Post by 1234 on May 13, 2012 13:04:41 GMT -5
Unsure if this is the place to post this, but after yet ANOTHER Vanity Fair cover feature on Marilyn Monroe that does not mention endo, I've gotten pissed off. Here is my proposed letter to the editor. comments welcome!!!
Dear Vanity Fair editorial desk,
The number of VF feature stories on Marilyn Monroe demonstrate how irresistible this woman remains, and I have read these stories rapidly. However, with each story I become increasingly more frustrated that VF mentions Marilyn's poor physical health and struggles with infertility without discussing the chronic, debilitating--and unfortunately extremely common--disease which caused both: endometriosis. Like Marilyn, this disease is aggressively misunderstood; it is also misdiagnosed, incurable, and poorly treated. However, roughly 10% of women have it--more than breast cancer, more than HIV/AIDS.
For me, and the other 176 million women worldwide suffering from endometriosis and struggling to deal with both a medical establishment that has willfully disregarded this very common disorder (it takes an average of 11 years from first symptoms to diagnosis, and even though there is effective treatment for endometriosis if caught early enough, very few doctors have bothered to develop the surgical skills necessary to excise the lesions properly) and an uneducated public who still regard endometriosis as a self-created problem of hysterical, hypochondriac women (how often has Marilyn been portrayed this way?)--VF's continued failure to mention this disease in its articles on Marilyn is incredibly frustrating. It is also poor journalism.
All of the clues are there. On page 131 of the current issue, you can see the scars on Marilyn's abdomen from laparoscopic surgery to remove the endometriosis. On page 132, the author wonders at Marilyn's seemingly inexplicably empathetic reaction to his story of physical pain and disability. On page 135, the author mentions that Marilyn "suffered a third miscarriage", was very sick, and had to go to Los Angeles for "hospital rest"--in fact, she went to Los Angeles for surgery to try to treat the endometriosis. Myth has it that she wrote a note to the surgeons, on her abdomen, to please preserve her uterus and ovaries during the surgery so she could have children. If true, this story places Marilyn's discussion with the author--on page 193--about her struggle with infertility in a different context.
Despite these obvious clues, this article--and previous VF articles--still speculate on the "why" of Marilyn: what was this shadow of sickness and sadness that followed Marilyn so chronically? Journalists of VF's caliber should be ashamed not to have looked for medical facts first, before indulging in emotional speculation. The clues are all there. This woman with endometriosis can piece together every single one; it is time that journalists research this element of the Marilyn "puzzle" to see if, perhaps, it is the key that finally explains the mystery of this fascinating, and tragic, woman.
I have included a more detailed description of endometriosis for the information of the VF editorial staff below. Thank you for your attention and time.
Yours,
Kristin
Having endometriosis means that tissue that resembles the lining of the uterus grows in the pelvic cavity outside of the uterus. This tissue can grow on any organ or surface in the pelvis--on the ovaries, uterus, intestines, bowels (small and large), appendix, liver, diaphragm, abdominal wall. Each endometrial lesion acts like the uterine lining: it emits estrogen and bleeds monthly; it also damages the surrounding tissue. The body responds to the internal bleeding and tissue damage by generating scar tissue; as the disease progresses, the amount of scar tissue grows, creating adhesions that distort, twist, and bind the organs of the pelvis together. In addition to the cyclic internal bleeding, hormone disruptions, errant cell growth, and distortion of pelvic structures, endometriosis also elicits a strong inflammatory response from the body. The primary symptom of endometriosis is pain, but not monolithic pain--pain of many types, qualities, and degrees. The pain is debilitating and often unbearable; it is also chronic. Other symptoms include constant, debilitating problems with digestion and elimination--either because of direct involvement of the bowels and bladder in the disease, or the resulting inflammation, or both; constant fatigue; and infertility.
Dear Vanity Fair editorial desk,
The number of VF feature stories on Marilyn Monroe demonstrate how irresistible this woman remains, and I have read these stories rapidly. However, with each story I become increasingly more frustrated that VF mentions Marilyn's poor physical health and struggles with infertility without discussing the chronic, debilitating--and unfortunately extremely common--disease which caused both: endometriosis. Like Marilyn, this disease is aggressively misunderstood; it is also misdiagnosed, incurable, and poorly treated. However, roughly 10% of women have it--more than breast cancer, more than HIV/AIDS.
For me, and the other 176 million women worldwide suffering from endometriosis and struggling to deal with both a medical establishment that has willfully disregarded this very common disorder (it takes an average of 11 years from first symptoms to diagnosis, and even though there is effective treatment for endometriosis if caught early enough, very few doctors have bothered to develop the surgical skills necessary to excise the lesions properly) and an uneducated public who still regard endometriosis as a self-created problem of hysterical, hypochondriac women (how often has Marilyn been portrayed this way?)--VF's continued failure to mention this disease in its articles on Marilyn is incredibly frustrating. It is also poor journalism.
All of the clues are there. On page 131 of the current issue, you can see the scars on Marilyn's abdomen from laparoscopic surgery to remove the endometriosis. On page 132, the author wonders at Marilyn's seemingly inexplicably empathetic reaction to his story of physical pain and disability. On page 135, the author mentions that Marilyn "suffered a third miscarriage", was very sick, and had to go to Los Angeles for "hospital rest"--in fact, she went to Los Angeles for surgery to try to treat the endometriosis. Myth has it that she wrote a note to the surgeons, on her abdomen, to please preserve her uterus and ovaries during the surgery so she could have children. If true, this story places Marilyn's discussion with the author--on page 193--about her struggle with infertility in a different context.
Despite these obvious clues, this article--and previous VF articles--still speculate on the "why" of Marilyn: what was this shadow of sickness and sadness that followed Marilyn so chronically? Journalists of VF's caliber should be ashamed not to have looked for medical facts first, before indulging in emotional speculation. The clues are all there. This woman with endometriosis can piece together every single one; it is time that journalists research this element of the Marilyn "puzzle" to see if, perhaps, it is the key that finally explains the mystery of this fascinating, and tragic, woman.
I have included a more detailed description of endometriosis for the information of the VF editorial staff below. Thank you for your attention and time.
Yours,
Kristin
Having endometriosis means that tissue that resembles the lining of the uterus grows in the pelvic cavity outside of the uterus. This tissue can grow on any organ or surface in the pelvis--on the ovaries, uterus, intestines, bowels (small and large), appendix, liver, diaphragm, abdominal wall. Each endometrial lesion acts like the uterine lining: it emits estrogen and bleeds monthly; it also damages the surrounding tissue. The body responds to the internal bleeding and tissue damage by generating scar tissue; as the disease progresses, the amount of scar tissue grows, creating adhesions that distort, twist, and bind the organs of the pelvis together. In addition to the cyclic internal bleeding, hormone disruptions, errant cell growth, and distortion of pelvic structures, endometriosis also elicits a strong inflammatory response from the body. The primary symptom of endometriosis is pain, but not monolithic pain--pain of many types, qualities, and degrees. The pain is debilitating and often unbearable; it is also chronic. Other symptoms include constant, debilitating problems with digestion and elimination--either because of direct involvement of the bowels and bladder in the disease, or the resulting inflammation, or both; constant fatigue; and infertility.