclamation that March 2025 is “ENDOMETRIOSIS AWARENESS MONTH” in Caroline County.

• 1 in every 10 women have endometriosis—a disease for which there is no known cure
• Endometriosis is a chronic illness—increasing at epidemic rates—which causes fatigue, infertility, painful menstrual cycles, heavy bleeding, painful intercourse, lower back pain, intestinal issues and debilitating pain in women of all ages and races
• Endometriosis is a thickening of the lining of the uterus; it is a hormonal and immune disease; it can be found on the ovaries, fallopian tubes, ligaments supporting the uterus, other areas of the pelvic cavity and most recently found on the brain and lungs
• Endometriosis can only be diagnosed through laparoscopic surgery; there is no cure for Endometriosis only treatment
• Patients with this illness often must learn to live with widespread pain throughout their bodies; extreme fatigue; infertility; emotional and mental issues; other autoimmune disorders
• There is a lack of medical research, education and awareness of a disease that affects so many women in our community

Shannon announced March 7, 2025, as the 4th annual GO YELLOW FOR ENDO day. She encourages everyone, as do I, to wear yellow and turn your social media pages yellow in support of women who suffer with Endometriosis.

Let's build awareness, because this is a serious disease.