#392: How to Live with a Chronic Illness and Ways to Bring Awareness to Endometriosis and Autoimmune Conditions with Jenneh Rishe

If You Are Struggling with Living With a Chronic Illness, You Should:

1. Seek out emotional and mental health resources to help you adjust to a new normal
2. Call out medical gaslighting and find practitioners who support your recovery journey
3. Focus on what is serving you in the long term and can help you deal with your diagnosis

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Episode Summary

Did you know that it takes on average 10-12 years for someone to get an official diagnosis of an autoimmune condition? While life often does not go the way that we planned, there is a huge disparity in the way that women are treated in the medical system, especially when it comes to illnesses like Endometriosis that cannot be seen.

Finding Balance on Your Healing Journey with Jenneh Rishe

Jenneh Rishe has committed herself to stopping this medical gaslighting by providing women with powerful resources to support them in their darkest days. She lives a full and fulfilled life, despite managing multiple chronic illnesses and surviving open-heart surgery. Her personal experience navigating the healthcare system as a Registered Nurse who was eventually diagnosed with Endometriosis along with several other debilitating conditions makes her uniquely qualified to support anyone navigating their imperfect journey. Jenneh focuses on educating and encouraging people suffering from chronic illness, advocating for their needs, and helping us all pivot to a better direction in our lives.

The Mission to End Medical Gaslighting

1 in 10 women will suffer from Endometriosis in her life, but yet the tools and resources necessary to support women in their healing journey can feel impossible to find. So often women are misdiagnosed, gaslit, or just plain ignored by the medical field. This can lead to a multitude of other problems, and is ultimately keeping women from living the best version of their lives as they can.

While we are starting to see more language and attention brought to these chronic illnesses, more awareness is necessary to fuel real change in the medical industry. Jenneh is proof of the power of having these conversations to bring light to other women’s lives.

Embracing A New Normal

A chronic illness diagnosis does not have to stop you from living your life. By empowering yourself with the right tools, resources, and support, you can find a way of adjusting to your body’s new normal and find joy despite the pain. 

Jenneh wants to encourage others to remember the human side of a chronic illness and shift the way that we view Endometriosis in the medical field. By re-evaluating what is to come in the future, you can find a way to live life as fully as you can, and on your own terms.

Do you know someone who is suffering needlessly because of medical gaslighting? Share your thoughts about the breakdown of chronic illness care with me in the comments section of the episode page.

Quotes

“Once I finally found care, I just felt like it was my life’s duty to make sure I could get as many women to where I am today as I possibly could.” (4:42)

“We as patients are becoming more aware of the symptom profile of these coexisting conditions… but we don’t have any literature to point to and say these things are real, so it is almost like it is not happening. Because there is no data or studies to show that it is. But there are millions of women who are living this existence every day.” (9:22)

“My yes’s really mean yes. And my no’s really mean no. It lets me feel like I am really living my life with such intention, and that the people in my life can feel that when I am there I am fully there, because I want to be there, and that feels really good.” (20:21)

“We always approach it on a clinical level. Signs and symptoms and treatments, and we forget the human side of it.” (26:02)

“We have come up with a solution to treat patients like me at our age, but we have completely ignored what that long term impact is going to be. And we kind of just leave women to figure it out on their own.” (33:04)

In This Episode

• Discover Jenneh’s first-hand experiences when being diagnosed with Endometriosis (5:26)
• How to spot medical gaslighting when dealing with a challenging diagnosis (8:48)
• Advice for those struggling with the symptoms of chronic illness and getting diagnosed (12:28)
• Learn about a new Endometriosis documentary and Jenneh’s role in the project (23:17)
• Addressing the most common myths when it comes to chronic illness, especially for women with Endometriosis (27:56)

Resources Mentioned

Use Promo Code ‘podcast’ for 10% off Your Order at the Essentially Whole Store Here

Part of You, Not All of You by Jenneh Rishe

The Endometriosis Coalition 

Below the Belt Film

Follow Jenneh on Instagram

Related Episodes

Essentially You Episode #173: How to Relieve Endometriosis-Driven Pain, Digestive Symptoms, Anxiety and Infertility with Dr. Jessica Drummond

Essentially You Episode #319: Red Flags: 10 Ways We Gaslight Women in Medicine Today

Essentially You Episode #324: How Doctors Convince Women that Their Symptoms Aren’t Real and How we Continue to Misdiagnosis with Elinor Cleghorn

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