Entering Womanhood

Most women, since the age of about 11, every month experience what it is like to have a menstrual cycle. During the menstrual phase women have a discharge of the “thickened inner layer of the endometrium” tissue that has sloughed off from the uterine wall when conception does not take place (Alexander et al. 109). “This menstrual discharge consists of blood, mucus, and endometrial membranes that sometimes present as small clots” (Alexander et al. 109). The menstrual flows and the cycles themselves vary. A woman’s flow is “usually 6 to 8 ounces in volume per cycle,” while the cycle on average lasts 28 days but “can vary from 21 to 40 days” (Alexander et al. 109). For most menstruation occurs without medical problems. While for others, menstruation can cause some physical and emotional problems such as cramps (known as dysmenorrheal), or premenstrual syndrome (PMS), a lack of having a menstrual cycle which is knows as amenorrhea (Alexander et al. 112-114). One such medical problem is endometriosis. Endometriosis is a common medical condition in which “tissue like that which lines the uterus (tissue called the endometrium) is found outside the uterus -- usually in the abdomen on the ovaries, fallopian tubes, and ligaments that support the uterus; the area between the vagina and rectum; the outer surface of the uterus; and the lining of the pelvic cavity. Other sites for these endometrial growths may include the bladder, bowel, vagina, cervix, vulva, and in abdominal surgical scars. Less commonly, they are found in the lung, arm, thigh, and other locations” (www.endometriosisassn.org).
Some women can have endometriosis without knowing that they have it, though most are acutely aware of the chronic condition. Endometriosis, whether diagnosed mild or disabling, is a non-cancerous condition that affects approximately 5.5 million women