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| Think of the difficult things women do every day; marking a little old calendar should be as easy as just hanging around. |
WOMEN’S CALENDARS look very different from men’s.
Aside from the fact we seem to like to mark things in,
there’s that whole “When’s muh period!” obligation.
Women who are affected by endometriosis can use this
propensity to help know their endo, and
empower themselves to fight some of its undoing aspect. The more you know and
understand your foe the better able you are to put up defences and repel
attacks.
Date map demonstrated
For years my calendars looked like in the above image.
Seems almost runic, doesn’t it? And this isn’t even an elaborate example.
I worked out short codes like “NP” for “no pain”; “HB”
for “heavy bleeding.” I made a red dot for the date my period was due; and my
own personal symbol, a spiral and delta, for when it actually arrived. These
and more made me able to note what was happening with my menstruation each
month.
Pay particular attention to the markings identifying
pain levels, using the Mankoski Pain Scale (Access Mankoski Pain Scale). So a #6 would be:
Cannot ignore pain, though possible to still function at work and social activities.
Over the years I was able to look back and learn how
to read my endometriosis issues. Such as what times of the year I seemed most
hard-hit (January, May, August); or what days of my period delivered the most
negatives. I was able to make correlations between extreme flare-ups and what
was happening in my life (high-stress times at work proved to be big triggers).
Identifying patterns gave me the ability to try to “counteract”
issues before they came up: whether
this meant abstaining from certain foods; upping intake of specific vitamins
and minerals; getting in some extra exercise; focusing on anti-stress practices
like yoga and meditation.
I learned how to adjust my way of living to meet the
challenges of endo by becoming able to “predict” its behavior via date mapping.
Date & diary
This calendar approach is like a fast-look version of
the Endo Diary (Access Endo Diary post) I also advise you to
keep. Both will give you invaluable insight into your day-to-day endometriosis
difficulties and chronicle any crises over the years.
This can serve, not only yourself, but your physicians
and care-givers, by assisting them in tracking advances, setbacks or hold
steady times.
I bet it is hard for you to imagine how making notes
on an almanac can truly evolve into a method for combating pain, anemia,
hospitalisation and even infertility. But when you consider that The Old Farmer's Almanac continues to be one
of the highest selling publications in the world year after year since its
introduction in the late 1700s, you have to acknowledge that there must be something to this “observing the
date” thing.
Create your own coded language – like you can use fun
stickers to represent different aspects: such as a puking emoji for extreme pain (#9 on
Mankoski Pain Scale) – and own your dates.
Every time you make a mark, affirm healing with this
quote:
“Every day in every way, I am getting better and better.” – Émile Coué
In beauty may you walk
Add some sunshine to your life with warming
images from Trinidad and Tobago
Photo-stories at: Trinbago Shine On
And free to download and use images at: Jhaye-Q Trinbago photography
